The Twin Cities are fortunate to be the home of a thriving marketing industry, including both agencies and the in-house teams of our major corporations. But it’s not the kind of industry that kids grow up dreaming about. There probably aren’t a lot of teen-agers who lie in bed at night thinking, “Someday, I want to be an account planner.”
Yet account planning is a tremendously challenging and rewarding job, calling for keen analytical and communication skills coupled with creative thinking. So it’s great to see the continued growth of the BrandLab, a nonprofit organization created to introduce local students to careers in marketing.
Through internships and in-school programs, the BrandLab has already exposed more than 800 students of diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds to the marketing business. This summer, 34 students will serve as paid interns at 21 Twin Cities agencies and corporations, including Target, 3M, Colle+McVoy, Olson and Carmichael Lynch.
But this summer, there’s a new twist. The latest crop of interns will go through a week-long boot camp before beginning their summer jobs. The BrandLab Summer Institute will offer cram courses in everything from business writing to personal grooming. Students will get face time with BrandLab Chairman Mark Addicks, chief marketing officer of General Mills, and hear about financial literacy from Chris Farrell of public radio’s “Marketplace.” They’ll even get an improv course from the Brave New Workshop.
“We look at theBrandLab internships as the path to their first job,” said EllenWalthour, executive director of the BrandLab. “This is not simply a feel-good program — the people who are hosting BrandLab interns are serious about hiring them for the long term, but only if they have what it takes to do it. And preparing them for their internships, so each kid will feel less nervous and scared on that first day, is the best start.”
At a kickoff event last week at Walker Art Center, Chris Roberts of Cargill stressed the need for companies and brands to bring divergent thinking to their work.
“The world will keep changing,” said Roberts, president of Cargill Kitchen Solutions. “To connect with consumers, we’ll have to think in different terms. Emerging markets are today’s Gold Rush – you need to blaze a trail in these new worlds.”
Roberts used the example of KFC, which began opening restaurants in China more than 20 years ago, at a time when many American companies hadn’t looked seriously at that market. Now more than half the profits of KFC’s parent Yum Brands come from China.
It’s a long road from a high-school internship in Minneapolis to business success in global markets. But it’s possible that one of these kids will become a leader who charts the course for one of our local marketing giants in the decades to come.
And even if things don’t play out that way for this summer’s intern crop, there’s no doubt that the experience will shape their lives for the better, no matter where their path leads. It’s great to see the Twin Cities marketing community embrace this worthwhile program.