How does it feel to work for a company you adore?
After constantly applying for internships and getting rejections, or not hearing anything back for 2 months, I received an email from New Balance inviting me to an interview for the role of CRM and Email Marketing Intern. I didn’t know what CRM stand for at that point…
Now, almost a year after joining the team, and taking responsibility of sending all full-price emails across the EMEA region, I sure do know what CRM stands for (Customer Relationship Management) However, neither my experience in New Balance nor the acronym itself are self-explanatory in my opinion, so here is an attempt to make it slightly more explanatory:
I’ve always wanted to work for a fashion/retail company. And New Balance! it w as the perfect match for me (I’ve always had a thing for 990s), and CRM appears to be what I’ve been looking for for years. CRM is the ideal combination of strategic thinking, data analysis, and creativity. As someone who has only had experience in more creative areas (social media, content creation, etc.) but has always had an analytical side, I found CRM to be absolutely fascinating, because it essentially involves looking at data, trying to improve and perfect the dataset, and strategizing campaigns based on the needs of the customers, with the primary goal of providing the best NB experience possible.
More tangibly, the CRM team aims to increase registrations (contacts signed up via web) Target consumers with the messages they need and desire (personalize emails based on demographics and past interests) and strive to retain the data in excellent form for the first two goals. Getting to know the consumer as well as possible in order to provide them with the most relevant experience possible. For campaigns, the CRM team briefs the marketing team and we have a lot of creative freedom here, so we may request creatives and copy in any way we believe would work best.
I took advantage of any opportunities to learn more and take responsibility as I was so enthusiastic about the business and wanted to gain as much as possible from the experience. I was given the chance to undertake a great deal of responsibility and even to manage projects on my own. After six months, neither I nor my boss manager wanted this to end, therefore it was extended to a year.
Do I have any regrets?
Short answer: No. I learned A LOT, I mean A LOT from this internship. But there are certain things I would do differently if I could start over. The most important thing would be to focus on studies as much as I did on the internship, especially in the first semester, which I don’t regret because it taught me a lot and brought a lot of lovely people into my network, but I do need the diploma at some point.
Would I recommend an Internship at New Balance?
Definitely! I loved working there (can’t even call it an internship) I enjoyed it a lot and I learned invaluable things that can’t be replaced, it made me really confident about my future career, and I found the field that I want to thrive in, what else can you ask for?
However, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.