A Satisfied Farewell by an Enlightened Marketing Intern

                I entered into the Kocina Branding & Marketing Companies’ marketing internship without any presumptions about how it would change me. As a college sophomore striving for a major in public relations, I definitely had several doubts about taking on the position. One primary concern fogging my vision of success was how I could tie the internship’s marketing aspects into my public relations major. I also wondered if my talents and skills would prove useful to the workplace. Despite these worries, I can now look back on the whole experience with a satisfying sense of fulfillment.

                 The marketing knowledge I obtained through this internship will stay with me forever. I learned through Lonny Kocina that consumers now choose to block out traditional advertising through older communicative mediums. Due to this factor, I discovered that having an effective tactic is crucial for marketing success. I also realized that being technologically-savvy is key to selling a company message or product. With all the new up-to-date communication channels, I see that there are so many ways for businesses to send their message to any consumer. With these new ideas in mind, I took on many innovative tasks that truly enhanced my professional skills and understanding of marketing.

                Corresponding with corporations and securing Lonny Kocina speaking opportunities was a task that really benefitted my personal growth. I discovered how to professionally send our company’s ideas to recognized corporations. Being an administrator of the company Facebook was another enlightening experience. I utilized my networking capabilities and discovered firsthand how effective up-to-date communicative channels are in marketing. Additionally, I developed new work abilities through doing daily office tasks like pricing out mail and answering phone calls.

                My marketing internship with Kocina Branding & Marketing Companies really enlightened me. I feel a very positive connection to the workplace and all the employees I had the pleasure of meeting. I recommend fulfilling this internship to everyone, because it will change them as it has changed me.

Farewell and thank you Kocina Branding & Marketing Companies for this wonderful opportunity.

Kocina Marketing’s family of companies includes Media Relations, Inc., Mid-America Events & Expos, Inc. and Checkerboard Strategic Web Development. We strongly believe in the value of community involvement and of being good corporate citizens. 

Affiliations:

• Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce
• Burnsville Chamber of Commerce
• Women’s Business Enterprise National Council
• National Association of Women Business Owners
• MERSC: Minnesota Employee Recreation and Services Council
• Public Relations Society of America
• Society for Human Resource Management
• Minnesota Women in Marketing and Communications
• NFIB: National Federation of Independent Business
  Dakota County Action Council 

Awards:

• 2007 Quality of Life Award: Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce

The Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce presents its Quality of Life Awards annually as a way to publicly thank and congratulate member businesses for doing what they do best: providing desirable workplaces and creating sound communities in which to live and conduct business.

• 2006 Standing Ovation Award: Mpls. St. Paul Magazine

This award recognizes outstanding individuals and their organizations for their contributions to their community.

• 2005 Luminary Award: National Association of Women Business Owners

The award honors a woman who lights the way for others through mentoring and/or volunteering to the community.

• 2008 Upsize Lifeline Award: Upsize Minnesota

This award recognizes the wisdom of successful, Minnesota-based small-business owners and the mentors, advisors and champions on whom they rely.

• 2008 25 Women to Watch: Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal

This award honors leaders to keep an eye on for continued success. 

Kocina Branding & Marketing Companies Web sites:

• www.publicity.com
• www.101expos.com
• www.midamericaeventsandexpos.com
• www.checkerboard.com

Internal Reporter’s Weekly Update with a Publicist 7/13/09

IR: What did you do this week for Kocina Branding & Marketing Companies?

Publicist: This week I worked with Scott Young, the president of ExtremeBartending.com, who was in town promoting our client’s new product called Drinkin’ Mate. It is a tablet made from guava leaf extract, and you put it into your drink or “last call” cocktail to help keep you from feeling sick. We worked on booking Scott with local media. On Wednesday we had him do a bar staff training at the Library in Dinkytown. He trained ten members of the staff on “flair techniques” and taught them to flip bottles and make drink concoctions containing Drinkin’ Mate.

IR: Awesome! Did Scott help create this new Drinkin’ Mate product?

Publicist: No, he was hired on as a company spokesperson. He did an excellent job in telling the public about the different recipes he has created with the product, and how the product will help to make a person feel fine after a fun night at the bar! Drinkin’ Mate is actually produced by the Plymouth-based company Amerilab, which also created the mouth-fizzing tablets that were popular in the early nineties.

IR: How else did you get Scott to promote this product?

Publicist: We got a Metro-Magazine representative to do a web mini-series with him. We met with the videographer and web content editor to enable them to get footage of Scott Young in action as a complement to their “Best Bar” series next month.

IR: Wow! Did you personally set up that meeting with Scott?

Publicist: Yes, I did set up the meeting between Scott Young and Metro-Magazine. A fellow publicist booked him on the KARE 11 4pm show, KARE OnLive, and also on the Laurie & Julia Show on FM 107. Scott’s sidekick also attended the KARE OnLive show to do extreme bartending and discuss Drinkin’ Mate recipes! It was a lot of fun, because he got the show’s host Diana Pierce to throw a bottle around! I then booked Scott on Fox’s morning show, and he also had an interview with The City Pages for its blog post, which is now up!

IR: Scott has been doing an excellent job marketing the new Drinkin’ Mate product! Anything else you’ve been doing?

Publicist: We also had Scott give out Drinkin’ Mate samples at an event on Lake Minnetonka, because a local radio station always has a radio personality go to different bars on lakes every Thursday.  Then this morning, I picked him up at 6:45am and took him to the Tone E. Fly radio show! They shot a video for “Fly TV”, which airs nightly Monday-Friday, with highlights from the radio station’s morning show.

IR: Excellent! So you have been very busy getting both Scott Young and Drinkin’ Mate publicity?

Publicist: Definitely! Since Scott Young is a well-known bartender and Drinkin’ Mate is soon to be a bar-hopper’s best friend, they were a great mix!

IR: That is awesome! I cannot wait to catch up with the team of publicists next week!

Internal Reporters Weekly Update with Jason Kocina, President of Checkerboard 7/10/09

IR: What did you do this week for Kocina Branding and Marketing Companies?

Jason: Well, this week Checkerboard and I worked with a raw ingredient manufacturer to drive more traffic to their website. This customer creates the focus and stress-relieving supplement that goes inside products like Gatorade and daily vitamins. We have a big marketing campaign going on for this customer, but this week we mainly focused on the “conversion point” to keep members of the audience interested in surfing their website. Instead of having an email list of potential consumers that can sign-up for information, Checkerboard and I make the client’s website more visually stimulating. Therefore, people surfing our customer’s website will be curious enough to check it out again.  

IR: How did you enhance the website’s visuals to keep the audience interested in it?

Jason: We are putting together an “Interactive Buyers Guide”, and using the Flash application to show all of the products that contain our customer’s ingredient. Flash adds character to our customer’s website, because the products slide and rotate around in cool, interactive pictures.  This project was great, because we got to utilize both our development skills and our Flash design skills to benefit our client.

IR: Excellent! Can you explain a little more in depth the concept of “Flash”?

Jason: Of course! Flash is a program that allows for animation and interactivity on the websites. So if you see stuff sliding and moving around on websites, then the website designer used Flash.

IR: Does Flash have a significant impact on how much traffic is driven to your customer’s websites?

Jason: Definitely. Flash is a great way to do more visually with the page, and get the consumers more interested in seeing what else our customer has to offer. Without Flash, the page would not be as stimulating to look at.

IR: Awesome! I cannot wait to catch up with you and Checkerboard next week!

IR: What did you do this week for Kocina Branding and Marketing Companies?

Michelle: This week I worked on a couple different events that we’re going help manage in July and August. One is in Florida and the other is in Atlanta. We focused on a lot of logistical items such as getting shipping information and receiving different items from our clients.

IR: Awesome! Does the event’s purpose influence the preparation?

Michelle: There are a lot of logistical steps that take place when you produce an event, or are involved in an event. We prepare the event with the intention of making the client’s message concise and clear to the audience. The two events I worked on this week will further educate the public on the benefits of our client’s product.

IR: Wow! Why did the client contact you to help with their events?

Michelle: Time is a consideration, and it really helps the client to know they have someone they can depend on to help put on a successful event! We have the experience and marketing knowledge to assist the client in reaching their event goals and keeping their message consistent.

IR: In what ways do you assist the client?

Michelle: First we discuss their marketing and event goals. We have to consider what they will do at the booth to reach these goals. This may include conducting food samplings, interactive activities, etc. Since there are so many different opportunities available, we want to make sure we get the maximum benefit for our efforts. We also consider what items to have on hand at the booth, and how the booth should be arranged. There is a lot of thought that goes into event participation if you want to reach your goals.

IR: Why do you think an event can be a successful marketing strategy?

Michelle: You are in front of your target demographic. Companies at events must make the most out of their opportunities to market to that group. Depending on your goals, it is great to use market research questions and drawings to get them excited about what you have to offer. These questions and drawings also give you an opportunity to continue marketing to the people who are interested in your product!

IR: Excellent! I cannot wait to catch up with you and your work on events next week!

IR: What did you do recently with Kocina Branding and Marketing Companies?

Publicist: I worked on a project for Kids N’ Kinship, a local non-profit organization that matches kids ages 5-16 with volunteer mentors. I worked with community newspapers, the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press. It was also a fun time getting all the major news stations to do stories on a 900-mile bike ride fundraiser!

IR: Awesome! So you contacted all the media to create awareness about the bike ride?

Publicist: Yes we did! We also got a couple radio interviews for WCCO and TCS radio, and we also created additional publicity by placing the Kids N’ Kinship website address on major news stations’ websites.

IR: Did you get the media to do a lot of “post-event” stories?

Publicist: We are actually not pursuing post-event stories. The representatives of Kids N’ Kinship wanted to create a lot of media awareness to solicit donations for the bike ride. So once the event was over, so was the fundraising effort. What I really like about print media is that the stories have a longer life, and people can go online and check out articles surrounding the event!

IR: Did you have a chance to also attend any part of this event?

Publicist: Yes, I did attend the Welcome Home celebration! What was really interesting was that there was a state representative, some of the mentors and children who participate in Kids N’ Kinship, and also a lot of additional volunteers. It was awesome to be a part of such a successful event!

IR: That sounds like an awesome time! I cannot wait to catch up with you next week!