The two months of my internship were intense, to say the least, with knowledge, ideas & opportunities coming towards me from all directions. But as Tony Stark, the genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist (of which I am none ) said it, “The Part of the journey is the end,” and I really will try to do 'whatever it takes' to translate my 2 months of adventure into words.
I figured during the summer applications that I was very interested in a few industries viz. FMCD, Automobiles, AlcoBev, etc., which are coincidentally high involvement purchases. People are passionate about the car that they drive, the phone that they use and the drink that they buy. I have never heard a consumer say that he/she is passionate about the shampoo that they use. And thus Pernod Ricard was my Primary target during summer placements.
The intake process for the summer internship program isn’t a typical one. Post the normal shortlisting process, there was a Group Debate and not a GD. We were given a statement highly related to the alcohol industry and one group had to fight for it, and one against it. My interview went on for about 25 minutes. As expected, the questions revolved not just around my previous experience but also around major spikes in my life where they wanted to know how and why I took the options that made me reach to the present point in time. There were also a lot many questions related to the industry probably to figure out the seriousness of the applicant.
The results were declared in a few hours and to my surprise, I was the only one who was selected form my campus.
On our first day, we interacted with the leadership of the company and were taken out for lunch with them. Post lunch, we had further sessions of whiskey and wine tasting and a few speakers were lined up as well. I still remember one of the leaders saying this line: “Pernod Ricard’s ideology for creating a bridge from ideation of a product to making it an aspirational one rests on the 3 Pillars: Quality Products, Long-term investments & Concrete Strategy”. And boy was he right! It was evident the moment I stepped into the Gurugram Head office that this company was serious business. They were big at work and big at play as well. Pernod Ricard has invested heavily in brand-building since its inception.
I was allocated my project which was related to one of the most popular whiskey brands in India. I was sent to UP and the timing coincided with the Loksabha Elections. Imagine the chaos and challenges due to the circumstances, and add to it the scorching summer heat. To make it clear it was not a run of the mill sales job that I had to do, the project was genuinely high in stakes for the company and consistently high levels of performance milestones were expected form each of the interns.
To get the desired level of output for my project, I travelled more than 1600kms, observed the buying behaviour of 300+ customers, interviewed 140+ consumers and 200+ stakeholders. (What did it cost? - Everything.) But after a few days of travelling in the heat of Uttar Pradesh and Agra district specifically, I got used to it and all that mattered were the daily milestones that I set for my own.
After almost 45 days in the field, I finally felt that I had enough data and information to make actionable ideas for the company across all verticals, be it marketing, sales or SCM. We made our final presentations to the leadership in Gurugram and sadly that marked the end of my summer adventure.
If I can summarize my internship on one line: “Everyday was day one”.
As you will probably figure out when you try to study about the alcohol industry, not much information is available online regarding the same with the Indian context. It is a very closed industry and only someone who has worked in it can explain you the nitty-gritty of the same. I am greatly indebted to my mentor, and the team in Agra who guided me without holding me back and any of my ideas. I can not thank enough for this two months as I got to be a part of this industry in one of the best places to work at.
P.S. - Preparation and knowledge about the industry matter a lot and applicants should invest significant time in it. Also, try to polish your marketing jargon and examples for the same. You can refer to databases and sites like marketing91.com, WARC, etc.
