Marketing Internship

By Madeline Warren, Marketing Intern

When something life changing happens to you, that moment and how you felt sticks with you for a very long time. Engrained in your memory is every little detail about the short period of time that managed to have such a big impact on your life. That moment for me is when I got the email from Squam Lakes Natural Science Center offering me the position as Marketing Intern for the summer. I remember reading that email in the middle of my college campus’ bustling cafeteria and without a second thought accepting the position. The feeling of utter excitement that I was about to embark on a new journey by myself to a place I had never been before and live there for three months is still fresh in my mind. Now it is half a year later from that day in my college cafeteria. I have spent the past three months in the beautiful town of Holderness, New Hampshire interning at the Science Center and I am not ready to say good bye.

Over the past three months I have met more interesting people, taken more pictures, and learned more about marketing than I ever thought I would. Each day there was something new to be fascinated about in the field of marketing. One thing I became particularly fascinated with is how marketing creates an identity for a business by using a specific logo with specific colors and fonts. I knew companies used the same color and logos to advertise but I had no idea how specific a brand actually gets. It was my job at the Science Center to create posters for the different programs we were having like Natural Adventures, Up Close to Animal, lake cruises, lectures and more. Each poster was like a mini work of art for me. I would have to go out and take a picture that would be fitting for the event we were advertising for, and then follow the brand identity standards the Science Center uses for all advertisements. I doubt I will ever forget how a Lithos and Rockwell font looks, or the color of that Pantone light green and dark green we use in text.

Another ongoing project that struck my interest was the marketing research and demographic survey project that was the main focus of the internship. It was a little tedious going out on the trail and asking people the same four questions (how did you hear about the Science Center, How often do you visit, Are you a member, what is your zip code). However, after I had all the information and was able to sit down at my desk and analyze the data that was very interesting for me. I liked this project because I was able to bring new information to the marketing department and I felt like I was contributing to something much larger.

When I look at my life ahead of me I want to bring new ideas and information into this world. Marketing research tests the traditional strategies of advertising and creates new ones that help businesses advertise to the public better. I think I would like to pursue this field more and the Science Center has helped me get my foot in the door of marketing research through the demographic survey project. This internship experience has really helped me define my future goals. Before this internship I was confused at what specific field I would like to go into but marketing research is definitely something I would like to continue studying.

Half a year ago in my college campuses cafeteria when I accepted this internship my life changed. I would have never thought about a career in marketing research, or met such wonderful people, or learned so much about wildlife had I not taken this internship.