Oriflame Summer Internship

During the lunch break I use to go out to the nearby market to get some fresh juice and fruit and each little trip is an adventure. I always go to the same vendor who has amazing juice and when my mission is completed I use to take a quick walk around the market to see if any bargains can be made. Today was a successful day for Harmeet, Kanan, Eshwarya and me!

This is the rainy season in Thailand and September is the wettest month of the year. For a couple of weeks it starts to rain at around 5 o’clock every day and then it lasts for a couple of hours. The streets get flooded and after a few minutes outside you are soaked. However, the rain is not bad for everyone. All of a sudden an umbrella becomes priceless, everybody wants a taxi and the fares increases to about 300%...

Krishna and Pablo posing with the S8 model before heading out for lunch!

It takes me about 10 minutes to get to the office in the morning by taxi and depending on traffic it takes me 15-50 minutes to get home in the evenings, the traffic can be crazy here! The office is nice and modern, below are some pictures of the building and the interior.

Getting here, moving in to a new apartment and starting to work was a pretty overwhelming experience. It takes a while to get to know your way around, find people to hang out with and get routines that work. However, I am still in the honeymoon stage and the more I get to know the city and the people at work the more I enjoy being here in Bangkok! I beleive that the graph above is more applicable for a longer time abroad. Since this internship is 10 weeks I doubt that I will get to the next stage :)

This is the pricing and forecasting team for the Asian markets! The team consists of Thai, Indians and Swedes.

I am focusing on a project within strategic pricing, this work includes analyzing how Oriflame brands are positioned in relation to each other, map competitors and do market research. The intension is that this project will give input on how the pricing work can be improved and become more strategic. I am working together with Harmeet who is sitting on the right side of me in the photo. She has a lot of experience and it is great to discuss and bounce ideas with each other, she also has a great sense of humor. Caroline (sitting second most to the right in the sofa) is the very friendly manager of the team.

- to my first entry in the Oriflame summer internship blog where I will be describing what it is like to live and work in Bangkok!

First of all I would like to introduce myself:

My name is Ida Muncker, I grew up in a small village outside of Gothenburg and after I finished school I packed my bags and moved to France where I studied and worked with tourism for two years. After that I signed on to work on a cruise ship, which I really enjoyed and another year went by. Then I thought it was time to start my life as a student and I had five years ahead of me at Chalmers University of Technology where I took a B.Sc. in Design and product Development Engineering and a M.Sc. in Intellectual Capital Management. Since I love to travel I have mixed up my studies with an exchange semester in Chicago and by writing my master thesis in NYC.

I have the past couple of years been curious in the FMCG industry and I saw this internship as a great opportunity to try it out. Being in Bangkok working for Oriflame is a great adventure! I am learning a lot about the industry and the different Asian markets, also meeting and working with people from different parts of the world is an adventure in itself.

I hope to keep you updated with so me findings and experiences, please let me know if you have any questions!