Perfect Search Media Internviews: Winter 2018

We’re swooning over our winter interns. Check out their intern interviews—ahem, internviews—and you’ll be swooning, too.

Katie Cavanaugh, Junior Copywriter

1) What's your favorite thing to do on your college campus? Give us your recommendations of the places to eat, drink, visit, etc.  

This could be completely untrue, but I heard Evanston has the most restaurants per capita than any other city in the United States. While I question the validity of this claim, I will contend that there are a lot of great restaurants around Northwestern. And I love to eat.

So, I'd recommend the big hitters: Edzo's for artery-clogging burgers and milkshakes, Andy's for a coma-inducing custard cone, Todoroki for all-you-can-eat sushi, and Bennison's Bakery for unreal maple bacon donuts. I often pair an indulgent meal with a walk along Northwestern's lakefill first, because it has beautiful views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago Skyline and second, for digestion. 

2) What's your favorite digital marketing task so far? What's something you're excited to learn more about in digital marketing?

So far, my favorite task has been coming up with blog posts ideas for the PSM blog. In order to come up with relevant, interesting content, I've been researching other blogs in the digital marketing universe.

In doing so I've learned the field is comprised of really smart people coming up with all sorts of interesting ways to engage users and optimize websites and campaigns. Going forward, I'm excited to continue learning more about the technical side of creating interesting, optimized content.  

3) What brand do you most admire for their digital marketing/social media/email marketing skills? Why?

Overall, I think whoever runs Spotify's marketing department is doing something right. I really loved Spotify's recent campaign showcasing their users' "quirky" listening habits. Who would have thought there would be a playlist called "Boozy Brunch" listened to by 3,455 people on a Wednesday during 2017? Not I - but I'm glad I do and now I might just listen to that playlist myself...maybe not on a Wednesday though. 

While this idea wouldn't neatly fit under the umbrella of digital marketing, delving into data to truly understand and then appeal to users is closely related to many digital marketing techniques and Spotify showcases the power of data very effectively in this campaign. 

4) If you could send a Valentine's present to any celebrity, who would it be and what would you send?

If I could send a Valentine's day present to any celebrity, I would send myself to Justin Bieber. I have great taste in food - not celebrity crushes. 

Paige Grantham, Junior Analyst

1) What's your favorite thing to do on your college campus? Give us your recommendations of the places to eat, drink, visit, etc.  

Although there's never anything too wild going on Loyola University Chicago's campus, there are some gems. Walking along the path next to the lake is the best stress reliever. For food, I suggest Bop N Grill, featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, which has unique burgers that are Korean style. If it's past 12 AM and you're looking for a "late night snack," Star Grill's carne asada tacos will hit the spot.

2) What's your favorite digital marketing task so far? What's something you're excited to learn more about in digital marketing?

Creating my first blog post was fun because I wasn't expecting to be involved in creative at this agency. It’s nice to work on different material each day to keep things fresh.

I'm excited to learn more about social media advertising. As an advertising major, those are the ads that most of my friends notice and question me about. I hear "how come I'm seeing ads for something that I left in my shopping cart?" all the time.

3) What brand do you most admire for their digital marketing/social media/email marketing skills? Why?

Airbnb's digital marketing efforts not only had an effect on me, but their 2015 Instagram campaign had amazing results. Not only was it great for their branding, but they got real results of consumer activity from it.

I recently had to unsubscribe from their email marketing list, because I was opening every message and spending all my time looking at different locations and travel opportunities. 

4) If you could send a Valentine's present to any celebrity, who would it be and what would you send?

I would send a voodoo doll to Leonardo DiCaprio. Leo is doing amazing things, especially in terms of climate change (plug: watch his movie on YouTube) and if I give him a voodoo doll of me, I would feel a hug when he hugs it. 

Amedeo Zanotti, Junior Business Development Associate

1) What's your favorite thing to do on your college campus? Give us your recommendations of the places to eat, drink, visit, etc.  

My favorite thing to do at our campuses—because Loyola is so awesome they have two campuses, one in Rogers Park and one by Michigan Ave—is to be involved in school activities and try new restaurants/bars out.

Luckily, Loyola always has university sports going on which are always really fun and there is a lot to do in both of the areas which is always entertaining. Oh, and schoolwork, of course. I love to do that too...

2) What's your favorite digital marketing task so far? What's something you're excited to learn more about in digital marketing?

My favorite task so far has been working with Tim to prospect for new clients. This is the area that I would love to learn more in. I am specifically interested in this area because it doesn't just involve skills that are acquired through knowledge but also involves interpersonal skills and being able to think on your feet and answer difficult questions. 

3) What brand do you most admire for their digital marketing/social media/email marketing skills? Why?

I admire brands that are represented only by a symbol or a color because they have done such a good job at brand marketing and raised awareness so much that people instantly recognize them. Examples include Apple, Lulu Lemon, Brooks Brothers, and Polo Ralph Lauren,

4) If you could send a Valentine's present to any celebrity, who would it be and what would you send?

If I could send a Valentine to any celebrity I think I would send one to Felicity Jones or Daisy Ridley because they are both rather attractive, cool, and their roles in the Star Wars movies are amazing. (Big Star Wars fan over here.)