My internship at GSK Consumer Healthcare was a one-of-a-kind experience -By Mohammed Rafi from IIFT Delhi

My internship stint at GSK Consumer Healthcare - India’s largest FMCH company taught me lessons in marketing and cultural excellence. To give you a fair idea of the company’s excellent leadership, here is an overview of my internship journey.

The onset of the pandemic gave everyone blues. Talking about young workers and soon-to-be-graduates, internships and jobs remained one of the main worries. But amidst all this chaos, GSK CH kept us updated about our internship right from March and assured that it would definitely take place. However, due to the COVID situation, the internship took the virtual mode. As a fresher, I was eager in going to the Gurgaon HO and meeting everyone in person. But the HR Team did a wonderful job by creating a seamless platform for us to work virtually and helped us feel at ease and comfortable within the organization.

Going into the details 

I was given details of our project a couple of weeks in advance of my internship at GSK CH and got to interact with my Project Mentors and Guides to help me prepare for what lay ahead. The Induction was a fruitful 2-day experience where we got an opportunity to interact with the Leadership Team, and Heads of all the functions and Brands within GSK CH. This gave us a good understanding of how GSK CH, an FMCH organization functioned, especially post the HUL deal. 

An inch-perfect mentorship for my project

The learning graph had been an upward curve right from Day 1. I was mentored by the Digital Marketing Head and the Brand Managers of two popular GSK Brands. My project was to suggest and implement an optimal digital strategy for these brands. I went around looking at all the brands that were present in these respective categories across all geographies and observed the best practices employed in the OTC category. 

My project required me to collaborate with agency partners and several other departments within the organization. Even so, everyone was approachable and I never felt I was at a disadvantage due to the WFH situation. Apart from this, the Brand Managers ensured that I received exposure even outside the purview of my project. We would discuss the approach, merits, and results of ATL activations and campaigns that the Brands had implemented in the past. 

A true learning experience

Through these interactions during my internship at GSK CH, I was able to learn different ways to reach a consumer - rural and urban, and the latest digital marketing strategies. The brighter side of the entire WFH situation was understanding the importance of structuring our communication. Also, delegating work, collaborating with people, and getting work done was another important learning. 

There is a sense of gratefulness while looking back at those 8 weeks. GSK gave the opportunity to work on a project which carried commercial significance. I had the opportunity to shadow Brand managers, learn current industry practices, and other interesting aspects of Brand Management. We were also given access to a wide array of learning resources. 

The stint helped broaden my perspective and strengthen my interest in the marketing domain. In these difficult times, GSK stood by its commitment and it throws light on why it is important to work at companies who put their values into practice.