Creative Advertising student gains industry insights at global advertising agency

Second year Creative Advertising BA student Amelia Belam is now finishing her internship with advertising agency Grey London, where she spent three months bringing the creative and strategic thinking, storytelling and communication skills gained from her degree to this exciting opportunity.  

Garnering real-world experience of what the creative industries have to offer, Amelia chose to explore the Account Management side of advertising and will go into the final year of her degree equipped with this new commercial perspective.  

We chatted with Amelia to learn more about what she got up to during her internship, how she found studying Falmouth’s Creative Advertising BA and how her tutor helped her to get the role.  

How did you go about getting the internship with Grey London and what did you hope to get from the experience? 

My lecturer and tutor, Dr Cui Su, shared an internship opportunity on our course Teams chat, and it led me to one of the most interesting sets of application questions I’ve ever seen. I made sure to answer the questions in the most distinctive way I could; I wanted to be unique, genuine and show off the weirdest parts of me. And it worked! 

I applied because I wanted to deepen my understanding of agency life and see a campaign evolve in real time. I was eager to explore the accounts side of advertising as it is the thread that runs through the whole process - from pre-bid to release - so it seemed like a great way to learn the most in a short, hot London summer.  

What has your day-to-day looked like during your internship with Grey London?  

Day-to-day life has been busy. I’ve mainly been supporting one account; I keep up to date with each part of the project from creative to client. I love it because I get to see each part of the creative process and be in the know about everything.   

Alongside my main role, I’ve been able to take on a range of side quests within the creative department and new business teams. I was also trusted to manage Grey’s social media, which gave me the chance to flex my creative muscles and collaborate with the other interns. 

What can you tell us about going into an Account Management internship with a Creative Advertising BA? 

My course gave me a wide-angle view of the ad world, so when I walked into the agency, I wasn’t totally clueless about what was happening. Most notably, I know what it’s like to be the ‘ideas’ person (aka the creative with all eyes on them). Having been in those shoes myself, I know how to approach creative work without panicking at the blank page. On top of that, my background in strategy means I get what strategists are going through too and how to help them instead of just nodding along.  

How have you found the Creative Advertising BA course as a whole? 

I’ve found the course to be refreshingly industry-focused, which has prepped me well for the fast-paced reality of agency life. It’s not just essay after essay, it’s designed with the knowledge that you’ll be thrown to the lions (a Cannes Lion, if you’re lucky) once you’re finished. Instead of chasing grades, it pushes you to build a portfolio and understand how the ad world really works. 

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