Nerea Zwaan is studying Commercial Economics and Entrepreneurship at Hogeschool Tio Amsterdam. In early May, she started working at Comrads as an intern. For her graduation assignment, she focused for five months on Comrads' online communication strategy. Nerea speaking about the gap between theory and practice.

Gladly surprised

I am studying Commercial Economics and Entrepreneurship. Normally that course takes four years, but I got the chance to do it in three years. That does mean that I have almost no vacation, but then I finish faster. Right now I'm in the completion phase. When I was looking for a company where I could do my graduate work, Comrads came along. I actually had no idea what exactly they did, and when I started talking to Sebastiaan, I was pleasantly surprised. Marketing is an important part of my studies, but what you learn is mostly about SEO, SEA and mapping out the perfect marketing strategy for a company. Marketing automation? You don't actually learn about that. Strange, because so there are systems that help you as a marketer work much more efficiently.

Cumbersome

I did an internship at a large retail fashion company earlier this year. They weren't that into marketing automation yet either. Every photo went into a folder with photos, and the campaign images went into another folder. Often it was just not the right quality. I had to send that image to another intern who could sharpen it up. Then I got it back and put the image back in a folder. Super cumbersome, while it can be many times easier, I now know. You can simply link a garment to a campaign. Then, when you search for the image of the garment, you have everything that could possibly belong to it ready immediately.

Very simple

I get to deal with Comrads' online communication strategy: the website, the blogs, the product information. I have also been to a meeting with a potential customer a few times. Then you see people become very enthusiastic very quickly, but often they postpone the decision for a while. On the one hand I do understand, it costs time and money to get started with marketing software. But when I see what it brings to a company and how much more efficient you can work, I would know. Besides, it's relatively easy to get started with; I had figured out how it worked in five minutes. Look at a company like stichd, they gain a lot in four areas by using a DAM system. It saves so much time, and time is money, if my father is to be believed. I don't think customers really realize how big the benefits are.

Digital design

After this study, I want to do a short course in digital design at Akademie Vogue. If I'm good with packages like Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop, my future employer won't have to send everything to an expensive, external designer; I can do it myself. I like to make my knowledge as broad as possible. But for now, I'll be busy at Comrads for a while!

Curious?

Have you also become curious after reading Nerea's story? And would you also like to experience how simple Digital Asset Management, for example, actually is? Then request a no-obligation demo of our Brand Management solutions. And maybe you will meet Nerea in person to talk further about the advantages of marketing automation for your organization. Now and in the future.