There are two tracks in the School of Journalism: print journalism and strategic communication. Strategic communication is the term du jour for public relations. Apparently, \public relations"" has negative connotations. I'm in print journalism, and though I have no problem with corporate propaganda, I gather some people do. So we refer to it as strategic communication over at the J-school and hope no one realizes what we mean. That's what strategic communication is all about.
I regularly receive e-mails about opportunities in communications. Rarely am I qualified. Reporting jobs require news clips and, often, a previous newsroom internship, neither of which I have.
The other offers are PR work and usually require experience as well. Again, I have none. But a recent e-mail gave me hope for landing that crucial first internship.
It's called ""Priceless Experience,"" and, according to the e-mail, it's an internship ""designed to give college students the chance for real-life work experience in the highly competitive business of music video production ... students can go to www.mastercard.com and apply ... by completing the following 250-word-or-less essay question: 'If you were to plan your ideal career in the music business, what would it be and why?'""
Sounds cool, right? But also a little odd. Why the hell is MasterCard offering an internship in the music industry?
Well, a primary focus of a corporation's strategic communications is branding. The key to branding is building an image. This doesn't have to be tied in any way to the actual product or service. The brand takes on a meaning all its own, one formed by associating it with certain ideas or lifestyles. It's more than a slogan. It's a personality.
The ""Priceless Experience"" is MasterCard playing on its well-known advertising campaign to tie its brand to the excitement of the music industry. This is a clever attempt to build positive feelings with college students. It's far wiser than, say, arranging internships with the Federal Trade Commission, which recently publicized a study finding the average college student has $2,327 in credit card debt.
MasterCard's Web site includes reflections from last year's interns, the 12 college students selected from 32,000 applicants. One is quoted as saying, ""I think this program is very important for people that want to be in the industry. Often times [people] don't know what it is they want to do. If they can get a step ahead, get out there and see what's available... it's priceless.""
Wow. No wonder I'm not in strategic communications. It would never have occurred to me to integrate the company's slogan into my praising. I guess the internship really does prep you for success in the corporate world.
I wrote my application with this valuable (some would say priceless) lesson in mind:
""There are some things money can't buy. Experience, for instance. It just can't be bought. Not even with a Universal Entertainment Student MasterCard, with APR as low as 9.99 percent, and purchase points redeemable for CDs, DVDs and VIP theme park tours. For everything other than experience, there's MasterCard.
""Four years of college tuition: $30,000. Books: $1,300. Applying to be an instrument of your company's strategic communications: Priceless.""
