Fresh out of graduating from GIS' MSc Football Communications & Digital Marketing programme, Lara Marinelli landed a role at global sports streaming service DAZN, along with several other GIS graduates. Here, we hear about the diversity of the role and how her previous placements at West Ham United and Euro 2020 proved vital in securing it…

Tell us about your role as Global Campaign Executive at DAZN Group and what it involves.

My role at DAZN is to manage a number of weekly fixture campaigns across all markets, particularly Formula 1 and MotoGP in Spain and Serie A in Italy. The role also includes brief writing, creative development, delivery and analysis. In addition, I am supporting the team who manage the major advertising campaigns for our markets, such as season start campaigns, new sporting rights or seasonal milestones. Another key aspect is to create excellent working relationships with market stakeholders all over the world.

What have been some of your favourite moments so far?

I really enjoy that this position allows me to work in a fast-paced, dynamic and creative work environment. Every day I have the opportunity to understand how marketing and advertising is done in different countries and in different languages, and it’s very interesting to learn about all the peculiarities and quirks that each country has.

In what ways has your MSc Football Communications & Digital Marketing degree helped you in the role?

GIS definitely helped me to achieve all these goals, especially coming from an undergraduate degree in politics and economics, which was quite far away from the world of sport. But in just one year (thanks also to the work experience I gained during my time at GIS) I was able to greatly amplify my knowledge in the field of marketing and sport, in particular football. The modules I enjoyed the most were ‘Engaging The Football Consumer’ with Shana Axcell and ‘Multimedia Football Journalism’ with Richard Lenton.

You also gained a great deal of experience during your time at GIS, working at West Ham United and Euro 2020. How important do you think it is to gain experience alongside your studies?

I think that gaining work experience during your studies is crucial because it is difficult to get good job offers if you haven't actually put what you have studied into practice. Both the internship at West Ham and the Euro 2020 experience made me grow a lot because you have to learn how to balance study and work, and it made me understand in which field I really wanted to work.

Tell us about your experience as an international student. Were there any advantages to this in your studies?

I think that being an international student gives you a broader perspective of what you are studying because you have some terms of comparison outside the UK. At the same time, it is not easy to always be on a par with other native students but I can say that it is definitely worth it overall.

How did you find studying and living in London?

London has always been my favourite city and I am incredibly happy that today it is my home. Probably, my only regret is that I was not able to attend many classes due to the pandemic but luckily I spent a lot of time here before Covid-19, so I can honestly say that it is a great place to live where every day there are new things to do and discover.

What advice do you have for anyone looking to study at GIS?

I would encourage all students to take full advantage of any opportunity, whether it's working in a small club or a much more demanding internship, because it is from all these experiences that opportunities come and you never know what can lead to what until you put yourself out there.