Experiential Marketing & Brand Activation Intern-Cincinnati

Advantage Solutions is a leading provider of outsourced sales, merchandising, marketing, and technology-enabled services that help brands and retailers connect with consumers. Our summer internship program gives students meaningful, relevant work experience, exposure to business leaders, and opportunities to build professional skills through project work and program experiences.

Program Dates: 10 weeks, May 24–August 6, 2027

Position Summary

The Experiential Services Intern will support the Kroger Experiential Strategy & Innovation team in developing customer-focused, in-store, and event-based experiences that help brands and Kroger drive product trial, engagement, and sales. This opportunity is designed for a curious, business-minded student interested in experiential marketing, shopper insights, strategic planning, and client engagement.

This is a project-based internship with meaningful ownership. The intern will contribute to annual planning, opportunity identification, sales enablement, performance insights, and an executive-level capstone presentation.

Key Responsibilities

• Support development of an annual experiential marketing calendar featuring seasonal, cultural, retailer, and shopper moments.
• Research emerging consumer, shopper, retail, and experiential marketing trends to inform future programming.
• Analyze historical program participation to identify whitespace opportunities across manufacturers, categories, and brands.
• Develop recommendations that may increase experiential program participation and client engagement.
• Assist with client-facing presentations, opportunity overviews, sales materials, and planning resources.
• Organize and streamline experiential program information for internal and external stakeholders.
• Review event performance data and summarize key learnings, trends, best practices, and success stories.
• Translate research and performance findings into practical insights and recommendations for future programs and client conversations.
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners and participate in team meetings, strategic discussions, and client-related projects.
• Own a substantive summer project and present findings, recommendations, and proposed business impact to Kroger Experiential leadership.
• Perform other duties and project work as assigned based on evolving business needs.

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in an accredited four-year degree-granting institution or accredited graduate, master's, or MBA program in the United States.
• Rising junior, rising senior, or graduate student during the internship period.
• Pursuing a degree in marketing, business administration, communications, advertising, consumer insights, market research, analytics, retail studies, or a related field.
• Minimum 3.0 GPA.
• Ability to research business questions, identify patterns, and connect findings to practical recommendations.
• Ability to communicate ideas and analytical findings clearly through written materials and presentations.
• Curiosity, coachability, learning agility, and interest in shopper, retail, or experiential marketing.
• Ability to organize work independently, manage multiple priorities, ask thoughtful questions, and communicate proactively.

Preferred Skills and Attributes

• Interest in experiential marketing, shopper marketing, retail strategy, brand activation, consumer behavior, or client services.
• Experience completing a class, academic, internship, or work project involving research, analysis, marketing strategy, or recommendations.
• Proficiency with Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel; exposure to Microsoft Forms or Asana is helpful.
• Strong storytelling, presentation, market research, problem-solving, and professional communication skills.
• Comfort working with ambiguity, synthesizing information, and collaborating across functions.

Summer Project Deliverables

• Experiential annual planning calendar highlighting key retailer and shopper moments.
• Trend and opportunity assessment identifying future experiential growth areas.
• Manufacturer and category opportunity database, including a priority prospect list with supporting rationale.
• Recommendations for increasing participation across experiential programs.
• Updated experiential opportunity toolkit and client-facing presentation materials.
• Best-practice library featuring successful experiential case studies and program examples.
• Executive-level capstone presentation summarizing findings, recommendations, and proposed business impact.

Work Environment and Program Experience

Cincinnati is the preferred location because the role will benefit from participation in team meetings, strategic discussions, and client-related projects. Candidates in Atlanta, Dallas, or St. Louis may also be considered based on business needs and the final working arrangement.

The 10-week summer experience includes meaningful manager-led work, regular coaching and feedback, exposure to cross-functional teams, access to historical program data and planning resources, internship programming, and a final capstone experience.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position does not have direct or indirect supervisory responsibilities.

Environmental and Physical Requirements

Work is performed primarily in an office or sedentary environment and requires regular use of a computer and communication technology. The intern must be able to perform the essential functions of the role, with reasonable accommodations provided as required by applicable law.

Additional Information

Job duties may include additional responsibilities assigned by the intern's supervisor or another manager based on the needs of the position or department. This job description describes the general nature and level of work being performed and is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, or skills required. Advantage Solutions may alter job responsibilities or assign additional responsibilities, subject to applicable law.

Internships provide relevant work experience and exposure to potential career opportunities. Participation in the program does not guarantee future employment with Advantage Solutions.