Katharina Kurz

My projects in the marketing@media programme

1. A four-week introduction at the book club in Berlin, which included two weeks in a shop
2. BMG Columbia House, New York: 8 months in the online-marketing department at the DVD club Columbia House – here I got to know the operational side of club marketing, e.g. management of e-mail campaigns and website promotions etc.
3. INOPI, Shanghai: various projects for our new education business in China. What was most exciting? Planning and implementing an online community for parents.

My first day on the job

Much more exciting than my first day at work was the day before: On my non-stop flight from Nuremberg to Berlin the airline failed to bring my luggage to Berlin – even though I checked in on time – so there I was on a Sunday with jeans and sneakers in Berlin, just before my first day at work. So I had one hour to buy everything on Potsdamer Platz – a suit, blouse, shoes, a tooth brush… What a start! Would it be a bad omen? Far from it! After mastering this obstacle my first day in the Berlin office was almost “restorative”. My marketing@media colleague Anette gave me the best job introduction that I could have imagined - including an office tour, an introduction to all employees and a huge stack of information material on my desk, which helped me to quickly gain a lot of insight into the company.

Tell us an off-the-wall idea that you sometimes think about: what if…

… I had decided against studying business administration? Then I would probably follow my greatest passion and would travel for a few years. Especially in Asia, I would really try to visit each country and maybe open a restaurant somewhere over there. Or I would be a film producer. Or a travel photographer. Or maybe……

How I made my way to the media world of DirectGroup

- The most important step for me: My great passion for all types of media, especially for music and movies. In the early years I indeed had some lousy taste (David Hasselhoff concert as an 8-year-old!!!), but in the meantime I‘ve become quite proud of my collection - my 80GB iPod is getting too small again…

- During my studies I tried to go abroad as much as possible (e.g. semesters abroad in India und Argentina, various internships). There, I first realised that I really wanted to work for an international company which would give me the opportunity to go abroad while also gaining work experience at the same time. This is one of the main benefits of the marketing@media-programme.

- The last part of my interviews at DirectGroup for the marketing@media-programme was a presentation which I held for the CEO of DirectGroup and the CEO of our German book club. It was a scary thought at first, but a great challenge at the same time. It shows how important the recruiting of new talent is for DirectGroup, which really impressed me.