My First Meeting with London Marketers

Hi! I am Michelle, the new intern at MintTwist. I am a marketing student from Hong Kong, soon to become an exchange student at the University of Leeds. So, before the spring semester starts, I will be having a winter internship at this amazing digital marketing agency in Old Street.

Marketer Shines

When I first started my business degree at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, I wanted to take accounting as my major as everyone around me told me that the profession will guarantee me a stable career. However, an introductory course to marketing, that I originally took for fun, has persuaded me to change the career I wish to pursue. I want to be a marketer. That course is called Social Marketing. It is about the social responsibilities that marketers have and incorporates case studies of how irresponsible marketers have caused problems for our community. I can still remember that our first lesson started with an inspiring question: Why does every firm need a marketer? A lot of students raised their hands to give answers like ‘to help the company boost sales’ or ‘to support the firm in generating a larger profit’. Indeed, marketers are everywhere because they are people who spread (usually) wonderful messages. Whether it is a new product or an upcoming event, marketers are duty bound to inform the public that something is available in the market that can improve their quality of life. A marketer for dish cleaning detergents does not only tell you that their product can wash away oil stains on dishes - they are here to remind you that there is a step you can take to secure your loved ones’ health. This is the main reason I would love to become a marketer in the future: to become the angel who announces the good news!

Digital Marketing at Minttwist

This is my first internship at a marketing agency and I am glad that it is MintTwist. This agency has a great team of professionals who are experts in SEO, Content Marketing and PPC. My internship here exposes me to the latest trends in digital marketing and allows me the precious opportunity to work with clients from a wide range of industries – broadening my horizons as a result. A great part of my daily tasks involves blog writing, which I find very interesting. Sometimes I share practical and useful information with readers, other times I report fascinating stories that are happening on the other side of the world. However, it is not easy to keep every article engaging for readers (and I am thankful that you have been reading my boring article up till this point!). I was not particularly confident about blog writing at first, as English is not my mother tongue. I was worried that my essay would fall apart due to inaccurate grammar or incorrect usage of vocabulary. Luckily, my supervisors have provided valuable feedback on my work and allowed me time to make modifications. Another part of my job is to learn about search engine optimisation (SEO), which is not as simple as it sounded. I have been using Google as a search engine since a very young age, however, I just realised that what I know about Google is just the tip of an iceberg!  To get your clients’ websites up on the Google search ranking, you need to understand how the complicated Google bots function. Once again, I must thank my colleagues for being patient in helping me solve all the questions I have in mind.

London VS Hong Kong

It doesn’t feel appropriate to begin thinking about post-work entertainment at this time of day! However, I found an interesting difference in the habits Londoners and Hong Kongers. Londoners prefer to go for drinks on Friday nights and hang out with friends. They start to get into their holiday vibes by kicking off with a little beer at 4:30p.m! I guess most of them enjoy their alcohol as the new year’s resolutions for many is to complete Dry January (staying away from alcohol for one whole month)! Like London, Hong Kong is a very busy city during the working hours on weekdays. On Friday evenings, rather than going crazy for drinks – Hong Kongers go crazy for food! They usually go for hotpot during winter - putting all the possible ingredients that you can imagine into boiling soup – resulting in a mini buffet! After dinner, they would go for desserts. The Hong Kongers are so in love with food that they do not mind queuing up for an hour and a half, just to get a waffle! And that is how they spend their weekend, looking for more food. Despite the little cultural differences, I have enjoyed working in London and experiencing a completely new culture. My friendly colleagues have welcomed me warmly and helped me adjust to my new life. In the upcoming weeks, I wish to improve my digital marketing skills while simultaneously making new friends in our incredible team.