Internship Report (Anjum & Asif Co) Free Essay Example

INTRODUCTION

Imported good and premium,luxury products happen to be a niche market in Pakistan,where brands approach a particular target audience that will be invested in their goods.These brands must of a sufficient quality to impress its target audience and address their ever-changing demands. At times,some brands fall short. This is where Anjum & Asif Co. comes in.

Anjum & Asif Co. has been a known name since over three decades with millions of loyal consumers nationwide.It is a family-owned business founded in 1974,synonymous with bringing quality consumer products from the top brands around the world.

It is mainly an imports-based company designed to promote various international brands. It has been providing services in distribution and marketing of many global food, cosmetics and personal care brands in Pakistan.

The group is determined to bring quality consumer brands from across the globe to a growing,diversified, local market. The group is growing and expanding with commitment to cater the local market by providing quality brands to the consumers.

The group primarily deals with premium,luxury-based products that aim to add value to a consumer’s lifestyle.The company imports,markets and distributes various brands and their products across Pakistan. They bring several internationally acclaimed brands to the table such as Langanese,Corolli,Del Monte,Jolen,Revlon,Aqua Coco,Pop Weaver,Rivo and La Espanola.

Anjum & Asif Co. has a strong team of extremely skilled professionals who bring the best in business with their expertise in various domains to cater the ever-growing needs of consumers as well as staying updated with the latest market trends.

DETAILS OF THE DEPARTMENT

• Department: Marketing Supervisor’s Name: Saqib Riaz
• Designation: Marketing Director
• Duration: 6 weeks

Functions of the Department

The work done at Anjum & Asif Co. is a result of the co-operation of various departments in the company. I was assigned to work in the Marketing Department,where I worked alongside my senior colleagues. Here,in this department,products to be marketed are divided into categories: beauty & personal care, and food & edible items. These two categories include a wide variety of brands. Each brand is allotted to a certain employee,who comes under the designation of Brand Manager. This Brand Manager reports to the Marketing Director,among whose tasks include managing the marketing department.

The Marketing Department at Anjum & Asif Co. strives to build and maintain a positive image of the company as well as the brands supplied by the company. They strive to promote these brands and their various products to the right target audience. The Marketing Department plays its major role in the company through many ways. Its functions at Anjum & Asif Co. are as follows:

• Distribution of products in profitable channels through trade marketing
• Working on advertising and promotions through advertisements in newspapers and magazines etc.
• Arranging PR events to promote brands.
• Tracking and managing engagements on social media such as Facebook and Instagram pages

Distribution of products in profitable channels through trade marketing Anjum & Asif Co. not only deals with importing internationally recognised products;it also distributes them through profitable channels. Distribution happens to be a very important function of the marketing department. After import,these products are received through shipping and kept at Kemari Port,where they await clearing from customs. After being cleared from the port by customs, they are transferred to a warehouse and then,the products are sent to the distributors,whose job is to supply these to the market. Places such as large-scale supermarkets (e.g Imtiaz,Carrefour) tend to be far more profitable to supply these products rather than small shops.

Working on advertising and promotions

Understandably,another core function of the marketing department is to promote and advertise its brands in the most effective and efficient manner. The way a product is advertised and promoted in the market,depends a lot on the target audience;the primary consumers who will be using this product. This will also affect its pricing. Since the brands imported by Anjum & Asif Co. have a certain target audience and a certain price point,they will be advertised in a certain way. The marketing department mostly focuses on promoting their allotted brands using BTL (Below The Line) approaches rather than ATL (Above The Line) approaches. This includes social media advertisements,campaigns,online competitions and give-aways.

Arranging PR events to promote brands

Yet another role of the department to further promote their brands is to arrange PR events. PR events include product-sponsored conventions an other events of the like.PR events are an excellent way for brand building and are very beneficial for spreading information about the brand through word-of-mouth. Inviting bloggers and influencers would further help in brand-building as these bloggers and influencers would ideally have a large following that would be very interested the brands and products the blogger would be using,and thus,the followers would want to try them too.

Tracking and managing engagements on social media

Based on the target audience and the demands of the brand,Anjum & Asif employs social media to advertise the brand’s products and to boost engagement through Facebook and Instagram posts. The Brand Manager looks over this aspect in part,but not totally. The social media of the brands is managed by an external media agency which takes into account the requirements of the marketing department and the needs of the brand,before posting on social media. In a way, The Brand Manager and the agency collaborate with one another to boost the brand’s visibility on social media.

Monitoring likes,comments and/or shares is also part of this task. The response of the audience towards social media posts is monitored and analysed for improvements and the management is debriefed about this,so that they could take appropriate actions to further boost engagement.

Connection with corporate objectives

A corporate objective or goal is defined as a certain goal that must be achieved by a company within a particular period of time. The corporate goals at Anjum & Asif include brand building and managing sales,which is where the Marketing Department plays an important part. The department aims to boost their following and brand loyalty through different advertising strategies,to make sure that consumers are attracted to the brands and their products,and are satisfied with their quality and benefits. Now,in order to boost the sales of these products,they must be available for the consumers to use through channels that would be most profitable to the company like large-scale markets. Other than that,the marketing department works on strategies to make the consumer more likely to buy its products over others. By distributing products in the required channels and promoting them through advertising campaigns and on social media,it helps to build the image of the brand(s) and helps to boost sales,thus aiding Anjum & Asif Co. in achieving their corporate goals.

Work performed during internship

I started my internship here in August 2019.My tasks at Anjum & Asif Co. required market visits and working alongside the Brand Manager to come up with marketing strategies in print and on social media. Anjum and Asif has allotted a Brand Manager for each brand under the three categories of products it deals with. I was assigned to work with the Brand Manager of Del Monte,a food-based brand which features canned fruit,canned juices and other edible items. My tasks as an intern included going on market visits with the Brand Manager to observe current marketing practices adopted by the company and its competitors. These visits were also required to gauge the availability and the visibility of the brand in the market.Based on the information and insight collected during these visits,input was given to the management on the areas that required improvement,so that the management could take appropriate decisions.

In addition,I worked alongside the Brand Manager to market Del Monte products in print and on social media. A part of my tasks was to brainstorm ideas for the making of Del Monte brochures and fliers,as well as discussing ways with the Brand Manager to market Del Monte products effectively. For example,Del Monte has recently introduced its olive oil range in the market. My tasks included surveying the market to see marketing and advertising trends and to discuss my input with the brand manager,so that further action could be taken .I was also assigned the task of monitoring likes,comments and shares on various social media platforms for Del Monte.

THEORIES LEARNED IN ACADEMICS AND THEIR APPLICATION

Concepts/Theories that were applied

Some of what I learnt in my courses at IoBM can be applicable to the work place. During my time as an internee at Anjum and Asif,I saw that many concepts learnt in my classes could be applied here.

Firstly,the concept of Target Audience is very important in any marketing-related field. I learned in the course,’Advertising and PR’,that each and every single product,be it food,drinks or even books,has a particular demographic group in the population that is more likely to consume it than others. This group of people is known as Target Audience. So,in order to effectively market or promote a brand,the message must be sent to and received by target audience.

The concept of the 4Ps of marketing,(namely: Product,Price,Promotion,Placement) which I learned in the courses ‘Advertising & PR’ and ‘Media Marketing and Management’, is something that helped me make sense of the marketing process. I saw that certain products are only promoted in a certain way and marketed to a particular target audience at a set price. In this case,Del Monte is a food based brand which sells canned fruit,canned fruit juices,sauces and other such items. But this brand only caters to a particular target audience and thus has to be promoted on the proper channels and a certain required way in order to appeal to the defined target audience.

Another relevant concept I saw being applied was of socio-economic class (SEC),that I learned in two courses: ‘Media Research’ and ‘Media Marketing and Management’.

SEC is divided into five categories:A,B,C,D E. What SEC a person fits in is based on the education and occupation of the chief wage earner in a household.With regards to Del Monte,all of its products are above Rs 100,such as Del Monte Pineapple Slices and Delmonte Fruit Cocktail,which both cost Rs 198 and Rs 260 respectively. This means it is clearly not targeting the masses,i.e. SEC D and E.Also,it promotes its products on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram and on a specific number of print magazines and newspapers,all of which would be applicable to a demographic that has regular access to print magazines and the technology to access social media websites. So,it caters to SEC A & B.

Yet another important concept that is applicable here is ‘top of the mind recall’. This refers to the idea that a certain brand remains ‘on top of the consumer’s mind’ because its marketing and advertising have successfully imprinted that brand’s image and idea into the consumer’s mind whenever he or she sees or thinks about a certain product. This idea,that I learned in the course ‘Introduction to Advertising and PR’ ,

is an important concept in marketing. A product is considered to have been successful in marketing itself if it succeeds in embedding its image and idea in a person’s subconsciousness through top of the mind recall. I learned that the strategies employed by the marketing department aimed to establish top-of-the-mind recall for the products.

New concepts/Theories that were learned

Along with everything I’ve learned,there are also some new concepts that I have learnt during my internship. Over the duration of this internship,I accompanied my colleagues to market visits to learn more about the brand’s visibility and to note the competitors marketing strategies. I learned about the concept of merchandising(not to be confused with merchandise). Merchandising is the arrangement and alignment of a certain product on a market shelf. This detail may seem trivial,but as I learned,it can make a big difference. If your product is placed an ideal position on the market shelf (preferably upfront and center),the buyer is much more likely to notice it that if it were placed in a corner,away from the eyes of the buyer. Successfully catching the eye of the buyer of the buyer is one of the ways to promote a product. In line with this concept,I also learned about secondary shelves,which are basically shelves to promote only a particular brand or product. These particular shelves are designed to be appealing and eye-catching,and are intended for the use of one particular brand or product,as they are labeled so.

Another important thing I learned was about HORECA. HORECA stands for Hotels,Restaurants and Cafes. HORECA happens to be a very important aspect of distribution for Del Monte. Since Del Monte happens to be a food-based brand,its products are readily used there like fruit cocktails,canned fruit etc. These products are usually supplied in bulk.

In addition,I learned about LMTs (Local Modern Trade) and IMTs (International Modern Trade). LMTs are local markets. They can range from small shops to large supermarkets. IMTs happen to be large-scale local or international supermarkets that supply a wide array of goods from a huge variety of brands. I learned how LMTs and IMTs form an important part of the promotion and marketing of the brand.

Furthermore, I learned more about the concept of ATL(Above The Line) and BTL(Below The Line) advertising and how both these approaches adopt different ways to advertise products. ATL advertising refers to advertising strategies that aim to have a wider reach,whereas BTL advertising refers to advertising strategies that aim to promote and advertise a brand to a targeted group of consumers. With regards to Del Monte,BTL advertising is adopted since this offers a targeted and specific approach to reach its required audience.

RECOMMENDATIONS

During my internship here in this company,I found the environment to be very professional and conducive to work. I learned a lot about marketing through interaction with my senior colleagues and catering to the right audience,based on their wants and demands.

While Anjum and Asif Co. has been in business since three decades and is internationally recognized as an emerging company, there are many ways through which the company can further enhance its profile in the emerging market of Pakistan. One of the ways it could do so is to focus more on the promotion of Del Monte’s newly launched Olive Oil range. The company would certainly benefit from promoting this newly launched product to further cement the brand’s visibility in the market.

In addition,it would be very beneficial for the company to increase its budget for social media advertising and promotion. In order to fully tap into the potential of today’s ever-changing market and the advancement of technology,social media can play a crucial role in modern-day marketing strategies. So,focusing more on promotion and engagement through social media would reap many benefits.

Yet another step could be to expand its channels and use a multi-channelled approach to marketing its products. The company could use various other ways for advertisement as well. Currently,Anjum & Asif Co. focuses on marketing and engaging its audience for Del Monte on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Strategies like in-game advertising and promoting ads on YouTube could be a good option for expanding its reach.