Meet our Members! Kristina Gurgone’s Experience at an Advertising Agency
Hi! My name is Kristina Gurgone and I am a current senior in the School of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan. I will be graduating this Spring with a major in Communication and Media Studies and a minor in Business. I am from Hinsdale, Illinois, which is a western suburb of Chicago.
At Michigan, I have served on the Executive Board of three student organizations including the Marketing Committee for Michigan Communications and Media Professionals, Senior Editor and Marketing Director for Her Campus, and Vice President of Events for The Women’s Network. Last semester, I participated in the Prague study abroad program at Michigan through CGIS and loved it! Outside of the classroom, I have interned at various companies exploring the realms of Marketing, Advertising, Film, and Communications.
Growing up, I always had a passion for writing. I knew I performed strongest in my creative academic classes, like English. It’s these passions that led me to want to major in Communications. As a Communications major, I have the ability to practice my passion for writing while learning various subjects like gender studies, consumer behavior, etc. I started off thinking I wanted to pursue a career in Public Relations. Through my first couple of years at Michigan, I realized that I had an interest in the business side of communications, more specifically marketing. So, I decided to couple my major with a Business Minor to further my studies in Marketing and Public Relations. Eventually, I found an interest in the realm of advertising as well.
When thinking about what I wanted to do the upcoming summer before Senior Year, I decided to try advertising. I reached out to many Michigan Alumni at various advertising agencies across the U.S. and researched their offerings. I decided on advertising because as I met with more and more industry professionals, I realized advertising sounded like the right fit for me. Characteristics of an Account Manager including working in a fast-paced environment, having multiple different projects to complete, and being able to have a hand in every part of the process sounded perfect to me. I ended up recruiting for both agency and CPG companies, but in the end, I knew Leo Burnett was the place I wanted to be.
This summer I interned at Leo Burnett, a global advertising agency in Chicago, as a Business Leadership, or Account Management, Intern. At Leo Burnett, I assisted on the Kellogg's Account, specifically working with the brands Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops. At the end of my internship, I had the opportunity to work with Wingstop for my intern project. As a Business Leadership Intern, I helped to manage communications with the client and partnerships as well as the communications across the agency teams. I, also, helped to recap meetings in order to maintain the status of the projects, and I participated in an agency-wide intern project to solve a business problem that pertained to one of Leo Burnett’s clients, Wingstop. My experience this summer definitely grew my curiosity and interest in the advertising agency world and I would love to continue on this path.
My experience at Leo Burnett gave me insight into how an advertising agency works as a whole as well as the behind-the-scenes of ad creation. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with the team that I did, especially having an amazing manager. Within the first few weeks, I learned more than I could’ve imagined. The internship at Leo Burnett gave me real, hands-on experience within advertising, and I had so much fun meeting everyone on the Kellogg’s account and networking within the agency! I am so grateful for this opportunity and know that I will be utilizing the valuable skills I gained from my internship at Leo Burnett.
Kristina’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinagurgone/
—- Kristina Gurgone, October 2022
