Stepping into the Advertising industry through an internship with Village Roadshow Theme Parks Presented by: KELLY MACLEOD for: Susie Ting
TABLE OF CONTENTS Week 1 and 2 Journal
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Week 3 and 4 Journal
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Week 5 and 6 Journal
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Week 7 and 8 Journal
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Week 9 and 10 Journal
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Week 11 and 12 Journal
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Portfolio Piece 1
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Portfolio Piece 2 Portfolio Piece 3 Portfolio Piece 4 Portfolio Piece 5
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There is no elevator to success... you have to take the stairs
WEEK 1 AND 2 JOURNAL Today is the day, Tuesday 9th September and I am starting my internship with Village Roadshow Theme Parks. As I have been an employee working for the company, under my home park at Australian Outback Spectacular for five years, I have been lucky enough to acquire an internship within the communications department. As I struggled to find an internship that I felt would be a perfect fit, I was blessed to work in a company that I had prior knowledge about and could easily adapt my already learnt skills in gaining new knowledge and indepth skills for the industry I want to be heavily involved in towards the near future. My first day began at 9am and finished at 4pm in the communications office situated at Movie World. The rollercoaster of emotions went something along the lines from feeling extremely excited, to nervous and then overwhelmed and ending the ride on “I’m so glad I am doing this”. I started my day as an intern and then soon became a sponge in accepting and taking all information on board from the professionals I was surrounded by. I knew I would be working with some of the industry’s most talented individuals; however I never expected to be thrown in the deep end as it was the company’s busiest time of year. However they say that is how you learn best, as I adopted the attitude of “fake it till you make it” with a positive approach in knowing the internship would help me in my future career within the industry. The first week of my internship involved meeting all staff in the communications department having lunch with Village Roadshow Theme Park professionals. This included the Brand Manager for Sea World and Sea World Resort, Brand Manager for Australian Outback Spectacular and Wet’n’Wild and the Brand Manager for Movie World and Paradise Country. As the company owns many different attractions and theme parks, there are multiple brand managers to focus on two theme parks each as the amount of work involved is more complex than I ever imagined. The Social Media Manager is new to the company and has only joined the department in July 2014. From having lunch with everyone and feeling extremely welcome, I was most nervous meeting the Corporate Communications Manager, as it was a position I hope to hold one day in the near future for a brand or global company, such as Chanel or Disney World.
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WEEK 1 AND 2 JOURNAL During my first two weeks in the internship, the activities I got to partake in were the following: Creating a log in account for Zendesk, a media and email platform that includes all social media posts, email enquiries and employers accounts to assign each email to the correct person. Zendesk is a newer platform that I got to learn and work on, similar to MailChimp. I really like the system and feel it is extremely organised to respond in a professional and polite tone to customers. The system states the time, day and type of enquiry (Facebook, Email or help-desk) -
- Created log in account for BOS (Business Organisation Solutions).A system used for Wet’n’Wild Sydney. This system was used during their very first season, however it has been updated and I got to learn the program very quickly with the IT department for a few hours training. The system includes all account holders, type of account (Silver, Gold or Platinum) and advertising materials for Wet’n’Wild Sydney. - The communications department holds weekly meetings to set goals, media schedules and important events held each week at all theme parks. I got to sit in majority of these meetings where there were no privacy issues and got to have my input and opinion heard which made me feel apart of a team and a little important. - As theme parks need to be very organsied as all advertising materials need to be organised at least 3 months in advance, I got to help out with Fright Night auditions held out to the New York Film Academy students in our studios as well as external actors from agencies around Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
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WEEK 1 AND 2 JOURNAL As my two weeks were complete I did not come across any major issues, as it was still quite new to me and stepped lightly on all toes in the office. The only minor issue I did come across was feeling a little overwhelmed and worried I did not attain enough skills in the industry to assist in major projects within the company. I knew entering the internship that from September right through till the following February, it is the company’s peak season and all major events fall within this period and that the company would be running full steam ahead. Fright Night for Halloween, White Christmas, Season 2 of Wet’n’Wild Sydney and a new show for Australian Outback were the major projects in terms of advertising and communications that I would be involved with. This also included film and advertising materials needed in a short space of time, which created stress along with university assignment stress. I knew I had to step up, put my head down and immerse myself in the industry as it wouldn’t get much more real than being in the office and part of a professional team. After speaking to the art studio and graphic designers, I realised my skills were quite limited in regards to InDesign and Photoshop. I have worked with the mentioned platforms before, however after watching what the professionals could do, I knew I had to learn a great deal more. I dedicated a few nights during the week to watch a few tutorials on Lynda.com and ask a few questions during my days at the internship in the art studio and definitely overcame a few simple and technical issues. It is amazing what google and people can teach you- if you just ask.
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WEEK 1 AND 2 JOURNAL
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WEEK 3 AND 4 JOURNAL The past two weeks of my internship have been absolutely crazy, with highs and lows. As the workload has increased for everyone involved in the office, the stress and tension amongst staff has been incredibly noticeable. As Wet’n’Wild Sydney is set to open their doors for the second season to the public on the 22nd September to the end of April 2015; processing, posting, email enquiries and social media posts have been quite behind and a little unorganised. As I have been on the receiving end working on Zendesk for the communication side of Wet’n’Wild and Movie World, guests have been complaining left right and centre about poor management and not receiving their tickets, confirmation emails and MyBands (waterproof wristband with chip inserted in it to attach money).As this seemed to be an ongoing issue for the two weeks, I decided I needed to have a meeting with our Social Media Manager and my supervisor Kim, who had been guiding me on responses to guests. As I was only an intern, I had to pick my timing, tone of voice and approach to make sure I remained professional and pleasant as I worked for the company and could relate to bad customer service, face-to-face and online. After completing a subject last year, “Interpersonal Communication”, I felt I had learnt so much and thoroughly enjoy the psychology, body language and theories behind it all that I could overcome this issue by showing my skills learnt in previous semesters. I chose my time wisely in making sure positive body language was received and presented on my end, including Kim and Karla (Social Media Manager) and approached the conversation in a polite and understanding manner. I was a little nervous, as I had only been interning for two weeks, I experienced “Uncertainty reduction theory” which I have learnt in Interpersonal Communication. I was a little uncertain about myself and felt a little less educated and intellectual in comparison to the professionals I was surrounded with, which I knew was completely natural, as I have OCD and have been a perfectionist since I can remember. I overcame this issue by taking a passive strategy in observing Kim and Karla throughout the day and then asking a few more people about the situation and what they would do in an active manner though interactive strategies.
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WEEK 3 AND 4 JOURNAL As the first week had some lows during the internship, they were soon overridden with highs as I got to partake in some very interesting activities and thrown out of my comfort zone: - I got the opportunity to create Instagram and Facebook posts for Wet’n’Wild Sydney through using images supplied by our art studio. This was purely for advertising purposes in creating a buzz around the public in the week prior to opening the park and during the very first week of operation. These posts included competitions to win Seasonal passes by tagging a friend and the post with “Tag the friend you’d take and tell us why” (See portfolio) on instagram and Facebook. The competition raised many followers, to date 10K and over 650 likes. - I got the opportunity to work alongside the Assistant Brand Manager Tonya in researching The Today Show and writing up a schedule for the live coverage held at Movie World, Sea World and Wet’n’Wild with Steve Jacobs, Karl Stefanovic, Lisa Wilkinson and Richard Wilkins. - The Today Show had organised live coverage for the weather to be presented at Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast and Movie World. I got the opportunity to meet and work alongside Steve Jacobs in presenting the weather. I had a 3am start at Movie World and was in charge of organising all extras, staff members, lighting and sound and film crews to work alongside Tonya and myself to make sure all ran smoothly and present our brand (Village Roadshow Theme Parks) in a positive and professional manner. I learnt many new skills this past fortnight such as: - Communicating with professionals - Dealing with intense film crews as their demands - Creating a media schedule - Understanding social media engagement and what words to use to attract likes and shares - Working with extras and light and sounding operators - Professionalism and working directly under the assistant brand manager
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WEEK 3 AND 4 JOURNAL
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WEEK 3 AND 4 JOURNAL
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WEEK 5 AND 6 JOURNAL The past two weeks have felt like my most productive and informative stages of my internship as I have been involved in advertising and copywriting. I knew the time spent at my internship would only get busier and more intense with the workload, that I decided it would be a good idea to dedicate more than one day to help myself and show my interest. I decided to intern on the Saturday and Sunday, including my usual day on Tuesday to assist the brand and graphics department in organising the new website for Fright Night and all prior work to the build up for the month of October. I felt my most helpful during these two weeks as I had gained skills in Direct Response and Writing for Advertising,as well as Art Direction that I could voice my opinion, show my skills and create pieces that I could use in my portfolio. Working alongside the creative director and graphic designer Candice, I learnt so much that I didn’t even realise were involved in creating pieces for the public. As the art studio is a small but goal driven department consisting of only 8 people, I immersed myself in all elements to learn as much as possible. I felt skills learnt in Art Direction and Brand and Image advertising came into play, as I got to see behind the scenes of photographing the park, characters and designing the website. It was unbelievable to see how quickly and effectively ideas can be literally “thrown on the table” and work symmetrically to decide on what is best for our target market for each event, in particular Fright Night. As the week prior to October, Village Roadshow Theme Parks conducted auditions for Fright Night and had chosen all characters, themes and advertising materials to present to the public in a short space of time. I got the opportunity to see how the YouTube commerical and TVC for Fright Night came together in our studios and film department. Using up-to-date systems and programs, the voice over from John Jarratt from Wolf Creek and filming at our park came to life in only just under a week. This was incredibly exciting and I learnt that speed, expert skills in film and photoshop and a clear strategy and goal can make miracles happen in a design room of only a few people
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WEEK 5 AND 6 JOURNAL I worked along side Karla (Social Media Manager) in writing copy for our Facebook pages, website and Instagram posts related to Halloween and Fright Night. I had a few issues as social media engagement is not something I had learnt, it is something I come across though everyday with my own personal Facebook and Instagram account through business and other pages.
The issues I faced when writing example copy for Karla was: - - -
Not engaging enough with word choices Tone of voice was a little too informative Imagery needed more photoshop as colours varied online to print
After researching and signing up to Direct Marketing News and watching a few Ted Talks after my internship that day, I realised how I could make my posts more effective and understand the purpose of it. I am my happiest when I get to be creative and explore all dimensions of communication in a “out-the-box” way. As Halloween is one of my favourite holidays, shortly following after Christmas I couldn’t wait to be a part of the film advertisement for the event held throughout October. After filming with The Today Show, Fright Night film crew in our studios behind Movie World as well as seeing all voice-overs in action, I had an epiphany and knew I was at “home” as I had a strong love for film advertising. As I have always wanted to follow the footsteps of two people who play vital roles in my life; Barbara Walters for my journalism degree and Baz Lurhmann for advertising and film, I know I have found the perfect industry for me, communications and advertising.
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WEEK 5 AND 6 JOURNAL After the first week of the fortnight and coming to the realisation, I decided it would be a great idea to interview my mentor in the communications department, Darrin Davis our Corporate Communications Manager. I could not wait to take on the role of Barbara Walters and sit down with a man who has walked many miles in the industry from the young age of 18, completed multiple communications degrees and has had the privilege to interview Nelson Mandela in South Africa. To say we got on and clicked would be an understatement. It was interesting learning about a multi-million dollar company through a communications manager and having insight into the marketing and advertising industry from when he was my age to now. It is quite phenomenal how times have changed, technology has improved and our communication method through marketing and advertising has had to immerse into a generation of very smart and tech-savvy people.
The skills and activities completed during this fortnight are as follows: -
Interviewed the Corporate Communications Manager and had insight into the advertising, communications and marketing industry.
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Created Fright Night Instagram posts
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Created multiple Facebook statuses and images for Fright Night
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Learnt behind the scenes of changing Village Roadshow Theme Parks website to a Halloween theme with the IT and graphics department
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Learnt how to engage with the public on social media with Karla to create interesting and interactive posts
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WEEK 5 AND 6 JOURNAL
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WEEK 7 AND 8 JOURNAL During the past two weeks of my internship it has been entertaining and a huge learning curve in regards to dealing with the media, learning Photoshop and dealing with guests who will go to any extreme lengths to receive a service they have paid for, if not received as promised. As Halloween Fright Nights have been in their final stages; social media has become our main focus on our Movie World and Fright Nights pages, including instagram. Guests have been uploading positive comments on all posts Karla and I have uploaded, including sharing. This was exciting to see as guests were enjoying the event we had put on for the month and more positive publicity was gained through this. As with anything, where events are held, positive and negative comments are not shied away. As word of mouth is the most important aspect of advertising, social media is soon to follow. During the beginning of the Fright Nights event, our marketing and brand team organised a media event with a “behind the scenes� tour to bring in advertising and publicity for all theme parks, in particular Movie World. As I was not there on the night, I worked closely with Tonya and Mitch, the assistant brand and marketing coordinators to find out what happened, who was there, the purpose of the media and what it meant for us as a brand. As Journalism is my second major, I really enjoy writing and dealing with the media. It is exciting for me as I get bored very easily and thoroughly enjoy variety, which is why I think advertising is perfect for me. Every day in the office is different and tasks vary from day –today, which is something I really enjoy. I got to read the article on our theme park and asked Tonya and Mitch questions, as it was not my role to write the copy, but I was interested in the advertising side, however the copy is extremely important.
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WEEK 7 AND 8 JOURNAL The second week of my internship I got to work closely with Candice and the rest of the art studio team in working on Australian Outback Spectacular advertising materials, as the new show is not far off from opening. I got to work with Candice on learning new Photoshop skills such as liquefying, merging images and photo manipulation. As we have the TVC the following week for the new show, all photography of the new show “High Country Legends” were merged onto Adobe Suite and I got to see and work with images in creating posters, brochures, flyers, bus stop and billboard signs. The work behind the scenes is extremely full on, but the excitement and work involved is remarkable. As the day went on and Karla had set aside some time to work with me on showing me the behind the scenes on social media, such as reports, stats and analytics I decided to commence an interview with her. As social media is so vital and the most used form of advertising today, I got to ask her questions on how she found her way into social media, land the role she is in now, what skills she has learnt and any advice for me on getting into the industry.
The activities I completed this past fortnight include: -
Social media posts for Fright Nights and Wet’n’Wild Sydney
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Answering all guest enquiries about ticketing and VIP passes for theme parks
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Conduct interview with Karla on social media and her role in the industry
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Working with Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to create advertising materials for High Country Legends, Australian Outback Spectacular
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Copywriting skills for our website, media articles and basic skills in answering guests in a professional manner on social media when it is out to public (wall posts and inbox messages on Facebook)
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WEEK 7 AND 8 JOURNAL I did not come across too many issues this fortnight, except for a social media issue. This issue was simply that guests were enquiring about bringing in their 14 year old children without supervision to Fright Nights. Another issue was that Wet’n’Wild Sydney Facebook page had many bad comments about the poor service and that the park was only open on weekends during October and November. As mentioned above, guests were going to extreme measures to call upon the NSW Fair Trading to report us. Some guests went onto stating that they would take us to the newspapers, local new stations and spread the word of how terrible our park is and service. As the event (Fright Nights) is expressed on the website as adult supervision is required for children 14 years and younger, including graphic content and imagery, guests were still complaining that their children should be able to attend without them and that our ticket prices were too expensive. I spoke to Karla and decided to write up 3 different versions of a reply to guests and website copy to make sure it was clear enough for the public of the rules and our recommendations for the event. As I was on the receiving end of customer issues and complaints, I found myself trying to defend guests and stick up for them as I put myself in their shoes. The hard part is realising that this is a business and that dealing with thousands of people, it is impossible to please everyone. However, sending out a message to all guests (copy on the website, Facebook posts and instagram) the message would be received by the masses so that fewer complaints would be received and all guests would be on the same page without the business having more negativity than positivity.
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WEEK 7 AND 8 JOURNAL
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WEEK 9 AND 10 JOURNAL From the moment I started my internship and was told about the new show at Australian Outback Spectacular, I couldn’t wait for the TVC to commence and be a part of the process in advertising the new show, which I have worked for and been involved in for 5 years. The first week of this fortnight I worked closely with the marketing and brand team to prepare a media, film and advertising schedule for the TVC the following week. This was interesting as we had to think of everything, such as organising the cast and crew to be organised and ready for filming, particularily dealing with animals. An early start from 5:30am at Australian Outback spectacular involved coordinating the film crews and cast coordinally to make sure all ran smoothly. Organising all food and beverage items with our catering department at Movie World to be sent over for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. All film crews reported to the marketing team as well as myself for anything they needed. The term “hurry up and wait” was quickly understood as each scene was filmed around ten times to make sure they received the perfect shot. I had the opportunity to bring in my camera and take a few behind the scenes photos for the company, social media pages and my portfolio. As photography is one of my passions, I really enjoyed taking part in capturing natural photos as well as filming a few short clips.
During the past two weeks of my internship, many projects have been in full force and all staff have been working twelve hour days. As Australian Outback Spectacular will be closed off to the public from 15th November to the 2nd December, the art department will be working hard to create and complete all advertising materials for inside the arena, menus, bar and arena imagery (posters) as well as copy for the new website of the show. Wet’n’Wild Sydney has been operating smoothly as social media has received greater positive comments, shares and likes as the park supervisors and marketing departments decided to open a few extra days due to the heat wave in Sydney.
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WEEK 9 AND 10 JOURNAL During the following week after the film and photo shoot of High Country Legends, I had the chance to work closely with Candice to create the following: - Create place matt menu design for High Country Legends - Write copy for the new show on Village Roadshow Theme Parks website - Write copy for place matt menus - Create posters and brochures of the show - Create lanyards for VIP guests for the new show I only had a few issues this fortnight with creating certain advertising elements on my own that I did not have the skill for. As I enjoy drawing and can be eloquent with my words, I decided to draw up and write my ideas, which could be presented to Candice that day for some guidance. I also had a few issues with social media as many guests were complaining about experiences at Wet’n’Wild Sydney, personal arguments with lifeguards and sharing their individual stories over the Facebook wall. After discussing these issues with Karla and the Corporate Communications Manager for some professional guidance, I received feedback that i didn’t necessarily agree with. This was due to my work ethic, morals and beliefs as it clashed with the responses they had wanted me to reply with. I had put myself in the guests postion and thought about how I may react and feel to the responses that would be received. As a generic response, I personally would feel frustrated and be smart enough to realise that the response was standard and not personalised to my personal issue. I thought it would be a good idea to talk about it to Susie and create a few responses that I feel would be better and work for us and not against us. I once again wrote a few versions and showcased them to Karla and Darrin for their feedback. They took a day to get back to me and then asked me to come in and have a chat. After a good discussion in terms of business, responses, feedback from guests and publicity issues, we decided to create macro responses that can easily be edited for each person, including their name, resolving the issue professionally and ending on a positive note, “have a wonderful day” and “ if you have any further concerns or feedback, please do not hesitate to contact us”. I was satisfied with the outcome.
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WEEK 9 AND 10 JOURNAL
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WEEK 9 AND 10 JOURNAL
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WEEK 11 AND 12 JOURNAL Completing an internship has certainly had its ups and downs, stress and success and many learning curves that have now been smoothed out. I have enjoyed my time at Movie World working on many successful projects that I can look back on and know I contributed a great deal, whether it was the copy, the design or the idea, still a success for my personal growth and confidence in my talent and skills. During the last two weeks I worked independently for the first time in creating an EDM for Wet’n’Wild Sydney as they celebrate their first birthday since opening December 2013. The EDM (showcased in my portfolio below) was sent out to all guests, regardless if they are a seasonal pass member or have purchased a general admission tickets once with us. I had fun creating it, using the given fonts, imagery, colours and guidelines. My first attempt was received well and had some feedback of basic design rules, which helped me achieve what the art director wanted on my second and final attempt. As Wet’n’Wild Sydney had previously sent out an EDM of an offer for previous members who had joined the first season had a discounted rate for the second season to re-join. I created the EDM for the second offer for renewals to guests at a discounted rate, offering only Silver Seasonal Passes. After working on multiple EDM’s as I enjoy digital advertising, I feel comfortable creating them on my own and using creative skills to work independently. As White Christmas is approaching very quickly, I worked with the IT department to create the new website for White Christmas, such as typography, red and gold colours and Christmas imagery. As IT is not my background, I learnt a few tricks of the trade in the behind-the-scenes of adjusting elements and designing a work-in-progress website. Village Roadshow Theme Parks pride themselves on campaigns and events held throughout the year. The workload is intense and never stops, particularly social media. Most of the staff have degrees in communications and multimedia and have worked around Australia and some overseas.
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WEEK 11 AND 12 JOURNAL As it was my last week at the internship, I decided it would be a good idea to have some one-on-one time with Candice and interview her. Candice has been with the company for over three years now, which is still quite new to the company as most staff in the art studio have been there for 10 years and over. The growth and opportunity in the advertising department (art studio) is quite limited as it is a small team and I would have to work very hard in trying to gain a position in the company. After speaking with her and being a part of the internship for the past twelve weeks, I have had first hand experience of many large projects and have gained experience and further added to my portfolio. I look forward to the future in advertising and aim to be in New York working on digital campaigns, global brands and being heavily involved in the advertising and journalism industry.
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WEEK 11 AND 12 JOURNAL
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WEEK 11 AND 12 JOURNAL
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Portfolio piece 1
The above Instagram posts were created by myself with the assistance from the Social Media Manager and graphics department for imagery. I created the copy for Wet’n’Wild Season 2 to gain publicity, create likes and regrams. The purpose of the posts were to gain more followers on our social media pages. The above posts were posted to Facebook too. When comparing the previous season likes to this season, we had jumped from 300 likes on average per post to over 600 to date. I created the posts based on a competition where the public could tag their friends in the post for further publicity and advertising on the second season.
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Portfolio piece 1
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Portfolio piece 2
Top of EDM
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Portfolio piece 2
Bottom of EDM For the event of White Christmas held at Movie World, I had the opportunity to create an employee offer EDM to all staff members who work for Village Roadshow Theme Parks. Christmas is the time for giving and what better way to say thanks to all hard working staff members then offering free tickets to a wonderful event for friends and family, inlcuding the staff. I enjoyed being creative with this piece, and writing the copy for a wonderful event which improves every year. I used Photoshop to create this piece and created social media buttons with the piece. The art studio supplied me with images and gave thorough feedback after a few different versions to create this final piece.
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Portfolio piece 3
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Portfolio piece 3 As Fright Nights has been one of Movie World’s biggest event, following from White Christmas, an EDM was created to be sent out to a rather large database of all VIP guests. As tickets were selling fast for the event, I had the opportunity to create a rich imagery EDM with the assistance from the graphics department. I enjoyed creating this piece as I personally love Halloween, but had the chance to showcase my Photoshop skills learnt over the few weeks as well as create merging images with techniques learnt from Candice and Lynda.com.
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Portfolio piece 4
Top of EDM
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Portfolio piece 4
Bottom of EDM
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Portfolio piece 4 As Wet’n’Wild Sydney celebrates their first birthday since opening in December 2013, I had the opportunity to create a birthday offer in an EDM format. This EDM was sent out to all Sydney customers; from season pass holders to guests who have purchased general admission tickets only. The offer was presented to all and received a rather large turn-out. I created this EDM with Candice; the graphic designer to make sure the brand, colours and typography chosen flowed and complimented the occasion as well as the brand. It was also an advertising opportunity to showcase Nickelodeon’s new beach at the park and create publicity for all loved characters, such as SpongeBob and Patrick and the newest to join the park; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I loved creating this piece as I was a part of the official opening back in 2013 and have loved seeing the improvements in the park as well as digital improvements on all advertising pieces.
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Portfolio piece 4
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Portfolio piece 5
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Portfolio piece 5 As we slowly enter our festive Season, Village Roadshow Theme Parks play a huge part in creating Christmas cheer. As White Christmas event is underway, I got the opportunity to create an EDM that would be sent to a rather large database of VIP Pass holders of all theme parks that are under their umbrella. I worked closely with the graphics department and created the EDM with Photoshop. As I have now completed a few EDM’s, this particular one was completed in under an hour. A call-to-action button was placed and our IT department worked with me to make sure it worked once it was clicked and that it led customers to the correct website to purchase gift cards along with further information, such as terms and conditions, expiry dates and links to purchase other tickets such as White Christmas and local VIP Magic Passes.
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