Hi
everyone!
My
name is Lydia Crostella and this semester I am interning at Lamont’s, which is
a WA family-run winery and restaurant business. Lamont’s consist of five venues
within WA, including two in the Perth CBD, one in the Swan Valley, one in
Cottesloe and one at Smiths Beach. Most of you have chosen large corporations,
who specialise in public relations (consultancies), marketing and publicity.
However, due to my ever expanding love of fine cuisine I decided to intern at a
local business who do just that!
From
my first day working at Lamont’s I realised how much of a family run business
it really is. Everyone knows everyone and everyone works together to get the
job completed. Each employee does not just have the one role; they have
multiple roles across the board, which helps to gain exposure, skills and
overall knowledge of the fine wine and food business within WA.
Because
Lamont’s is a small business they don’t as such have a “PR team”. The girls I
have been working with at the Swan Valley venue complete numerous tasks on a
day-to-day basis. Answering phone calls, taking restaurant bookings, taking
payments for events, liaising with staff, liaising with suppliers, having
meetings with the outside marketing team, putting together event packages,
updating the business website, organising events for all venues, updating the
business social media sites and the list continues. Their role is not defined
to a set 9am-5pm job, whatever needs to be done they will complete it.
All
the Lamont’s venues hold numerous annual events which target the same clientele
each year. I decided to think of new and exciting events which would target a
different age bracket and income group to further extend the Lamont’s customer
base. By introducing new and different customers at a younger age, it will help
market the Lamont’s brand and further entice customers to visit Lamont’s. My
other roles include organising the event calendar for 2014, writing a marketing
strategy for the business (12 months and 5 years), analysing the website, sitting
in on marketing meetings (rebranding of the wine labels and improving the
website), working on the customer database and thinking of ways to further
increase the number of people who are a part of that and overall thinking of
new and exciting ways they can further develop the Lamont’s brand and gain
exposure in an affordable and easy way in the 21st century.
Since
the beginning of my internship here I have realised how important exposure,
brand identity, publicity and overall marketing is for a small business trying
to expand their brand. Social media plays a huge role in this, through images
of new menus and food, upcoming events and news of the business, they help to
keep customers up to date with what is occurring at Lamont’s and further
encourage people to buy a Lamont’s product or book a ticket to the next event.
I
have been enjoying my internship at Lamont’s so far, having learnt numerous
skills over the time I have been here and I thoroughly look forward to what
comes next.
If anyone is interested in Lamont's, jump onto their website
