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Interview: Charlie Smith @ INTERN

charlie-smith

INTERN sounds like a brilliant idea. Can you give readers a summary of what it’s all about?

Intern is a virtual creative advertising and marketing agency whose aim is to support small business at this difficult time by providing the services they need. For example: social media content and management, advertising strategy and creation, web site and logo design.

You must be super busy with your own course work at this time - what spurred you to come up with the idea and how many people are currently involved?

The Idea for the agency came when my mum received a courtesy call from the owner of the hairdressing salon she uses. The purpose of the call was to stay in contact with her clients. Like others, the salon had been forced to temporarily close because of COVID-19. The owner also mentioned that she was taking this time to do things she didn’t normally have time to do such as business planning and marketing. I realised that lots of small businesses were in a similar situation and we could help them. We are team of 7 students with a broad creative skill set.

How are you finding your current study situation due to Covid-19 precautions?

Actually, it’s ok. Our learning is very self-led, we are presented with a brief which we work on. We continue to receive the same support through online teaching, tutorials and discussion groups.

How have you found moving your learning process into an online space?

It hasn’t really affected the learning process as we still have lectures and personal 1 on 1 support sessions. The transition has actually been an extremely smooth one.

How are you feeling about the next 3 months? What do you hope to achieve?

I feel positive and excited because through INTERN we can help small businesses with their communication and advertising strategies, web site design and social media content.  In the current circumstances many small businesses cannot afford to pay for these services at the time they most need them. Our service is free of charge and we hope it will help businesses weather the current storm and be in good shape for the future.

Is there anything in particular that you are worried about?

No, I’m trying to keep a positive mindset.

What could the creative community do to help?

It can use its skills to help people and businesses survive. We all need to pull together to protect the economy. Work that they put in now will help ensure clients in the future.

What / Where would be your dream job or internship be?

That’s a very difficult question. There’s so much good quality work out there. I would like to work with cutting edge creatives to my develop my skills. 

Do you already have an idea of the companies you would like to work with?

I would like to work on the Lego account; I loved Lego as a child and the possibilities to play and create are endless. I would also like to work on the Guinness account as their advertising is iconic. Red Bull are also at the cutting edge of advertising.

What do you hope the INTERN initiative will achieve for yourself, the companies you work with and the wider student body at UCA?

As a team we hope that INTERN will provide us with practical work that we can put into our portfolios and practical experience. We hope to help businesses achieve their goals and be successful. As for the wider student body I hope that this gives them the confidence to follow through their ideas and to put themselves out there.

What is your message to struggling businesses and isolated students out there?

Hang in there – it will get better.  Help and support each other.

Name: Charlie Smith
Age: 19

Uni: UCA
Campus: Farnham
Course: Advertising
Qualification: BA (Hons)
Stage of study: Year 2 of 3

To find out more about INTERN and how you can get involved, follow @Interncreativeagency on Instagram.

👉 If you would like to post a guest blog on our page, please email info@ternheads.com and use the subject line ‘Guest Blog’

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