Working with the Coles campaign team
My name is Laura, and I completed my Industry-Based Learning (IBL) placement at Coles Supermarkets. To answer your first thought; no, I didn’t get an IBL position to learn how to stack shelves or serve at a check-out and no I didn’t have control over the amazingly catchy “Down Down” jingle.
I did, however, make up part of the campaign planning team in the marketing department, working behind the scenes to continue building and managing the brand of one of Australia’s largest retailers and top-of-mind organisations in the supermarket industry.
When I began working with the Campaign Planning team in August of last year, I thought I would merely be doing marketing plans and SWOT analyses which I had already spent three years of my life doing at university. I could not have been more wrong!
Instead I was thrown into a world where opportunities were presented to me left, right, and centre, with the ability to coordinate and engage with other marketing communication teams, including advertising, design, in-store marketing, the catalogue department, digital and public relations to name a few. I was also able to apply my design skills and knowledge across multiple projects, and worked together with in-house designers and external creative agencies.
I quickly learnt that marketing is not an industry which is static, but is dynamic and ever changing, allowing for growth in both skills and knowledge. My placement has taken me beyond the textbook pages and has allowed me to apply the knowledge and theory learnt in my course to practice.
I was given the flexibility to run projects which, in turn, improved my communication and networking skills, how I work with others and encouraged independent learning. How many students can say they had the opportunity to take charge of projects that have national exposure to millions of potential viewers? I can!
Before I began my internship at Coles I was confused about how I could integrate two different industries into one dream job. I thought I knew what areas of marketing I wanted to work in; however, got overwhelmed with the different marketing titles and what they really meant. My IBL experience opened my eyes to new career possibilities I wouldn’t have thought existed, and has influenced me to use both my majors in one role.
Now I know which roles to apply for when I complete university, invaluable learning that only experience provided by my IBL placement could have shown me.
Find out more about Industry Engaged Learning at Swinburne
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