Our newest volunteer, Sukriti, gives a rundown of how she came across the archive, her background in marketing and how she plans to help the archive achieve its goals!

The Journey from MMU Rise Program to Marketing Internship

“I am Sukriti, a master’s student at Manchester Metropolitan University studying International Marketing Management. I first came into contact with the amazing team at the Richard Roberts Archive when I stumbled upon an opportunity through MMU’s Rise initiative. The initiative gives students opportunities to work on projects to add experience to their degree. Richard Roberts Archive was one of these projects! Their brief, “archives are not just for wrinklies”, asked how they could encourage a wider audience. Responding to the brief involved me visiting the archive, understanding the marketing pain points, and creating a report.

 So having submitted this report I was meant to walk my separate way and this was always the plan. However, the day I entered the archive something changed. It could have been the cosy reading room, the treasure (print advertisements) on the wooden isles, or the amazing collection of objects there. But, for me, it was the team who have experience and knowledge to share. It was the team that made me feel comfortable and listened to my marketing suggestions. I found out that the archive exists with the sole purpose of “preserving the history of advertisements for generations to come.” A place where student researchers are welcome and are free to use the resources for research. A place that has a plethora of advertisements to get lost into.

I was immediately hooked! As a child, and as an adult, I was more interested in adverts in between movies than the movie itself. If people stopped and smelled the roses, I would stop on roads and read ads. I was always amazed with the idea of a brand, advertising, and everything they have to offer with a single slogan, a single image, a short video! I have always been fascinated with ads.

So I decided to volunteer with the archive and continue to contribute to the goodness it had to offer. A few months later I had to look for an internship as part of my masters program. I applied to many places, got replies, but I didn't feel motivated enough to intern anywhere. There was no purpose in interning for big corporations as my first experience in the United Kingdom. I wanted to make my first experience in the UK count.

There was this eerie feeling I couldn’t express. After enough introspection, I understood, all I wanted was to intern for a cause, to intern with the archive and make my internship count. I wanted to work with the archive, making sure everyone saw the educational value and treasure it holds. The only way it could be done was if more and more people knew about it. The only way was good marketing.

So I gathered courage (thanks to my friend’s encouragement) and emailed the archive and said I wanted to intern with them and why it matters. Not knowing what the result would be I was anxious but distracted myself till I got that email notification sound. And there it was, a yes!

This took me one step closer to my five year career plan! Definitely a roller coaster of emotions because a ‘yes’ also means responsibilities and having a plan! So the next step was to create this plan as an equal exchange of me learning and the archive achieving their targets. Here I am after my first six months with an approved plan and putting all my efforts into this internship because it is not just an experience but a chance to be a part of something bigger than myself!”

- Sukriti Mehta