By: Elyssa Cherney
As a journalism major, I didn’t think I was cut out for the harsh world of marketing.
Journalists seek truth; marketing executives distort it. While journalists spur progressive change, the marketing industry is too caught up in the glitz and glamour of their 401ks to genuinely care about improving society.
Or so I thought before starting a summer internship with Davidoff Communications.
While I expected to do my share of filing, I didn’t count on having an experience that revolutionized my way of thinking. It took only one week to shatter my prior perceptions of the marketing industry and the way it fits into the world.
I was warmly welcomed on my first day at Davidoff Communications and immediately became part of the team. Instead of doing mindless tasks, I was entrusted with real work and I was counted on to deliver results.
It became clear that my coworkers would not just be cold faces I pass in the office—they were people who genuinely cared about me and would make an effort to be involved in my life both professionally and personally.
After I discovered that real human beings worked in marketing, I soon realized what they were working for.
While Davidoff Communications helps for-profit companies develop strategic plans and strengthen their brand, they also do a great deal of work with nonprofits. After attending a retreat with one of their nonprofit clients, I realized the colossal significance of firms like this.
By helping nonprofits reorganize and run more effectively as a whole, Davidoff Communications spreads the good these groups devote themselves to. In bettering the internal structure and external image of nonprofits, the firm betters the way that nonprofits communicate with and interact in our world.
In this sense, they play a crucial role in our society. They give back by helping these nonprofits give back more efficiently.
What I originally thought of as a self-serving industry turned out to be extremely selfless—devoting its resources to and aligning itself with important causes.
While I realize this reflection may seem like an overt advertisement for Davidoff Communications, I want to make it clear that publicity is not my intention here.
As a journalist we are taught to share stories and I think the story of Davidoff Communications is one worth telling. Over the next three months I hope to document my experience as an intern—one who was a complete outsider to marketing just a few days ago.
Along the way I hope to share my insights about the marketing industry, nonprofit work, and maybe some occasional complaints about filing. So, with all seriousness, fasten your seatbelts and prepare for the ride.
