A Summer in Review: Projects, People, and Personal Growth

I have had an invaluable experience during my internship at The Estee Lauder Companies (ELC) this summer, where I have cultivated several of my skills and passions, as well as developed new ones. I have enjoyed the opportunity to work with and learn from many inspiring people at the company and to build lasting relationships. 

This summer I have worked on several long-term and short-term projects. Most of these projects have required me to think both creatively and analytically, which was one of my goals for the internship. When I first started at ELC, I had a particular interest in The Company’s Breast Cancer Campaign (BCC). Subsequently, I had the opportunity to work with several members of The BCC Team on projects for the upcoming Fall campaign.  One major contribution that I have made at my internship site has been my work with The BCC Team. 

My first project with The BCC Team was focused around The 2019 Campaign’s Digital Toolkit. The BCC Digital Toolkit is a document that serves as a guide for all of ELC’s brands when creating and releasing content for The Campaign in the Fall. My task was to update and refine The 2018 Campaign’s Digital Toolkit to craft a document that better aligned with the look and feel of The 2019 Campaign. To begin this process, I redesigned several of the slides on The Toolkit and sourced several new images in a way that I felt best told the digital story of The Campaign. I suggested that The Team use a more clean and consistent format for The Toolkit to keep the document both engaging and easy to read. Notably, I also collaborated with members of the BCC Team to update the digital objectives and strategies for The 2019 Campaign, adjusting the copy as necessary.

Throughout this process, members of The BCC Team wanted to hear my perspective on new ideas or my recommendations for potential changes, specifically in terms of The Campaign’s marketing. They said it was very helpful to hear ideas from someone who had not been working with The Campaign for years in the way that they had, as I was able to provide a more outside opinion and bring fresh ideas to the table. In terms of social media, The Team also wanted to hear my thoughts on their content from a millennial perspective, as the company is trying to further appeal to millennials. One recommendation I made to The Team was in regards to this year’s BCC video, which gives comprehensive insight into The Campaign; I recommended that they create a more concise version of the longer video that only included the strongest visuals for social media, especially Instagram, to engage a larger audience.    

Another contribution that I made throughout the Summer was a design project that I did with the Internal Team for ELC’s internal app. I designed several pieces of digital imagery to be used for new series in the IT and Global Supply Chain sections of the app, MyELC Mobile. The goal of this project was to create engaging designs that would encourage mobile users to more frequently interact with the articles. Several of my designs were published on the app and will be used in this future–I am thrilled that this contribution will endure beyond my time at my internship site. 

Overall, I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to work on several projects throughout the summer that both challenged me and excited me. In my last week at my internship, I hope to further engage with these projects, further develop skills that I can take with me into my senior year and beyond, and make lasting contributions at my internship site.