My time with Nestlé Purina PetCare Company was full of opportunities to try new things and learn about areas of my field I had never gained experience in. The chance to intern at the headquarters of a global company with a large Corporate Public Relations office allowed me to work on a wide array of projects that had an impact across the world, which gave me an unique insight into public relations that I had not experienced in any of my previous internships. 

 

One of the most rewarding aspects of my internship was developing a communications campaign for one of the factories celebrating their 50th anniversary as well as creating a strategic plan to rebrand an internal communications group. This required me to develop and present new brand guidelines, content ideas, sample content pieces and content calendars, and suggestions on how to communicate within the group most effectively. 

 

I also played a role in event execution for both internal and external purposes. Internally, I was able to co-lead Purina Pets Week, a week of events for Purina’s 3,000+ St. Louis associates and their pets. In this effort, I coordinated event details with external vendors, created promotional posts to share with our employees, and made sure events ran smoothly during their execution. I also aided in the planning of Family Day, a day-long event for associates and their families. I participated in site checks and planning meetings for this event, and led event recap through creating a survey for the 2,000+ attendees, collecting the responses and presenting a data summary to the planning team. I was also able to attend site visits for community events such as Fair St. Louis, where I learned more about how to plan and prepare for large-scale community events. Additionally, I developed a media kit for Pooches in the Ballpark, which included a media advisory, pitch sample and strategy, timeline, key messages, and sample social media post. 

 

In my role, I gained extensive experience in community affairs. I was able to lead Purina’s Push for Pencils, a school supply drive for local children in need. In this project, I coordinated details with representatives from KidSmart, the organization we donated the supplies to, created promotional assets for the drive, and worked with internal leaders to ensure that the event ran smoothly. Purina also has an important commitment to sustainability, and I had the opportunity to help cultivate new ideas for how Purina could improve sustainable practices on their campus. Additionally, I aided in monitoring and tracking requests for grants and event sponsorships, which helped me understand the various ways corporations can aid non-profits in the community. I also completed a research project to find domestic violence shelters Purina could incorporate their Purple Leash Program into. 

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Internally, I created an asset management system for our office that would allow associates to locate necessary documents and visuals in a more efficient manner. I also developed and maintained a visually appealing website to highlight associates who were retiring with the goal of making them feel appreciated and improving employee experience. Finally, I wrote various posts for our internal communications system to promote events or communicate relevant news to our associates. 

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This position gave me the opportunity to work on various data tracking and research projects. Every day, I participated in media listening by reviewing mentions of Purina online. I also led an internal audit project that involved reviewing all of the content on our intranet. This gave me experience in communicating with company leadership and understanding what content is and is not relevant. Additionally, I did various sports marketing research projects to discover new ways Purina could utilize their sports partnerships. 

 

I gained incredible experience during my time at Nestlé Purina PetCare Company and am so thankful for the time and effort they put into making my internship experience the best it could be.