Internship Updates

Somewhere along my internship, I was given the opportunity to offer ideas for a promotional tie-up with the various Medias.

The client involved is a leading player in the earphone market. Thus, my ideas revolved around music as it is directly related to earphones.

I had to locate and pick out the Medias suitable for the promotion.

In order to present a well-prepared and good pitch, I went to purchase magazines of the Medias selected, and that included Malay magazines. Understanding a magazine in a foreign language was tough. I simply could not understand a single word that was written and relied heavily on my trusted friend - Google Translate.

Initially, I was quite apprehensive and hesitant to contact the Medias for fear of rejection. However, after making the first call, I realised that things was not as difficult as what I had imagined. People in the Media industry are not as nasty as the stories portray and in fact, they are quite helpful. Well, perhaps a handful can be a little hard to deal with.

Negotiating with the Medias is another tough nut to crack. Most Medias have a page space cost and this can be in monetary or product cost equivalent sum. Hence, it was virtually impossible to work with some Medias due to this criterion.

At the end of the day, I managed to secure a promotional tie-up with a leading teenage magazine. The feeling was great and a huge sense of satisfaction hit me.

From this opportunity, I learnt that one should not give up in the face of setbacks. It is true that some Medias will be nasty or haughty upon knowing that there wasn't a budget to talk of. They may even ignore calls or emails sent. Nevertheless, there will definitely be one that will be interested. Results will show through persistence.

Secondly, it is extremely important to speak to the right person. Do not be afraid to call and ask. The right person can be the answer to all worries, questions, and even help to make things work.

Lastly, know how to tweak a story to make it appealing to the Medias involved. Every Media has an angle and target audience. Thus, it is vital to offer what they want to hear or will be interested in.

More updates coming up soon!

Regards,

Yiwen

Curtin Singapore