Cadburys was one of my first choices of placement. The reason I chose to apply for this, along with other large companies such as Synergy and Pixel8 is because I wanted to gain experience of what it is like to work in a professional environment. As well as working in Cadburys I have been learning a lot about the Starbucks Company as I was involved in the rebranding of the UK logo. Although my part in this was not crucial I was able to experience meetings and get insights as to how the minds of the Starbucks superiors work. Although I did not manage to get a placement in my number one department of advertising at Cadburys, I was more than happy to have a placement in the packaging department. This was a traditional placement which brought forward a hoard of opportunities that I would not come across every day, opportunities for example to use the Cadburys printers to print off my work and the contacts I was able to gain. Through this experience I have learnt how projects are approached, how they are dealt with and how they are put to a close, which is very different to my original idea as is the general way in which people work in the department I worked in.
A lecturer at my university gave me information about upcoming placement information which is how I managed to land this placement. Before the placement my knowledge and skills within the industry were very limited. I have had experience within the Starbucks Company and have had a slight insight of how that industry works, though the experience at Cadburys is very different to how an agency or a company works. After seeing some of the work in the Cadburys studio I have a much better idea as to what should go where on an advert or a packaging mock up to get the maximum reaction. My skills have definitely improved beyond my expectations just by seeing how other people work and by personal one to one help with some of the colleagues. For example I was shown little tricks on Photoshop which vastly improved my work and I was introduced to a program called Cinema 4d which is used in the final steps of packaging creation.
Before experiencing the professional world of packaging and marketing, my intentions were to jump into the advertising industry with no idea what to expect, but I certainly didn’t think we would be doing some of the things we did. We listened in on two meetings, one of which was with the marketing directors of Cadburys, people in places such as France and Zurich were giving us feedback on our own ideas without even knowing we were there, and that the ideas were ours. So to have marketing director not only like our ideas but to give us critical feedback was a personal highlight. I am glad I have had this experience as I now know how this unique industry works. Although my heart was originally dead set in the advertising sector I think Cadburys has certainly opened my eyes inspired me to widen my career prospects. Before this experience I thought there would be a mere one or two people working together to create a packaging idea and that would be it but I have been really surprised by what I have seen. I have gained knowledge into how a Cadburys product goes into market. There are many steps to be taken and hundreds of people involved, many of which seem pointless when- according to the creative director Martin Simpson- only approximately one out of every ten ideas gets put forward to the marketing directors. Although every idea is essential to get the most out of research with the consumer, this statistic seems drastically small.
The skills I have learnt at Cadburys will certainly be of a huge benefit in my future. To start off my experience at Cadburys is going to look good on any job application! Through interaction with the Cadburys employees I have learnt a lot about my work and what I should be doing and little things that they have told me will greatly improve not only my work, by my employability. These things I will be clinging on to. Things such as tips for my C.V, Photoshop tricks etc. are all very minute details which will help me greatly in the long run. I have learnt the importance of meaning in the industry too, initially I knew meaning was an element of any advert but I had underestimated how vital it actually is. Every advert has a meaning behind it; this is why research is so important.
This placement without a doubt has to be the best thing, professionally I could have done. It has taught me many lessons about what to expect in my future. One of my favourite moments was seeing my idea go through right until the moment I left. Although it was brushed aside for a little while and I had nothing else in the mix, I still worked hard on the ideas they did have to try and get my ides recognised. It was an amazing feeling when I came in one day and saw my design idea on a very advanced sketch for the packaging that could possibly go through to production. A downside was when my initial idea for the name of the new sweets was cut but I didn’t let that phase me as I still had my imagery idea there on the table. Another very petty downside was right at the beginning when I and the other placement students were pitching our ideas to the creative director and one of them pitched the same idea as I had, before me. That particular idea went very far in the research and we saw a mock up for potential production. In that particular situation I took a step back and let the other student take charge though I did still contribute to that idea, as well as my others, as much as I could. All in all I consider this placement and my whole professional experience to be not only a success, but a privilege to my future.
