The organisation where I completed my internship is called Havas Lemz. It is an Amsterdam based creative agency, specialising in creating meaningful brands. The company was founded in 2000, currently employing 51-200 people. The number varies due to the inconsistent amount of freelancers that are employed and their cooperation with their holding company Havas Groups. Havas Groups is a media company that operates in more than 100 countries with over 20,000 employees and is one of the largest global advertising and communications groups in the world. Havas Group is committed to creating meaningful connections between people and brands through creativity, media, and innovation by servicing its clients through a portfolio of specialist teams that span media, strategy, digital, data consulting, programmatic buying, performance marketing, mobile, out of home and geolocal, social media, experiential and entertainment.
I was positioned as a communication strategy intern. Strategy communication within Havas Lemz means working with the clients to understand the vision they have for their campaign and helping them communicate that vision successfully with strong strategic communication. Strategic communication is giving direction to a brand or organisation in the context of its surroundings. Knowledge, insight and overview of those surroundings are therefore important to make choices that give the greatest chance of success in a step you take.
A working day at Havas Lemz was almost always a good time. The overall work atmosphere at Havas Lemz is what I am most proud to have been a part of. Everyone is so positive, interested and kind. During a workday, people would come over and have a little chat. Personal spontaneous moments are valued and encouraged at Havas Lemz which I personally think all companies should value as much as the employees at Havas Lemz do. My workdays usually started with the Everyday call, where all the employees who are available have the chance to discuss how they are doing, what they are working on, and give a little life update if you felt like it. On Mondays after the Everyday call, we would have a call just for the strategy department where we discussed our workweeks in more detail, ask each other for advice and help balance the workload. Monday morning is always a busy call day because, after the Everyday and strategy meeting, I would call my internship advisor, this was the case every other week. I always enjoyed all the phone calls because during the pandemic it would sometimes be difficult getting to know the people you work with. My workdays usually consisted of working on a number of projects for different clients. The days were always filled with more than one task which was nice for the variety. The clients which I worked for the most were Intratuin, Pearle, CZ, and Bolletje. My tasks would mostly be market research in specific sectors, making summaries of interviews, performing analyses for surveys, creating insights, and researching consumer trends and competitors’ communication.
The most important thing which I have learnt from my internship is how to network and the importance of maintaining those relationships. I found that the best way to create a long term relationship with people is to not only create a professional relationship but also a personal one. Showing people around you who you are, your personality, values and ideas, is most effective. Just a professional relationship did not help me personally maintain a strong network. I realised that people do not only need to respect you for your work but also respect you because of the person you are. It is important to get to know people as a whole person, instead of just professionally. I got to know a lot of people through Havas Lemz and made not just professional connections but personal ones.
My advice to future students: speak up and open up to future employers and clients.