Julia’s Marketing Internship
As I begin the new semester, I wanted to take the time to reflect and share all that I have gained from working in my first marketing role!
This summer, I worked as a Marketing Intern at Lectra. This was my first professional job and role within the marketing field and I am excited to share all I have learned through this internship position. I gained new professional skills to further my professional knowledge and gained experience and insights working in a marketing based job. It was a privilege to learn from such a great team and I am so greatly appreciative for the opportunity I was given to work for Lectra.
Lectra, is a technology and software company focusing on being ‘the face behind the brand’. Working with top fashion and furniture companies, there was so much to learn! Lectra allows companies to utilize “a technological journey towards the evolution of our society and our industries, powered by Industry 4.0. Software, equipment, data and services at Lectra, is a major player in the fashion, automotive and furniture markets, contributing to the Industry 4.0 revolution with boldness and passion by providing best-in-class technologies. By enabling industrial intelligence solutions, ‘they’ facilitate our customers’ digital transformation.”
Lectra is a global company located in over a hundred countries, with their headquarters based out of Paris, France. Within my role, I worked for the Americas marketing team, working with colleagues across both North and South America. In the United States, I was able to connect and work with colleagues in Connecticut, New York, Chicago and Atlanta. Outside of the United States, I was able to connect with colleagues from both Mexico and Brazil as well. Working within such a large region, I was able to take away additional knowledge and skills from these team members.
Through this ten-week internship, there was so much to grasp from both the assignments I was given and the colleagues around me. Within my role as a marketing intern, I worked to support data enrichment operations to build a strong database to be leveraged to run digital campaigns for the company's three main markets: Fashion/Apparel, Furniture and Automotive. I worked to build a strong database to better know customers, analyze the marketing databases and determine target audiences properly for marketing campaigns.
I took charge of North America’s data quality and built a reliable and accurate database within my role. I was given the opportunity to attend different training sessions for the software platforms used by the team to both enhance my skills and assist me in my role. I used databases such as Dun & Bradstreet, Salesforce, Zoom Info and LinkedIn to enrich the teams client accounts. I attended training sessions for these platforms and through this, I was able to develop a stronger software skill set. I developed and analyzed reports to show the progress of the database improvements and mainly used Salesforce, which is a customer relationship management (CRM) system, to update client accounts. The platform focuses on sales, customer service, and marketing analytics as I used it to update our marketing team data within the contacts and accounts. Within my summer at Lectra and through Salesforce, I converted over 1,100 leads to contacts within our systems. Additionally, I updated or added over 800 job functions and over 600 department functions to existing contacts.
Having good clean data and contacts for the marketing team is crucial. It’s important to reach as many clients as accurately as possible. When having clean data, emails sent out on a weekly basis will be ensured to be sent to the right contacts. Additionally, it assists the sales team as well when having accurate data and contacts within the accounts they work with. Having the correct job function is important for the marketing team when contacting their clients. This helps to know what field the contact would be more interested in and what materials best pertain to them. Similar to the job functions, having the correct department is important for the marketing team to have when contacting their clients.
Additionally, I assisted the marketing operations manager, Deb Paggoli, with specific projects and assignments in various database tasks. Within her role, she heavily used Marketo, which helps to streamline and manage marketing tasks through multiple different channels. Additionally, it helps to increase efficiency and enhance marketing efforts. Through this, I was able to sit in on training sessions in Marketo and learned new skills in marketing planning. I worked within the marketing calendar and learned the importance of organization for upcoming campaigns and events.
Finally, I did multiple research projects looking into current market trends and industry shifts to report to the management team. I worked to share new innovative textile trends and how companies are revolutionizing to create more sustainable alternatives. I shared how we can better market and strategize campaigns to reflect the changing market and how new union and labor prevention acts could affect the fashion market.
Key Highlights:
Intern Lunch-ins: Once a week I was able to connect and network with other interns in separate departments for a ‘Lunch and Learn’ session. Here, I was able to gain further insight into different trainings within other departments. Presentations were done each week by different departments and I was able to gain a broader perspective of the company as a whole and the different types of work that my colleagues were doing.
The Use of New Platforms: Learning how the marketing team uses Salesforce, Zoom Info, and Marketo was really important and three new skills I can take away. I enjoyed the training sessions I was able to attend and appreciated the additional opportunity to learn.
Marketing Planning: I learned how to properly plan and coordinate for upcoming email promotions and more within the marketing team and weekly meetings. I saw how important it is to plan in advance, stay organized and properly communicate with the team so everyone has the same understanding for when promotions and campaigns are occurring.
Marketing Data: Learning how to work with, update and change accounts was key to this role as I created contacts and updated valuable information. The use and learning about Industry 4.0 was key for working for a company that is front lining this new trend. It signifies the next phase in the digitization and manufacturing sector.
Market Research: Researching current and new textile and marketing trends and reports will no doubt assist me within future roles. As I continue to make my way into both the fashion and marketing space, having this previous background and knowledge will be most beneficial.
Overall, I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to have been able to obtain this role. The experience I will be able to take away is invaluable and I appreciate the marketing team and Lectra as a whole for creating such an amazing opportunity and environment to work in. I look forward to what's ahead and am excited to continue on my professional journey.
As I embark on my fall semester at the University of Rhode Island, I'm pleased to announce that I have accepted a part-time internship position with the BD Interventional - Surgery Business Unit procurement team as their Fall 2024 Procurement Intern. Additionally, I am thrilled to share that I have taken on a new role as a student ambassador with the University of Rhode Island - College of Business. I look forward to being more involved with the college, participating in events and panels, and working with both students and staff in this exciting capacity.
Thanks for taking the time to read!
Best Regards,
Julia Kobelski
