As part of our commitment to the next generation of marketing decision makers we occasionally put the spotlight on our Marketing Interns and give them the opportunity to talk about their vision, interests and observations.

Here we’d like to introduce Eliza Plimmer, Marketing Intern at Creativebrief, Autumn 2015.

Background and Education

I’ve always shown an interest in business from creating a homemade paper bowl shop in my kitchen when I was 5 to charging my trumpet teacher money for burning CD’s all of whom I significantly overcharged! Since then my interest for business has developed and I’m currently a student at Oxford Brookes University about to go in to my last year studying Business and Management.

The city of Oxford is a student honey pot with just less that 25% of the city’s population made up of full-time Oxford University and Oxford Brookes students which is the highest proportion in England and Wales. Having been born and bred in London it’s refreshing living in a smaller city like Oxford although 30,000 students and a huge number of pubs does make Oxford sometimes feel as hectic as London!

At the time of applying to University I was unsure which avenue of business to specialise in therefore the Brookes Business and Management course ticked all the boxes. The opportunity to explore all different areas of business from logistics to finance to marketing has been a great asset over the past two years. The breadth of the course has provided me with a solid foundation of business and I look forward to building upon this in my last year at Oxford Brookes.

Experience at Creativebrief

The 6 weeks I’ve spent at Creativebrief has opened my eyes to the dynamic and fluid industry marketing is. Creativebrief’s unique market position has meant that I have had a 360 view of the industry from agency to client side. I assisted with a variety of projects including the process of contacting and sending RFI’s to agencies. I also did a competitor analysis and international market analysis which involved identifying the most influential and successful agencies in 9 selected countries. Both these reports gave me an understanding of Creativebrief’s current position and the potential direction of the business as well as a deeper understanding of the agency world. On the client side I was involved in identifying how many of Creativebrief’s clients were in the ‘Interbrand top 100′ – (it’s 81) as well as helping to update job titles in the CMS system. Database entry and understanding the back end of the website was also incorporated in my time at Creativebrief as well as researching for BITE – their self-published monthly trend briefing. The projects I was part of were all varied and showed me different aspects of the business but also the industry which will be invaluable when finishing my degree and beyond.

Aspirations

There are so many areas of business, including marketing, that appeal to me and luckily I still have a year until I finish university to think about it all. Having said that working abroad is definitely a goal of mine, the idea of living in different cultures is exciting so I do hope an opportunity presents itself in the future. My time spent working at Creativebrief has been incredibly helpful in consolidating my thoughts on the marketing industry and as a potential career path. On top of that, Creativebrief has highlighted the importance of being part of a team who all enjoy and care about their individual role within an organisation. This translates in to a productive and motivational working environment which is something I aspire to find in every step of my career.