I interned with PepsiCo India Holdings this summer along with 26 other bright MBA students from premium b-schools.
Being a fresher, this was my first corporate stint and I was quite nervous but at the same time really excited to make my mark!
But the first week of our internship, the PepsiCo India CEO Dr Shiv Shivakumar told us “We don’t expect you to change the company in 2 months, we want you to be a LEARNING MACHINE”.
And there it all begun, a roller-coaster ride which ended up to be the Best Summer I’ve spent in the past 23 years!
PepsiCo is, in my opinion, one of the best places to learn for a sales and marketing intern.
It is a company with 22 timeless brands. Brands, we have grown with and can relate to. I was overwhelmed to see the amount of work that goes into the sales and distribution of say a bottle of Pepsi or a pack of Lays.
They encourage you to learn from the market. Being a sales intern, I can say there is no better way than this!
The vibrant products only makes you want to work harder. And now, when I see the ‘ladis’ of kurkure or the stacked rack of lays in a retail shop, it feels great to know that I have also made my contribution.
We were given Live projects- Projects that mattered to the company and we could see the recommendations made by us being implemented.
I was given a Distribution based project centered around the Snacks divisions (Western snacks- Lays and kurkure).
I analysed the context, mapped the Go-to-Market strategy used over the years, identified problems, bench-marked against competitors, evaluated GTM models of other unorganised players in the market. As a part of my recommendations, I devised 4 new models to increase the direct distribution in 4 town classes each and piloted the same.
My final review would always be ‘one of my favourite days during my internship’. I was amazed by the wide appreciation I received by everyone present.
I couldn’t stop thinking of everyone who helped me during the journey, my guide, mentor, buddy, all the employees at PepsiCo who gave me every data required for my project and all my professors at IIM Indore who taught us how to think through cases and come up with solutions.
Thanks IIM Indore, for giving me this wonderful opportunity.
Thanks PepsiCo for having me, looking forward to joining back!
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About the Author: Shruti Suman is second year student of IIM Indore and is a part of Media and PR committee, Debating Society and Idanim - Drama club.