Activation Intern – Allen & Gerritsen
Allen & Gerritsen is an ad agency located in Center City Philadelphia; they are the agency responsible for the Temple Made campaign. a&g strives to be the early adopters of new technologies and methods of reaching consumers. As the Activation Intern, I looked at the consumer experience as a whole – from when consumers first see our clients on social media or through an advertisement, all the way to when the consumer is buying the product or attending an event and the brand experience that goes along with it.
To understand the consumer experience, I analyzed Facebook and Twitter analytics. Additionally, I utilized Crimson Hexagon, a social media analytics software, to discover what other brands and topics our base liked or discussed on their social channels. With that information, we are able to determine potential opportunities – what brands we could partner with in order to reach our base at a new angle. The analytics I pulled helped the team and our clients see what worked and what didn’t, so we could better shape our digital strategy in order to maximize consumer engagement. Some of the clients I worked with were Dietz & Watson, XFINITY, and Caron.
I was able to support other departments during my time at a&g – Business Leadership, Business Development, and Labs, their Consumer Experience Research & Development department. Virtual reality, including Google Cardboard and Oculus Rift, Leapmotion, and drones were some of the technologies a&g had in-house that I was able to help test. The purpose of Labs is to invent new ways for brands and consumers to interact. In addition to testing new technologies, I looked for potential opportunities to utilize the technologies in campaigns for our clients or for the agency. I was involved with creating social content for Labs’s Instagram account. For the historical Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriage – we used a bread board, LEDs, and colorful wires to showcase a&g’s support for the decision. For the 4th of July, we used Hue light bulbs and a XBOX Kinect.
The internship was heavy on research and analytics. I researched and evaluated our competitors and kept the agency up-to-date on advertising and digital trends. Additionally, I helped plan and execute digital strategies and on-site activations for our clients.