Kurbads: From Internship to Valuable Work Experience

In my daily life, I’m connected to Kurbads in many ways - through my work at the Ice Hall and Hockey School, as well as in other projects linked to the company. So it felt natural to choose a topic I know well in practice.

At the same time, it was important for me to highlight this company in an academic setting - to tell my classmates and lecturers what lies behind the Kurbads name. Many have heard of it, but often people don’t really know what the company does. My thesis gave me the opportunity to showcase these details while also analysing how effective the company’s communication is.

When representing the company at various events, I often ask people a simple question - do they know what’s really behind the name Kurbads? Especially among young people my age, the answer is often that they’ve heard the name, but most associate it with the hockey club, school, or ice hall, rather than the core business - car transportation and logistics.

That made me curious to find out how well the company’s communication delivers a clear message about what Kurbads truly is, and how the brand is perceived overall. The main goal of my thesis was to assess the effectiveness of marketing communication, particularly from the perspective of the logistics industry, and to determine whether the message is reaching the target audience.

Initially, I assumed that brand awareness might be insufficient, but the research results showed the opposite - 93% of respondents said they recognised the name Kurbads. However, this awareness is most often associated with the hockey club, ice hall, or school, and only rarely with the company’s core business of car transportation and logistics.

I see great potential here to use the company’s internal resources - the hall and the hockey school - as platforms to gradually educate the public about the company’s full scope of activities. I believe this is a great opportunity to build on the existing brand foundation, especially considering the company’s investment in sports infrastructure development and its support for the next generation of athletes in Latvia. This creates the image of Kurbads as a socially active and responsible company, while opening up opportunities to highlight the logistics side more in communication.

Yes, definitely. One of the main findings was that nowadays it’s crucial to adapt content to different target audiences - a one-size-fits-all approach no longer works. By analysing the company’s social media communication and conducting a public survey, I was able to create clear consumer profiles for each platform, which will certainly be useful for planning future content.

It also became clear that Kurbads is already one of the leaders in marketing communication within its industry. However, to maintain this position, it’s important to continuously follow digital media trends and refine the content strategy every day.

Since joining Kurbads, I’ve started to see the knowledge gained during my studies differently - it’s taken on real meaning and practical application. Almost every subject provided a theoretical foundation that I could immediately test and apply in my daily work.

During my studies, I learned how to capture attention in communication, how to view the company from the perspective of a client or partner, and how important the nuances and details are in shaping the overall image. This knowledge is valuable when creating content, planning communication, and working with different audiences.

I also came to understand the importance of internal communication — how to build successful collaboration both with colleagues and external partners, which is especially important when working on multiple projects at once.

Marketing has interested me since before my studies, and I can honestly say - everything I’ve gained over these years has been significant for my development in this field. A great benefit was studying alongside people who were already working in marketing or just taking their first steps in the industry. I’m sure that in the future, some of them will become colleagues, partners, or even competitors - it was a motivating, dynamic, and challenging environment.

During my studies, I also learned a lot about time management and maintaining balance — how to combine work, studies, and other activities while keeping quality high and still finding ways to recharge.

But the process of writing my Bachelor’s thesis gave me a new perspective on the industry. By interviewing colleagues at Kurbads, I realised how rarely we have deeper conversations about how each person sees marketing’s role in the company’s growth. These conversations not only provided valuable data for my thesis but also deepened my understanding of my colleagues’ experiences, ideas, and views on the industry as a whole. They made me appreciate even more the importance of marketing in the logistics sector.