Week 4: Short and Sweet

Addison Whitney was founded in 1991, a small branding firm with only three employees. Now AW is a global branding firm, led by inVentiv Health, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The firm has other offices in the United States located at Seattle, Washington and New York City. Internationally, Addison Whitney has offices in London, Munich, and Tokyo.

As quickly and successfully as the firm has grown, Addison Whitney has experienced its number of growing pains. In the intern’s brand strategy training, I learned that AW had to make use of its own department to develop a cohesive brand. Ironically, the branding firm had no consistent brand, causing it to appear disjointed to clients. Thankfully, with hard work, Addison Whitney developed its current purpose statement as well as its overall brand both within and out of the office.

This past week, I truly enjoyed training sessions conducted within the other departments. The Marketing training particularly stood out to me. Prior to this session, I had not fully understood how a brand traveled to consumers. I learned how advertisements on google searches can be purchased by companies. I also learned how Addison Whitney spends a great deal of time analyzing how clients are learning about their service and mainstreaming their funds toward those methods.

I also learned how to use a trademark screening tool used by the verbal branding team. Although it’s challenging to understand the nuances of the program, I’m excited to have this skill. I can now screen my own creative names for clients, making me more independent at work while also giving me a feel for what types of words won’t cause legal issues for clients. I was not aware how many trademark classes there are, nor how many trademarks exist in the world today. It’s equal parts overwhelming and exciting.

I can’t believe I gained so much knowledge in just one week, especially because it was cut short to only three days. This past weekend I traveled to Phoenix, Arizona to attend my sorority’s grand convention, an event that occurs every two years. It was an amazing experience, and I’m honored that I was selected by my chapter to attend.

While there, I learned so much about my sorority, but I even developed my professional skills. Meeting so many new women and discussing problems and solutions improved my networking and interpersonal skills. I now feel much more confident approaching and having conversations with complete strangers.

This past week was packed with informational and fun opportunities. I can’t wait to see what this next week will hold.