Name: Martina

Year: Sophomore

Major: Journalism

CFS Concentration: Field Studies in the Humanities

I am currently interning at LiquidThread, a content branding offshoot of Starcom MediaVest group in downtown Chicago. As a diehard Medill student, taking an internship in marketing and advertising was a very scary leap. Since freshman year of high school when I joined the school newspaper, I have had my heart set on being a journalist, which ultimately led me to Northwestern. At Northwestern I continued to pursue this dream by becoming deeply involved in a student publication on campus. But, six years after having decided I had to be a reporter and doing the same kind of journalism consistently, I realized I wanted more. It’s a hard feeling to describe, but I knew that I had to try something different or I would seriously regret it. With the help of CFS and its extensive network, I was able to satiate my desire to diversify my skills by interning at LiquidThread.

As a LiquidThread intern, I was assigned to work on three accounts—Honda, Jim Beam, and Bank of America. Because these are ongoing clients, I came into the creative process for each account at very different times. Some days, I am scouring Pinterest for brand-relevant posts for the Beam Suntory account and editing scripts for Bank of America commercials. Other days, I am analyzing website success with Google Analytics, creating Prezi’s outlining a project, participating in brainstorms for new clients, or putting together a social media calendar for Honda. Most recently, I put together a presentation about Snapchat—its functions and how it could be used in branding—for the rest of the staff at LiquidThread. Every day is different, and that’s exactly what I was looking for.