We recently welcomed Amber and Grace to STM AGENCY for a week-long work experience placement. Both second-year BA (Hons) Marketing students at Manchester Metropolitan University spent the week getting hands-on exposure to agency life.
From client services and creative briefs to digital performance, content shoots and B2B marketing in practice.
Amber and Grace share their honest reflections on the week, what surprised them most and how the experience has shaped their view of a future career in marketing.
Amber: I’m Amber, and I am two years into my Marketing degree at Manchester Metropolitan University. I’m really into all things marketing, especially the creative and design side, but I also enjoy learning about the more technical aspects. When I’m not studying, I like listening to girly podcasts, shopping and I love cooking and trying out new recipes. I’m always experimenting in the kitchen.
Grace: My name is Grace, and I am studying marketing, currently in my second year at Manchester Metropolitan University. Outside of university, I love to swim and go on long walks. I love true crime shows and making meals with my flatmate, as well as going out.
Amber: It’s a bit of an out-there one, really. I originally had a completely different career plan, but I always felt like something was missing. One evening, when Emily in Paris first came out, I watched it and ran straight to my dad and said, “That’s exactly what I want to do.” From that moment on, I was in awe of marketing and knew it was an area I wanted to grow and thrive in.
Grace: I have always had a passion for business and for me, marketing was the logical next step as I liked the creative aspects but also the data side of it. I work well with numbers, and I think the side of marketing where you can test and monitor results is very interesting.
Amber: My lecturer told us about Catherine Macdonald, the Head of People at STM, who came in as an external speaker to talk about her role and what STM does as an agency. After hearing about the work STM does, we were given the opportunity to apply for a week’s placement, and I immediately knew I wanted to go for it. I really wanted the chance to experience what it’s like to be in a marketing agency and learn in person, especially as I’d never had agency experience before.
Grace: Our lecturer Robin, had previously worked with STM AGENCY. He organised a guest lecturer to come in and speak to us during our business module. Previously, I hadn't heard of business-to-business marketing and wasn't completely sure about the functions and roles involved. Robin said that there were two spaces available for work experience and encouraged me to apply. After applying, I was extremely happy to be accepted, as it means I have the chance to gain real-world experience and gain further insight into the world of marketing.
Amber: To be brutally honest, beforehand I was terrified -and I’m usually a very confident, extroverted person. I’d never been in an environment like that before, so it felt completely outside my comfort zone. But as soon as I walked in, a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. The office felt warm and welcoming, everyone was smiley and genuinely helpful, and I immediately felt at ease.
Grace: As soon as I came in on the morning of the first day, I was greeted by happy and bubbly people who were encouraging and kind. They are patient and extremely knowledgeable, which I have benefited from directly. Being able to ask as many questions as possible has meant that I have gained a deeper understanding of the roles and their responsibilities within a marketing agency.
Amber: This week has been amazing for getting a real taste of agency life. I’ve sat in on several meetings, explored creative briefs, and learned about the different teams — from Copy & Content creating campaigns to the Reach team handling paid search, SEO, and social advertising. I also got a great insight into Olivia’s role, marketing the agency in a B2B context, and how they track and analyse data to see what businesses engage with their site.
I also had an insightful session with Lynsey in HR, where I picked up valuable advice for the future — from strengthening my CV to building a standout portfolio. On the creative side, I worked on a St Pierre brief, developing a full campaign concept including a headline, mood board, hero ad concept, script, and static mock-ups alongside a video execution. I even got to stand in on a St Pierre video shoot for Instagram Reels and TikTok, seeing stop-motion, panning shots, and recipe videos being made — something I’d never witnessed before.
Overall, it’s been a really rewarding week, giving me hands-on experience of agency life and insight into the variety of roles that make it all happen and how they’re linked.
Grace: I have had a very busy week, beginning my week with an induction from Lyndsey and then from there diving straight into learning about Google adverts with Emma. Emma was super lovely and was very helpful with all my questions. I had no prior knowledge of the ins and outs of Google Ads and receiving a walk-through has been extremely useful, and I am excited to apply it to my work in the future.
On day two, Amber and I were with content and copy services, set an assignment brief to create ad concepts, a mood board and script for potential adverts on behalf of st Pierre. This is an aspect of marketing i am more unfamiliar with, but I applied myself and was able to produce three concept adverts as well as an analysis of my work and the task.
On day three, following our creative brief from content and copy, we presented our work and then received feedback. After that, there was a content shoot happening for st pierre and we were allowed to shadow them throughout the shoot and review the content plan. After this, we spoke to Olivia, the marketing manager for STM. It was very interesting to hear about the ins and outs of lead generation and running marketing for a marketing company.
Amber: My biggest “ohhh, so that’s how it works” moment was the video shoot - seeing all the different backdrops, tableware, props, and set-ups in action. It was fascinating to see how much goes into bringing a campaign to life and how an idea moves from team to team. It’s definitely something I’d love to be involved in in the future. Honestly, it was incredible to experience.
Grace: To be honest, I think this experience has given me a lot of these moments. I don't think anything can measure the real, in-person experience. Some of the moments have been from watching the food stylist, cardboard in burgers, ha-ha, some have come from Emma's rundown and explanation of CPC, finding out that bidding on certain searches can cost £50+, PPC is mind-boggling, even the concept of auctioning for sponsored search spots in general.
Amber: One of the things I’ve especially enjoyed this week is getting to explore different parts of the agency I hadn’t seen before, like how the Reach team measures campaign impact and how Olivia markets the agency in a B2B context. I’ve also loved being creative on the St Pierre brief and seeing my ideas start to come to life in my mock-ups. The highlight for me, though, was the video shoot - seeing all the props, sets, and behind-the-scenes work coming together was incredible. I even got to make a new friend, Teddy (Lauren’s dog), which made the experience even more fun and welcoming!
Grace: Seeing behind the scenes of the shoot for st Pierre has been very fun, to be fair I have enjoyed learning about all areas of the STM agency and the roles and responsibilities involved. Meeting all of the friendly people at SM has made my experience truly enjoyable and pleasant.
Amber: So far, I’ve really been enjoying the creative and digital sides of marketing the most. I love being able to brainstorm ideas, bring campaigns to life visually, and see how digital strategies like social media, paid search, and SEO actually work in practice. It’s exciting to combine creativity with data-driven thinking and see the results in action.
Grace: Sales and marketing, lead generation or the data and ad performance side. Developing strategies based on feedback received and data gathered.
Amber: One thing I’ll really take away from this week is that not everything is as scary or nerve-wracking as I initially thought. It’s taught me to keep my mind open to new opportunities and to embrace them as much as possible - you never know what exciting experiences might be waiting around the corner.
Grace: I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to broaden my prior knowledge and build upon the technical skills I have been learning at university. I am excited to be able to apply these skills in the future and develop them even further.
Amber: Looking ahead, I’d love to have completed a master's in marketing and be working abroad in a marketing agency, gaining experience across different creative and content-focused teams. I want to be involved in developing campaigns, producing engaging content, and bringing ideas to life visually, so I can really grow my skills and make an impact in the creative side of marketing.
Grace: In a few years, I would like to have completed a placement year and then used this further experience to gain either an in-house or agency graduate role in marketing. I would love to work on the data side of marketing, testing ad performance, website strength or working within sales and lead generation.