VERT DIGITAL
I absolutely loved my time at Vert. My role there quickly grew from a Digital Content Intern into a bridge-the-gapper as I helped bring the creative team closer to the brand management team.
who the heck is vert and what do they do?
That's a great question. Before I get into what I did at Vert, it's important to understand who Vert is and what role they play in the advertising and marketing game. Vert is an award-winning full-service digital marketing and advertising agency located in Atlanta, GA. They specialize in mobile, social, emerging media & brand experiences.
What'd'ya do for them?
When Vert took the plunge and hired me for the Summer of 2016, they thought they were hiring a digital content intern. What they ended up getting? A handyman!
My first days at Vert consisted of on-boarding and getting acquainted to agency life. Different co-workers took the time to teach me how to use different social management platforms such as NUVI, Hey Orca, SBM, TweetDeck, and Podio. It was a great way to learn both the names of the platforms and the names of the employees.
In the following weeks I took care of my general daily responsibilities, which consisted of managing clients' social media pages including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. My initial responsibilities were to schedule and write copy for all posts for our clients. I additionally took part in all of our digital content brainstorms.
Early on in my internship, I mentioned in passing to my supervisor, Kelsey, that I'd done pretty extensive graphic design work. She asked me if I'd like to take on a task involving brainstorming ways to visualize some data Vert had collected for one of their clients, DentalPost.net. As someone who loves a challenge, I eagerly accepted the opportunity to help out in a larger capacity.
Several days later, the request was completed and the following video and infographics were approved by DentalPost.Net to post on their social media platforms:
The next thing I knew, I was assisting in Vert's largest client pitch in its 8 years of existence. This time, my photography, videography, and production skills were put to the test. My skills proved valuable, and from that point forward Vert relied on me as their in-house photographer, videographer, photo editor, and video editor.
During my time at Vert, I brought DentalPost.Net's Chipper the Beaver to life with Olympics-themed videos:
I brought summer recipes and mustard artists out of the kitchen and onto HoneyBaked Ham's target audience's NewsFeeds:
...and I created mouthwatering captions from user generated content for Shoney's:
In addition to creating work for Vert's clients, I also did work for Vert internally. I wrote for Vert's blog during my internship, assisted Vert in retargeting efforts, and took photo and video for their redesigned website:
so what made you so special?
It's a fair question to ask. There's no shortage of digital strategists, photographers, and videographers in today's world. I think my proudest achievement at Vert this summer was successfully instituting Tropical Tuesdays.
In any work environment, day-to-day interaction can be less than stimulating. Great companies find a way to break through this monotony. Giving people something to smile about can make a lasting impact, so every Tuesday this summer I arrived to work in a tropical t-shirt and short shorts. Before long, other employees were catching on. My outfits were featured on Vert's snapstory every Tuesday, and it began to be a topic of discussion during Monday meetings, "What's Ryan going to pull out of the wardrobe this week?!"
I kept the mood light and the t-shirts tropical in my role as digital content intern at Vert.