During the summer before my senior year of college, I had the great opportunity to intern at Mailman, a digital marketing agency in Shanghai. I have worked as a digital marketing intern before, but never at an actual digital marketing agency before coming to Mailman, and because of this, I had no idea what to expect.
Onboarding
My first day nerves were quickly put to rest as all of my coworkers, especially my supervisor, were more than welcoming. After a kind introduction to each department, I reviewed an onboarding guide. In it there was a requirement to complete 3 out of 10 possible challenges for newcomers. Some involved learning about and participating in Mailman’s work, like writing a blog post or taking part in a current social campaign. Others were simply about getting comfortable with your fellow co-workers by playing ping pong with 3 people from separate departments (my favourite challenge) or interviewing a leader at the company.
I was astonished at the variety of big name brands that Mailman represents in China. Here are some that stuck out to me:
All teams in the NFL
Official pages for NHL, UFC
Kobe Bryant himself
Liverpool F.C.
Manchester United F.C.
American Airlines
GoPro
Nike
Macy’s
Sesame Street
BrandUSA
NYCGo, MassVacation, Visit Florida, and a handful of other US states
Pretty cool, right?
Becoming part of a family
The management of these brands are split mainly between the Sports and Tourism teams, yet each department plays an equally important role in the Mailman family. I say “family” because that’s exactly what it is. The CEO is very hands-on, always walking around and injecting positivity throughout the day.
I was on the Tourism Team, yet the Sports Team would hook me up with free tickets to sponsored events featuring popular NFL players (Tom Brady and Russell Wilson). The Production Team, aside from developing media for our clients, would take every chance they got to film and edit videos of our events (even pick-up sports) and share them in the group chat.
Everyone does their part in making Mailman fun and worthwhile for everyone. Here’s a video to get a glimpse:
Check out the company’s culture page for a closer look.
How I helped
Over the short period of just 8 weeks, I learned about the various campaigns we’ve run for major destinations around the world, most being located in the US. I have documented the strategic use of key opinion leaders, share-to-win campaigns, user-generated content, and more in the 20 case studies I wrote. Whether it was a taste for luxury products or an interest in good photography, the success of each campaign taught me about key aspects of Chinese consumer culture.
I was never bored. Mailman always kept me busy as they sought to expand my knowledge and experience. If I wasn’t writing case studies or reporting results for our clients, I was probably doing research for blog posts. These regarded anything to do with Mailman, tourism, or the digital landscape in China.
Facilities
The facilities at Mailman are what make it so easy for everyone to feel engaged with one another. The office is basically one big open space, sporting foosball, ping pong, and a basketball hoop. It has wide open desk space, a large U-shaped couch, 2 TVs that are constantly airing sporting events, and booths for people to meet or work privately. Every morning there are bagels and fresh fruit provided for breakfast, with a very popular espresso machine. There are 2 refrigerators, providing water, soda, tea, and beer for Monday mornings (just kidding, sort of).
The bottom line is that Mailman creates a cohesive environment of thoughtful and happy employees who work together to accomplish great results for great brands. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s interested in digital marketing.
Mailman is a digital sports marketing consultancy and technology company and a leader in the China Sports Marketing industry. We help global rights holders, athletes, and leagues to build a successful business in China.
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