Marketing Mechanics Intern staff

Linde van Erp

2011-12-22T15:28:00.001+11:00

Good day! My name is Linde and I am a 20 year old Dutchie! For the past 5 months I’ve been living in Sydney, the city of dreams! Working as an intern at Marketing Mechanics has been a blast. It was my first time working fulltime for a marketing and advertising agency and the fact that it was abroad, thousands of kilometres away from home was exciting but scary at the same time. Di & Bonnie made me feel home right away with being so excited about us as interns. They are always in for a chat and make you smile with all their funny stories. In the office upstairs I have been working with the other interns Carmen, Evelien and Willem and my colleagues Marcel, Andrew and Giorgia. I loved the fact that there was always something going on, lots of work to do and that we could always ask about things we wanted to learn. I have learned so much from working at Marketing Mechanics. From radio-, TV-, print- and online advertising to personal development. Celebrating birthdays is what we are good at. It was great to sit around the table, eating the best cake and sharing stories with each other. Besides that I loved working with different nationalities and hearing about some Australian habits such as ‘The Housos’.

Overall both working at Marketing Mechanics and living in Sydney has made my year. I am in love with Sydney. It’s a city where everything is possible and where urban meets nature. The city that makes your day, every day. The city where all nationalities come together, where everyone can be excited about a racing horse, where you find furniture everywhere on the streets. A city that has playgrounds for adults, where everyone is fit, with good food everywhere same with beaches and parks.

Sometimes it’s because you want to share everything with your friends and family back home but then you realise you can share everything (pictures, videos, stories) except the experience.

But as you can read, I was living the good life in Sydney and working at Marketing Mechanics.

Thank you so much for this experience! And as it is the 22th of December it’s time to say: Merry Christmas and a Happy & Healthy New Year!

Carmen van Oort

2011-12-15T17:14:00.001+11:00

Hi! My name is Carmen van Oort. I’m a 21 year old Dutch girl and as I’m writing this blog, it’s my last day as an intern at Marketing Mechanics.

At the one hand this makes me sad. At the other hand – it means that it’s time to move on which means new adventures!

My time in Sydney and as an intern at Marketing Mechanics has been a great learning experience in many ways. I had never lived outside the Netherlands for such a long time before. It has taught me so much about myself, my friends and family, my life in The Netherlands but most of all about Australia, its citizens and its culture.

I must say I absolutely love Australia. The climate, the friendly and down-to-earth people, the surf dudes – it’s all so beautiful.

As an internship company, Marketing Mechanics suited me perfectly: A small team in a low-key environment. Working at Marketing Mechanics could get heavy sometimes but there’s always room for a chat and a smile.

Because of the variety of Marketing Mechanics’ clients every assignment differs from everything you’ve done before and with a little help from the marketing staff you’ll gain heaps of experience in every aspect of marketing.

Besides working, there’s always time to celebrate what’s to be celebrated. For example, I turned 21 during my time at Marketing Mechanics and Diane threw me a little birthday party! (see the photo’s!). It was so nice. Besides the delicious cake I got some presents. As I was not able to celebrate my birthday with my family and friends this meant so much to me!

I would surely recommend Australia, Sydney and Marketing Mechanics if you’re looking for gaining some work experience abroad.

Best,

Carmen van Oort, The Netherlands

G'day from Willem

2011-12-15T17:13:00.000+11:00

G’day!

Let me introduce myself. I’m Willem Weddepohl, a 22 year old student from the lovely country called the Netherlands. At the moment I’m studying Marketing in Breda, The Netherlands.

Let me take you back to the 23rd of August 2011. The beginning of my big adventure Down Under. My flight from Amsterdam – Hong Kong – Sydney was one of the easiest, longest flights I’ve ever made. I slept the whole journey so it was good! After a week of discovering the lovely city called Sydney I started my first day as a marketing intern at Marketing Mechanics. Exciting of course but also a bit scary! Luckily I had two lovely girls in my house (according to Marcel the famous Dutch house) who work at MM as well. So the first day Linde and Carmen were my lovely guides! Thank god they showed me were it was because I’d probably not have found the office! After an introduction to the colleagues Giorgia showed me around the office and building. Diane, Bonnie, Marcel, Andrew and Giorgia made me feel at home from the beginning. In the following weeks we worked on a lot of different marketing plans and together with the team we made it work! It’s always fun to be in the office. Di has always a good story about things that happened in the past. It’s always good to talk to Bonnie and help her. Upstairs (were we sit) we had a great time together with Andrew and Marcel. From Colombian music with Marcel, to Andrews iPhone and discussions on 2day FM. It was good to work in this company and I learned a lot about marketing, clients but most of all about myself.

Thanks for the awesome time at Marketing Mechanics!

Cheers,

Willem

With love from The Netherlands.

2011-12-01T16:24:00.001+11:00

…or Southampton if you please. It has been nearly four months since I have left Marketing Mechanics and ten months since I first set foot in the office. The fact that I am still prepared to write a blog about my time at MM might give you an indication of my fondness for the place.

If you are thinking about starting your internship at MM, go for it! You will never find anything like it. There will be times of laughter, there will be times you would like to rip the hair out of your scalp but there will always be a great team to work with.

Marketing Mechanics provided you with hands on experience in the ever-changing industry of marketing. Interns mainly work individually whilst being supervised by management. The company has an open door policy and provides feedback and guidance where necessary.

My internships has provided me with a diverse range of marketing skills but has also contributed to my professional conduct.

All in all it was an amazing time and if I had the chance I would do it over again.

Yvonne Lemmen

2011-12-01T16:23:00.000+11:00

My name is Julia Stark, I am from Germany and study Information management in Neu-Ulm, which is located in Bavaria. My studies are split in 3 different parts, information technology, economics and design. Last July I got the chance to study for one semester in Sydney, Australia at Mac Quarie University. I took 2 subjects, Public Relations and Organizational Planning. In addition I undertook an internship at Marketing Mechanics twice a week from 21.08.2007 until 31.10.2007 . At Marketing Mechanics I hade the chance to deepen my theoretical knowledge into practical knowledge. My main tasks were Website reviews, writing Marketing plans and designing different advertisement for their clients. I got the chance to see Marketing from a different angle. I am very glad getting to know the Australian working environment which is very different to the German one. People are very friendly, helpful and appreciate your work. I really enjoyed working with the Marketing Mechanics team and I will always remember them in a very positive way! End of January I will go back to Germany finishing my studies but I am sure that this wasn’t my last time in Australia!Thank you for your encouragement! I enjoyed a lot working in your team!

Suling van Roy

2011-06-10T11:06:00.006+10:00

Hi there, my name is Suling and I'm from the tiny country that people call the Netherlands /Holland/Dutchland (according to the French).

When I first got the opportunity to do an internship abroad, I thought to myself: ‘I have to get away from home as far as possible.’ At the time, I wasn’t sure if I was being adventurous or just plain suicidal.

But luckily, my adventure began when I received the opportunity to do an internship at Marketing Mechanics. When I finally got off the plane in Sydney (alive, thankfully), I knew I was never going to return home the same after 4 and a half months.

First off, I’d to thank Diane & Bonnie for their help, encouragement and feedback. It was great working with you guys and thanks for accepting my awkwardness. I’ve learned so much from this experience, being in such a different working environment(the Aussie 'No Worries' motto) and getting to know so many different clients (it was definitely intimidating to be in such direct contact with some of them)

Thank you Andrew for introducing me to the company on my first day and showing me how everything works in Marketing Mechanics (and for saving me from my very disorientated second day -___- )

I will miss making coffee (soup) for my lovely coffee-addicted colleagues, Marcel & Giorgia. Thank you guys so much for your insight in marketing and design.(thanks Marcel for curing my phobia for html, I still hate it, but not as much as I did before =D) Thanks Giorgia for introducing me to the Frankie magazine, another thing to look out for when I'm back in Holland. I wish you guys all the best!

Special note to former fellow intern: Bianca, if you’re reading this, du bist toll!!!(Please don’t laugh at my german) It was great working with you and thanks for being such a good friend!

Now that my time in Australia is coming to an end, I feel like I’m going back to a different world I don’t really recognize anymore. I might pick up my old life back in The Netherlands, going back to the same old routines, but Australia & MM will always have a great influence on me, no matter where I am. I will remember it as the place where I grew up and as a turning point in my life. I seriously can’t think of a better way to enter my twenties and leave my teenage years behind.

Thank you guys so much for everything!

Suling van Roy, The Netherlands

We'll miss you Anne!

2009-12-18T17:18:00.008+11:00

Thru this blog I'd like to thank Bonnie Senior, Diane Costa and Sandy Leong for the amazing time I had. I have learned allot, actually more than I could ever imagine learning from an internship. Marketing Mechanics has given me all the opportunities to learn what I want and has trusted me in the ideas and things I have done for the company.

Becuase of this internship I really found out that I want to run my own business. I learned how to work together with other people, and taking care of projects, working with real deadlines and challenges to improve myself.

The last five months were the most exciting, most instructive and most fun months of my life and I really hope to return some day to Australia and hopefully with a good running business!

I can recommend an adventure like this to everybody and I am going to miss the team!

Anne, Nederlands. Dec 2009

Jaap from the Nederlands - Graphic designer

2009-07-02T15:43:00.005+10:00

Jaap looking like a young punk Rod steward at Sydneys famous Gay & Lesbian MardiGras!

After the first day of his internship, Jaap already thought he was the boss :)

Today is my last full day in Australia (for the moment), and I’m having a lot of mixed emotions. I’m really happy I can go back to the Netherlands and see my friends, family and girlfriend again but on the other side I’m really sad I have to say goodbye to everybody here, however, I wouldn’t feel this way if the past six months would not have been as good as they where.

Like fish and chips or… peas and carrots, or………… Friday night and football, some things just go well together, and I felt like that with Marketing Mechanics. It all worked very well and I learned so much, and not just about design. I just couldn’t have asked for a better company.

I’m very grateful for the freedom and influence Bonnie and Diane gave me, in order to make my work a lot more pleasant, and the end result to be good. Brainstorming with Diane was great and Bonnie’s critical eye, however sometimes a little bit frustrating, especially when you think you’re done, improved the end result many many times and I learned a lot from that ;-)

Many thanks to Sandy as well, traveling alone to Australia and a city as big as Sydney can be intimidating so having such a friendly colleague is really a big relief ;-)

Aaron, Asa, Jurjen and Silke completed the team and I had a great time with everybody. Thanks heaps guys.

I don’t know when I will return but I’ll definitely come back to Australia, because the last half year was just amazing. Will it be as tourist or as a employee? Time will tell ;-)

Thanks all, and we’ll stay in touch.

Jaap

Aaron from the UK and Asa from Sweden

2009-06-12T17:57:00.008+10:00

diane

From left
Jurjen, bon, Jaap, diane, Aaron
Asa and Sandy
A good aussie Lunch!!! Fish & Chips. MMMmm

Aaron and Asa

A Note From Aaron......

Having managed to navigate my way from the UK via the US, Fiji and New Zealand I arrived into the land of opportunity that is Australia, determined to start my career.

Diane and Bonnie gave me that opportunity to begin my marketing career with the innovative and charismatic marketing and advertising agency that is Marketing Mechanics!

Under the careful mentoring of Di, Bonnie and the watchful eye of Sandy, (who deserves a special mention for putting up with me for so long) Marketing Mechanics certainly gave me a well rounded insight into how a marketing agency should be run, simultaneously developing a number of key skills which I will take into my career upon my return to the UK.

Add this, to the creative brainpower of fellow colleagues Jaap and Jurjen and you really have a team driven to succeed.

According to many sources, “Variety is the spice of the life” and at Marketing Mechanics, you get that in abundance! From writing proposals for new and existing clients to baby sitting celebrity dogs, there’s never a dull moment!So I wish Di, Bonnie, Sandy, Jaap, Jurjen, Asa and Silke all the best in the future!

Kind Regards

Aaron

dec08

2008-12-20T11:04:00.008+11:00

Hey there,
My name is Vanessa and I’m from Germany. Currently I am studying International Business at the European Fachhochschule Fresenius in Idstein. Since my study requires me to do an internship overseas I decided to come to Australia. and that is how I was lead here to “Marketing Mechanics”.

My internship at Marketing Mechanics was a great opportunity for me to gather new knowledge in the field of marketing. Some of the tasks included things like marketing proposals, competitor analysis, designing layouts and templates, working with adobe photoshop and illustrator.

Bonnie, Di & Sandy are fantastic and a lot of fun to work with.
Thanks again for everything!
Vanessa

2008

2008-12-20T10:56:00.006+11:00

Sandy, Vanessa & Lise @ the xmas party Lise!

Hi, my name is Lise and I come from France। Currently I am a student in a Business school and I had 6 months to do an internship overseas. Going to Australia was a dream for me and I decided to fulfill it. As I would like to take marketing specialization, I thought it was a good idea to have a professional experience in a company specialized in it. So Marketing Mechanics was the perfect one because I could really discover the practical marketing. I lived a great time, people are really friendly and I would never forget my time there.

2008-08-13T12:02:00.017+10:00

Hello, I’m Nadine, from Germany. I finished studying last year in October. I studied business information systems in Karlsruhe (Germany). So I did a lot of software development the last few years. And because I liked Marketing in uni I decided that I wanted to do an internship in marketing to get some practical experience and to see how I’ll like it…

And so far, that’s how I found my way to Marketing Mechanics. I really enjoyed the last two month in this agency. I learned at lot of different things - I created marketing proposals, collated informations and statistical facts via then internet, helped with design and web briefs and created webpage’s with templates - many things I didn’t know before.

Sandy showed me a lot of new things especially in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator (Thank you for that). Bonnie, Di and Sandy were so friendly and nice to me. It was a pleasure to work with them… I wish you guys all the best for the future! You’ll definitely hear from me again! ;-)

Thank you for everything! Nadine

2008-05-30T11:39:00.008+10:00

Hi there,
My name is Dani and I am from the United States, Missouri to be exact. As of this May, I have just completed my degree in advertising at Macquarie University in Sydney. Amazingly enough I was placed in an internship at Marketing Mechanics to fulfill some of my degree requirements. I just have to say it was awesome. Way better than sitting in a classroom and pretending to pay attention to the lecturer (not that I don’t ;). I couldn’t have asked for a better placement. My experience here has truly expanded my marketing and advertising techniques and taught me heaps. Bonnie and Di are not only great supervisors, but great people. It’s because of my experience with them and all the people I met at Marketing Mechanics (Sandy, Christian…even though he is returning to Germany) that I have decided to return to Sydney to live for who knows how long (that’s right I bought a one way ticket at the end of July, yikes). It is at this time that I fully intend on bothering everyone here and making them show me around, sorry ladies. Well, what else can I say other than I loved working here and know I have had an experience that will not only further me in my career opportunities, but be an experience I will never forget!

CHEERS!

2008-05-21T15:51:00.005+10:00

bonnie & chris's cake eating competition!

OK Chris, you DO look like Superman!

Sandy & Chris

Hey there,

My Name is Christian and I am from Germany. Studying business administration in Wiesbaden, this semester was scheduled as my practical semester. As I already worked in a German advertising agency for two and a half years, I decided to follow this profession and additionally go abroad to improve my English. Sydney was my first choice based on great experiences I made on a holiday 5 years ago. Fortunately, I ended up at Marketing Mechanics. :-)
Beside the great people working here, I gained a lot of new marketing and advertising experience. In my previous job I had mainly be involved in the routine day-to-day business, but at Marketing Mechanics I got the chance of working on conceptual designs which was very interesting and fun. Additionally I learned a lot about online marketing, a field that I did not work in before.
Used to the German working environment which is definitely a bit rougher than the Australian one, I also enjoyed having the daily finishing time always on time and the opportunity of exploring a bit of Australia. :-)
Without any doubt I’ll be back in Australia one day to discover the parts I did not see so far. And on this occasion, I will also check if Diane and Bonnie achieved their goals with Marketing Mechanics. But I’m sure they will… ;-)
See you soon…
Christian

2008-05-21T15:51:00.001+10:00

My name is Julia Stark, I am from Germany and study Information management in Neu-Ulm, which is located in Bavaria.
My studies are split in 3 different parts, information technology, economics and design.
Last July I got the chance to study for one semester in Sydney, Australia at Mac Quarie University. I took 2 subjects, Public Relations and Organizational Planning. In addition I undertook an internship at Marketing Mechanics twice a week from 21.08.2007 until 31.10.2007 . At Marketing Mechanics I hade the chance to deepen my theoretical knowledge into practical knowledge. My main tasks were Website reviews, writing Marketing plans and designing different advertisement for their clients. I got the chance to see Marketing from a different angle. I am very glad getting to know the Australian working environment which is very different to the German one. People are very friendly, helpful and appreciate your work. I really enjoyed working with the Marketing Mechanics team and I will always remember them in a very positive way! End of January I will go back to Germany finishing my studies but I am sure that this wasn’t my last time in Australia!

Thank you for your encouragement! I enjoyed a lot working in your team!

Anna

2008-03-04T10:09:00.000+11:00

Hi there!

My name is Anna, I come from Poland and back in 2007 I had an opportunity to spend few months in Marketing Mechanics Agency as an intern.

I was just about to finish my studies at Uni in Sydney when my MM journey started. I knew from the very beginning how lucky I was to undertake professional experience in such a great place. It gave me the chance to get to know the industry that I was studying and I was free to put my theoretical knowledge into practice. During my placement at MM I was involved in many absorbing projects and tasks like marketing research, market analysis, generation of client SEO reports, copywriting, campaign development etc. I gained a lot of benefits as I developed some skills like business awareness, flexibility, initiative, team work, communication, problem solving, analytical, learn new technical and social skills. I also had an opportunity to meet great people like Bonnie, Diane, Edwina, Sven and Mar.

Bonnie and Diane you are great !!! I hope we will catch up some day in Europe
Many thanks for your help and encouragement.

Martijn

2008-03-04T10:07:00.002+11:00

Martijn was with us for 3 months, from September to December 2007. He has since returned to the Netherlands and will be finishing his marketing degree later this year.

Philine's Farewell

2008-02-27T15:51:00.001+11:00

Isabelle

2008-02-27T15:49:00.003+11:00

Isabelle was with us for 3 months in early 2007. She sent us these pictures from her travels once she left us. She is now back in Germany.

Sven

2008-02-27T15:46:00.003+11:00

Sven from Germany spent time with us in late 2006. If you are reading this Sven, let us know what you are up to!

Jason

2008-02-27T15:40:00.003+11:00

Jason spent 3 months with us at the end of 2006. All the way from Connecticut, USA !

Mar's Birthday

2008-02-27T15:32:00.003+11:00

Mar spent 3 months with us in 2006. She has since returned to Spain. If you are reading this Mar, update us!

Robert

2008-02-27T15:14:00.004+11:00

Robert spent about a year with us in 2006-2007. He has since gone onto work for a digital marketing agency.

Kirsten's Birthday

2008-02-27T15:02:00.003+11:00

Baby Kangaroos!

2008-02-27T14:53:00.004+11:00

Ricky

2007-11-14T11:02:00.000+11:00

I'm Ricky the "Brazilian guy", I worked there for a few months, and had to leave because my visa expired. I have only good memories of Marketing Mechanics, the great environment, great people, and extremely good professionals. One of the reasons I have these memories, is because Marketing Mechanics was where I first started my career, and thanks to them (Di and Bonnie) I am where I am today. I opened my own ad agency in back in brazil and we are expanding to other states already. If you guys wanna check it out, go to my website, www.hificomunicacao.com (unfortunately its in Portuguese only! )

Julia

2007-10-31T15:14:00.000+11:00

My name is Julia Stark, I am from Germany and study Information management in Neu-Ulm, which is located in Bavaria.
My studies are split in 3 different parts, information technology, economics and design.
Last July I got the chance to study for one semester in Sydney, Australia at Mac Quarie University. I took 2 subjects, Public Relations and Organizational Planning. In addition I undertook an internship at Marketing Mechanics twice a week from 21.08.2007 until 31.10.2007 . At Marketing Mechanics I hade the chance to deepen my theoretical knowledge into practical knowledge. My main tasks were Website reviews, writing Marketing plans and designing different advertisement for their clients. I got the chance to see Marketing from a different angle. I am very glad getting to know the Australian working environment which is very different to the German one. People are very friendly, helpful and appreciate your work. I really enjoyed working with the Marketing Mechanics team and I will always remember them in a very positive way! End of January I will go back to Germany finishing my studies but I am sure that this wasn’t my last time in Australia!

Thank you for your encouragement! I enjoyed a lot working in your team!

Welcome!

2007-10-31T10:57:00.000+11:00

Hi There!

Welcome to the Marketing Mechanics Interns blog! We have set this blog up especially for our wonderful interns to post updates on their experiences, pictures, and where they are from.

Currently, Marketing Mechanics has 4 interns - Julia from Germany, Nikoletta from Hungary, and Martijn and Vincent from the Netherlands.

Previously we have has interns from Italy, Spain, China, America, France and Austria.

Stay tuned for more updates!