This morning was packed with two media visits back-to-back. Our group took the bus to Burson-Marsteller for our first appointment. When I first walked in, I thought I wouldn’t like the company. The decor was tipping me towards the idea that the people we spoke to would be uppity and rude, but that was completely wrong. This visit ended up being one of my favorite visits the whole trip. Every person of the four people we spoke to was so passionate about the work they do and the company. My favorite part was the ads about Compari, an alcohol originating from Milan. They gave us a small glass to try it, and I will just say I would never in my life order it straight like that based on the taste. BUT the creative team did such a phenomenal job with the advertising campaign that I felt moved to go buy some. They decided to tell stories based around the drink, like about the cocktails and bartenders. They created beautifully done videos to tell these stories, which were intriguing and inviting.
I was sad to have to leave, but our next stop was Rai. I knew from the start that this would probably not be the most interesting visit to me because I have never liked anything to do with broadcast whatsoever. They brought us in and explained the background of their company, and from there, they gave us a tour of their facility. My favorite part was probably seeing their radio station live as Emily got interviewed because it was her birthday. It was also interesting to see one of their bigger studios they use to produce entertainment shows. Everyone was welcoming and inviting, but as I said before, my interests don’t lie in broadcast, so this was not my favorite visit. It was still nice to see how they run things and compare it to how I know TV studios to be run in the US.
After our long day, we met up with a group of people around 8 to go to dinner and celebrate Emily’s birthday. We picked a place called Blender Bar that had a happy hour with a buffet and a drink included. We had so much fun hanging out and talking about our experiences.