Salzburg’s “inhouse media agency” and good luck charm.
By Annika Desing
Edited by Gabrielle Nordstrom
If you ever visit the Volksgarten Arena in Salzburg, Austria on a day where Red Bull Salzburg is playing at home, you will meet content creation specialist Franziska Schmock.
EC Red Bull Salzburg is a team that regularly plays in the Champions Hockey League and in the ICE Hockey League, where the best teams from Austria, Italy, Hungary and Slovenia compete.
Franzi, who is originally from Germany, does it all:
She runs the hockey teams’ various social media platforms, acts as the teams graphic designer and produces video material for different platforms. Her boss calls her the club’s “inhouse media agency”.
Right now in the off season she is in charge of creating the look for the new season, where Salzburg is looking to win the title a third time. She creates signs and adverts for the club and drafts the outline for internal information such as time tables and training plans. Moreover she takes care of ticket design and even is in charge of the look of the new jersey. As Salzburg is doubling down on TikTok, video production becomes her main focus for the upcoming season.
Courtesy of Manuel Mackinger
As every other employee at Red Bull Salzburg, she is responsible for creating the best fan experience possible.
Her game day begins with morning skate at the arena, where she films content for instagram stories, etc which she uploads right there. Afterwards she moves to the office. As she has already prepared graphics, such as announcements for the next game, she focuses on the ones that require day off information, such as line ups and merch deals. After a long lunch break and two hours before the game starts, she once again goes through all her notes. Half an hour later all the employees involved meet up and talk about the timeline and expectations for this evening. Then Franzi gets shots of pre game soccer and the arrival of the fans which she also uses for instagram content.
Once the game begins, she sometimes is responsible for the club’s professional camera, where she tries to get slow mo or candid shots of the game or the fans with their choreographies. Other times she’s the one who’s interacting with fans on instagram on the club profile, reposting stories of game attendees and uploading sequences of goals. Additionally, she works as an ambassador for the team, who can be asked by anybody for help.
How did she get there?
After interning at the local newspaper and having managed a few amateur teams’ social medias, Franzi began her studies in Cross Media Journalism at 19 at the Stuttgart Media University. This university only takes on 40 new students for the major each semester and is remarkable due to their various guest speakers and their practical orientation. Each student has to complete multiple internships, there are lots of group projects, such as the online magazine Dasl each year has to create. Moreover, there are very few exams.
Sometimes the students are left to figure out problems themselves, she describes it as “getting thrown in cold water” but remarks that it helped her ability to think of her own solutions and sharpen her skills. In general, the field is very broad, not only did she learn generally how to operate social media and communications but also for example app design.
That’s how she got the perfect skillset to work with Red Bull.
Courtesy of Manuel Mackinger
After graduating, Franzi looked around for all sorts of jobs and found what she was looking for on the RB job platform - tip from her: look it up, jobs of all countries and specialties are listed there.
After submitting her application, she got a job interview which was followed by a case study which is standard for the media industry. You get one week and appropriate material to solve a problem that could be a part of your work, for example creating a strategy for the club’s instagram or cutting a video. After the presentation of her case study in a second meeting, Franzi then had a third interview where she and Red Bull checked the overall vibe. Due to this procedure, it took over four months until she got the job offer.
Since Franzi started working with Red Bull Salzburg in February 2022, the club has won the league title two consecutive years. So not only is she a talented content creator but also, the ultimate good luck charm. Her favorite memory with the team was game seven in this year’s final playoff round where the team defied all odds and beat HC Bolzano, 2-1, in their own stadium as the away team in an arena where they hadn’t had much luck this past season. Salzburg was down 0-1 after the second. In every game between the two teams that season, the team that scored first won the match. Not this time though.
Courtesy of Manuel Mackinger
Her three key tips for women aspiring to go into the sports industry are:
1. Do a lot of internships. Everyone has to start small and internships are a great way to create connections and to get your toes wet in the industry. A lot of times, companies/teams keep you in mind and are more likely to offer you jobs or have you on as a working student. Fellow employees remember you even if they move jobs. Additionally, especially in smaller leagues, interns are treated the same as a regular employee, have the same responsibilities and are very much appreciated. But don’t stress out about finding an internship in the sports industry! The local newspaper or radio station are also a great start.
2. Know how to behave in interviews. Show your enthusiasm for the sport and the team, show your knowledge and most importantly act professionally. It’s also crucial to
show personality, but especially as a woman in sports, prejudice and stereotypes are thrown your way. You will get asked questions about why you’re truly here in interviews that male applicants would never be asked, so think about this beforehand and focus on showing the interviewer what you are really here for.
3. Don’t hesitate to reach out on LinkedIn! Just ask the questions you want to ask, text the people you want to text. The vast majority is actually really happy whenever someone reaches out. As long as you are nice, kind and open-minded, everyone will be happy to assist you. For example, you can ask someone a question about their work or their field, you could even ask if they know of a job offer in the industry or in Courtesy of Franziska Schmock
their company. Oftentimes, they will be quick to help you.
Remember, most times the people working in sports are equally passionate as you are, so you should easily find common ground!
If you want to connect to Franzi on LinkedIn, follow this link:
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