Calgon, Take Me Away!: Life of a Calgon Intern

         

   First of all, a series of very fortunate events led me to this internship. Being a freshman last year, it is generally a difficult task to find an internship your first summer after college, nonetheless a paid internship. However, my trip to New York with SUSA in the Fall, led to my discovery of terpAMA, which led to meeting a terpAMA board member who interned for Ilex Consumer Products Group last school year. When she told me Ilex was looking for a summer intern, I immediately pursued this opportunity. Long story short, network, network, NETWORK. Many employers are not apt to read a freshman’s resume unless you know someone!

            That being said, I couldn’t be happier with this internship. I work at Ilex Consumer Products Group, which is located in the warehouse at Orioles Stadium in Baltimore. Ilex Consumer Products Group is a private equity firm, which means that we invest in companies/brands in our case Calgon, St. Josephs, and Digel. I am a Marketing and Innovation intern for the Calgon brand. This brand is an older brand that currently targets the 35+ age group and is known for their slogan “Calgon, take me away.” This summer especially, the marketing team has been extremely busy innovating the brand to target younger age groups. Stay tuned next year for the new product launches---I can’t give out any secrets!

           

            I have learned more than I had ever imagined I would in a matter of 2 months so far. I have been involved in every step of product development starting with the concept, the research/competitor comparisons to support the concept, the Request for Quotes to retrieve pricing info from our suppliers, the Creative Service Requests to know the price of creating product designs, fragrance selection, and of course marketing strategy for our product lines. A recent project that our marketing team worked on was creating planograms to present to a potential buyer. We had to include competitor products and our existing/new products in a rendering of a 4ft shelf plan and 8ft shelf plan. I found this project extremely interesting because it was not a matter of what looks good, but really a matter of what past numbers and future forecasts show to ultimately determine what items we would discontinue, keep, or launch for 2013.

            Lastly, I manage Calgon’s social media. I have been trying to post every day on this page to keep our fans involved. I really have been leveraging our slogan by posting luxurious pictures of vacation getaways along with the words “Calgon, take me away!” This strategy has really boosted fan involvement. Another strategy is to offer frequent giveaways. These giveaways always result in an increase in page likes and page virality.

            As you can see, I could talk about this internship for hours on end because of how invaluable this experience has been thus far!

A New Sports Trend: Rebranding

It’s happening all over the nation. From college to the pros, the names, logos, and mottos of the sports teams we all know and love are rapidly changing. This new trend of rebranding is the newest way in which marketers are trying to grab your attention.

Arizona State University and University of Maryland are just two of the many schools that’s have gone through a recent rebranding phase. ASU used a more subtle approach that did not reach national headlines but was still effective for its local market. Maryland, however, used more of a ‘loud’ approach and got national attention including tweets from athletes such as LeBron James (see link above).

Professional teams have also jumped on the rebranding train. Two notable Major League Baseball (MLB) teams that have rebranded for the current season are the Baltimore Orioles, Miami Marlins, and Toronto Blue Jays. All three of these teams have redesigned logos for this season to drum up interest and increase ticket/merchandise sales.  The Orioles have tried to add a modern feel one of their old logos while the Blue Jays are reverting back to their old logo after a ‘modern’ logo failed. The Miami Marlins, on the other hand, have stepped it up to a whole new level.

While many teams or schools just change the look of their uniforms or logos in an attempt to rebrand, the Marlins have gone the extra mile. Along with their new logo and uniforms, they have also changed their name from the Florida Marlins to the Miami Marlins. As if that were not enough, the team even had a new stadium built in Miami that is state-of-the-art and has been deemed by some as ‘the coolest ballpark ever.’

So while rebranding has become a trend that will continue in the foreseeable future, the results of current rebranding efforts have yet to be seen. What would you do if you were faced with the decision to rebrand or not? What do you think of the current rebranding efforts of the teams/schools mentioned in this post? Comment below and let us know!