GUESS South Africa, part of the FrontierCo stable, tasked three interns to come up with a marketing concept for the fashion house’s Instagram. This gave students the opportunity to tackle a ‘real-life’ marketing project from beginning to end, gaining on-the-job training and valuable experience.
FrontierCo’s Chief Marketing Officer, Carla Bornman, says, ““The internship brief was to create an Instagram idea that would increase our following. Being a global brand, we tasked interns to ‘think globally, act locally to drive relevancy and brand affinity, capturing the essence of our rainbow nation, Mzanzi style.
“Providing internships to fashion students, is great way to give young talent a chance to experience the ‘real’ working world. We provide training and mentorship so that they can gain exposure to our business and cross-functional teams, to learn new skill sets and gain valuable work experiences. GUESS benefitted too, as the interns contributed fresh ideas and insights which were paramount to our youth acquisition strategy, so it’s a win-win.” says Bornman.
GUESS Marketing Specialist, Adore Goosen, a former graduate says, “I was fortunate to be exposed to various internship programmes throughout high school and university. This experience prepared me for the career path I have chosen. An internship programme is a great opportunity to gain new skills, knowledge and exposure to various aspects of the business. It is also good for networking with industry professionals to build a credible contact base that you can use once you’ve completed your studies. From the company’s side, they can scout new talent to add value to their business,” says Goosen.
Mmanto Ramaila, one of the interns, says, “The most exciting part of this GUESS marketing initiative was project managing a campaign from beginning to end, which included research, ideation, presenting to senior management, planning and execution. It was so rewarding to see the end result.”
Intern, Danielle Behrens, says: “The most exciting part of this experience was working across departments including Buying, Planning, Visual Merchandising and Finance. The marketing project was a highlight, and it was a very proud moment to see the positive engagement from GUESS customers. One brand fan, @apriljacksonowl, wrote, “My favourite thing about this email marketing I received from GUESS, is not everything is pink (even though I do love pink), it is that this was composed by their interns giving new-comers a chance to show off their skills.”
The GUESS internship was a four-week programme and in that time, Interns created and executed 2 fashion stories – ‘Think Pink’ & ‘True Blue’
