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Spotlight On: Tawida Chukeatwattanakul – Alumna International Brand Communication M.A.

Tawida Chukeatwattanakul

Graduation
September 2019

Study Programme
International Brand Communication M.A.

Title of Thesis
How Brands Can Maximize Style/Fashion Micro-Influencers on Instagram: A Focus on Consumer Engagement


Hi Tawida, what have you been doing since graduating?
In August 2019 I packed my bags and moved to Berlin for my internship at Zalando. Before I tell the story, I have to say a big thank you to Brand University and to my wonderful advisors Prof. Dr. Yonca Limon-Calisan and Michael Kress for their kind support on my master’s thesis, which landed me the opportunity to become a campaign manager intern at Zalando Marketing Service, ZMS Creative. So far it’s been 7 months on a fantastic journey as an intern in the influencer marketing sphere on behalf of brands.

How did you join ZMS Creative?
One of the main reasons I’m a part of ZMS Creative was because of my master’s thesis topic focusing on influencer marketing in the fashion industry. ZMS Creative is Zalando’s 360-degree in-house agency that helps brands to create, connect, and grow to a whole new level, across different channels. One of the channels is influencer marketing integration for many big-name fashion, lifestyle, sports and beauty brands. One of many great things about ZMS Creative is that we have our own tool called Collabary, which is a platform with more than 100k influencers across Europe that help us maximize and deliver successful influencer marketing campaigns for fashion brands on/off-site of Zalando.

What are your responsibilities at ZMS Creative?
Being proactive is part of my job. As a campaign manager, I’m responsible for managing and monitoring influencer campaigns on behalf of brands. I have to make sure in my day to day task that the campaign is heading towards the right direction with on-time delivery. Apart from that, I develop creative concepts and proposals for campaigns. I work very closely with the account management and collaborate with multiple teams. At the end of every activation, I execute a final reporting based on KPI’s media metric and the industry benchmark to measure the overall campaign performance.

What is the best thing about your job?
I like my job because it never gets boring. The best part is that I feel like every day is dynamic and offers me a learning curve. It’s not just about executing influencer campaigns on behalf of big names in the fashion industry. Working there also led me towards self-discovery and to developing a new set of skills, for example time management, dealing with pressure, and showing ownership. I could also go on and on about the working environment. It is positive and inspiring. Most importantly, they take diversity very seriously – creating great opportunities for international employees.

What do you think of first when you recall your time at BU?
The first thing that rings a bell would be the amount of presentations that I had to overcome to get through each semester. Please don’t get me wrong! It’s actually a good practice that prepared me for the real world. When it comes to creating a proposal, I tend to be more structured and confident on what to implement onto the slides. That really helps my time management at work.

Why did you choose to study at BU?
I always wanted to do my master studies in the creative field after I graduated from my bachelor’s degree. I guess that idea just runs in the family. While I stepped into my first year working as a digital content creator for a fashion magazine based in Bangkok, I thought to myself it’s time to pursue on my further studies. It was a perfect timing with my sister moving abroad for her job offered in Hamburg, which is the main reason that brought me to Germany. At that time, I only had two months to do research and prepare all the paperwork. I was really lucky that I found Brand University, which offers such an interesting international program in English and a specialized curriculum in branding. This combination is great for an international student like me with zero knowledge of German.

Did you already know before your studies what you wanted to become? How did the BU shape your career plans?
I never had a clear vision on what I wanted to be or what I was passionate about until I was told by one of my advisors, that I should include my thesis topic onto my CV. I took her advice and it led me to where I am right now.

Which experience do you remember in particular?
One of the greatest experiences during my studies was being able to partner with a lot of great brands for practical projects. The one particular project that I enjoyed working on the most was with MOIA. We had to come up with an idea on how MOIA could expand their business within the B2B sector. I remember that we were the first group of students on the project and the only ones to exclusively know about their products and services before the official launch.

What do you advise students to do so that they can make the leap into their career right after their studies?
My humble advice is to not take your master’s thesis for granted and to work on a topic you are really interested in. Apart from having to work on it for months and months you will never know where it can lead you or how it could become a gateway to your future career. Moreover, take advantage of your time studying to learn as much as you can – it will always come in handy.

What do you have in mind for the future?
I see myself being an expert in creating creative concepts and strategic plans on behalf of brands, handling key accounts and being a good problem solver. I hope that in the next 2 years I’ll be able to grow into an account management role at a creative agency.

Hamburg is for me…
Coming from Bangkok, Hamburg was cute to me! But also, a strong fertilizer and a foundation that shaped me into the person I am today.

Where can you be found when you’re not in the office?
I was once told that “your job is not your life” – Yet, I take random people’s advice on the internet very seriously! (LOL). Therefore, whenever I’m free from work, I will take advantage of my free time traveling, exploring, spending money on unnecessary things and enjoying life without overthinking.