My Experience Interning With FOSTER Studios
After a few years of being out of touch, I contacted James via LinkedIn in March of this year to see how he was doing. When I informed him, I was trying to secure placements for Year Three of my Business and Management Course at Henley Business School at the University of Reading, he was quick to allow me to spend a summer helping him out, allowing me to acquire valuable experience while also providing him with more information and a greater grasp of how social media platforms may be used to great advantage for his firm.
FOSTER Studios is James' baby, so joining the team made me ecstatic and eager to seize the chance with both hands. It all started with a phone call from James, who explained what he had in mind for me to accomplish and asked if I had any thoughts about how we could best use the three to four months during the summer. This was the ideal time to lay out our goals for June, which included duties such as me researching the company so that I could spend the following few months with expert knowledge, as well as devising marketing strategies to increase followers and engagement on social media.
The initial marketing plan we devised was to contact local bars and restaurants with a few thousand followers and offer them a pro-bono photoshoot in exchange for a mention on their social media channels to reach a larger audience and create some great looking material for Instagram. What we produced was a fantastic Instagram Reel that combined behind-the-scenes pictures from the shoot with shots from James' cameras this resulted in a successful post with over 900 plays and 30 likes, which is above the norm for FOSTER’s 350-follower account. This initial free shoot for the client Big Chill Bar was followed by a paid shoot a week later for the reopening with no Covid limitations. So altogether we gained a larger audience on social media with the content, but also gained another client, which was a win-win in both mine and James’ eyes.
The next campaign we explored was conducting a competition in which one prospective client would receive a 1-2 minute promotional video worth £750; this was also a success. The Pink Parachute, a modern ceramic painting workshop in the Hornchurch region, was chosen as the winner. This post following the trend also hit over 1,000 views on Instagram which resulted in numerous fantastic small local companies submitting, making the decision-making process extremely difficult. However, this enabled me to think critically when it came to deciding what business would be the best one for FOSTER Studios to build a relationship with.
Finally, as a team, we identified the ideal approach to reach the FOSTER audience on social media: Instagram reels. As a result of this knowledge, James has continued to compile reels from prior projects while also generating brand new reels from current projects.
Overall, I've appreciated the opportunity to work in a professional setting, although from home. Being tasked with leading marketing and social media was a good experience. James has been a wonderful person to work with and someone I now consider a friend; he recognised that I had other responsibilities this summer and was very flexible in accommodating my work so that it worked for both James and myself. This is an experience that I will carry with me into my final year of university and a graduate job by next summer. I hope to return to FOSTER Studios soon, but for now, I begin my final year of studies, which I am excited about.