Pursuing an MBA has one sure-shot progression of eventuality - A summer Internship. Among the various offers made in the adrenaline rush of the Summer Placements is a Retail Project - a coveted plunge into the realm of Marketing and Sales, inviting avenues to learn and understand human beings – their choices, likes and dislikes, the reasons, etc.
Jeffrey Modak, a recent graduate from the 25th PGDM-C batch of MICA, Ahmedabad had the privilege of being selected to undertake his summer internship last year with Raymond Ltd., a 96-year-old legacy brand in apparel and lifestyle.
"From winning the first-ever B-School competition by AB InBev - The B.U.D Challenge to securing a final placement at ITC Ltd., I had never in my wildest dreams imagined that a computer science engineering graduate from NIT Meghalaya would later find his calling in a different domain, let alone check such illustrious milestones in life. The internship at Raymond Ltd. was pivotal to my growth & success.”
Here is his first-hand account of the enriching experiences at Raymond Ltd., filled with anecdotes of learning and leisure.
I completed my engineering in 2015, nestled in the pristine environs of Shillong. Having bagged a placement with Nucleus Software Exports Limited as a software engineer, I moved to Noida as soon as the course ended. Working there for close to 2 years, I was sure that the next phase of life would see me pursuing a master’s in business administration. I took a year’s sabbatical as I prepared for the entrances, and in an amazing culmination of hard work & serendipity, I made it to MICA.
The academic rigour at MICA reached a fever pitch with the onset of the summer placements. The emotional highs of watching your batchmates overwhelmed with joy, and lows of not being selected yet again, faded to reveal a true support system found through early friendships and amazing seniors checking on our well-being.
The day I got placed was as surreal as it could get. A fantastic corporate presentation enlightened us of what Raymond Ltd. truly stands for, the various businesses and the locations – affirming why it is the pride of India, and a household name.
This was soon followed by a call for group discussion. Having 17 candidates in my group ensured that there was chaos, and the ones who got noticed were the ones who thrived in it. The final interview had me apply learnt concepts from class and quick thinking to solve an on-the-spot dilemma. Paying attention to the corporate presentation greatly helped in acing this. I was on cloud nine when I saw my name along with 4 of my batchmates who made it.
The project charter was revealed months before the internship, complete with the project details, the mentors assigned, the reporting manager and the scope. I was to report to the headquarters at Thane and start from 8th April. The lush sprawling campus lies in the heart of Thane, unusual for most corporate headquarters these days, flanked by boulevards and well-defined zones designated for each business unit. The new apparel building is a state-of-the-art open office concept that looks like an international workspace in décor. We would be spending most of our time here during our stint.
The orientation week was a grand and informative affair. With fun ice-breaking sessions, all the interns were given briefings of the work done by every Raymond Business Unit head. This was also an opportune time to interact with them and extract pearls of wisdom through anecdotes and the problems they face.
The extensive orientation also saw us travel to Vapi, where worsted fabrics are manufactured, literally from the sheep’s back to the man’s back. The road trip as well as the experience of seeing raw wool turn into an expensive fabric, right before our eyes was breath-taking. The orientation culminated with meeting the CEO of Raymond Retail and Apparel, Mr. Sanjay Behl.
Many wouldn’t know, but Park Avenue is a Raymond brand with 4 sub-categories – Work, Play, Celebrate and Park Avenue Women. My project entailed understanding the category penetration and sub-category interactions for Park Avenue Apparels, identifying loyalty customers and first-time purchaser behavior, to come up with new insights and campaign ideas for turning trialists to loyalists, thereby driving sales. The first month of the internship had me meeting the mentor and manager for my project, setting the goals and targets, getting an in-depth understanding of the domain, and framing the research and consumer understanding methodologies. It was a perfect role, as I was made to explore all the Exclusive business outlets in and around Mumbai, pose as a mystery shopper to see how they sell products effectively. On revealing my identity, I was allowed to observe shoppers, the buying behavior they exhibit, and finally ask them questions when they were billing/leaving the outlet.
It was insightful to see how much information can one amass from just observing. I was required to report all the findings while journaling them and sending drafts to the manager from time to time.
The second month required me to tie up all of my findings, come up with metrics to state the efficiency of sales, and brainstorm campaign ideas.
I was exposed to various departments whom I would have never thought of interacting with – Consumer research, Visual merchandising, CRM and loyalty, Marketing, Design, Database, and Tech, etc.
In this duration, my college seniors working at Raymond had an opening for another project and were looking for interns who can dynamically manage their existing projects while working on this. Without hesitation, I expressed my interest and was onboarded. The second project was to understand Raymond Shoes and develop an end to end marketing and sales strategy for its launch as a separate entity. Along with my batchmate and fellow intern, we were able to deliver a solid output that received appreciation from the heads of business, as well as the seniors.
The internship culminated with a panel presentation to senior officials of various businesses. It was an intense session with moments of lightheartedness, with them wanting to see how much can the business derive value from our time at Raymond.
Strong communication with your manager and mentor at all points, actionable suggestions, and solid numbers to back any claims & outcomes are paramount to effectively deliver any project.
These 2 months ended on an optimistic high and made me look back to the wonderful time that shaped me as a better professional. Those cafeteria lunches with the interns over friendly banter, the HRs and various department acquaintances with whom you could share a conversation, the seniors who would pamper us with treats at the cafeteria, always checking on our well-being and experience – I revisit these memories as fresh as day. We made good friends among the interns from various institutes.
As a bonus to all this, we were invited to a glamourous townhall by the CEO, an annual award ceremony called SPECTRUM – felicitating achievers and high performers, the Autumn-Winter collection reveal at the Expo hall and the end of season sale for Raymond employees.
Do look forward to your internship, and make the most of all the opportunities presented. It is an experience of a lifetime.
***
Here's What We Recommend You To Look At Next: