Sunday 28 April 2013

Work Experience at Bauer Media

This week I had the pleasure of working with the Radio Avertising Sales team at Bauer Media in Endeavour House. Bauer media is an umbrella head for 80 of the biggest brands in the media including magazines such as Grazia, Heat, Closer, Empire, and Zoo; to name a few!

In addition to popular radio stations such as Kiss and Magic, and an extensive list of local radio stations on their Place Portfolio based in London, Southampton, Manchester, Birmingham and Ediburgh. They also cover digital media platforms such as Smashits, The Hits and 4music!

When I first arrived I was seated at a vacant desk and introduced to the team, a bunch of the most welcoming, friendly and bubbliest people I have met, so with the soothing mellow magic playing in the background I settled right in. I was very fortunate to be given an opportunity like this, allowing me to have an insight into the world of media. The position I applied for was Radio media sales, this is something completely different to what I am used to on WINOL, but I found it very interesting to see how Bauer deals with promoting sponsorship on the Radio; including competitions, prize giveaways, and finding a creative solution to do the best promotion for the company. An example of a Live campaign they've been working on lately is a partnership between PG tips and Magic.

Endeavour House is the hub of media, many important people within media are placed in one building in London, it's incredible. Noticed a few, such as Lucie Cave The Editor of Heat Magazine. A highlight for me over the week, aside from socialising with the team, was the chance to visit Mappin House which is where Kiss and Magic studios are based, I was so surprised how calm the atmosphere was in the offices, as I expected there to be some lunacy or broadcasting problems; nothing like our newsroom in TAB9. I spotted Neil Fox the presenter of Magic's breakfast show and other presenters such as Neev from Kiss also.

It was great to sit in on some of the project management meetings that go on, and have a go at putting together a campaign proposal of my own for Crunchie. I enjoyed gathering an understanding of the variety of roles in media sales and the two different avenues: Airtime and Sponsorship and promotions. I have developed a new faith in radio competitions, I always doubted the legitimacy of them, but it really is true, you do win prizes, I got the chance to send some prizes off to the lucky winners myself!

I thoroughly enjoyed my week with Bauer, and I wish I could stay there for more then a week! I met some truly lovely people, who made me feel so welcome as if I was an employee there! I learnt a lot at Bauer, It was great to see how things are processed behind the scenes prior to broadcast.

I couldn't thank you enough for the opportunity gothinkbig! Who knows what the future holds, but getting experience is all about helping us to mould our career paths, and see what it is we enjoy to do. It made me consider the prospect of a career in media sales; and maybe I may return to Bauer one day.