SUMMER 2026 INTERNSHIP
Role: Brand & Market Analysis Intern
Duration: 10-12 weeks / 20-40 hrs per week
Compensation: $15-20/hr
Location: Brentwood, TN (Hybrid schedule)
About eCard Systems
eCard Systems is a Brentwood, TN-based gift card solutions provider serving 300,000+ merchants across the country, with a strong presence in the restaurant and hospitality space through integrations with platforms like Toast, Square, and SpotOn. As the company builds its first formal Partnership Strategy, there's a strategic need to understand where eCard sits in the market – and how its brand shows up (or doesn't) relative to upmarket competitors.
Role Overview
This is a high-impact, project-based internship built around one core objective: give eCard Systems a clear, honest picture of its competitive landscape, brand positioning, and visual identity – compared to the competitors it aspires to compete with. This is not a task-based, do-whatever-comes-up internship. You'll own a defined scope, deliver a professional-grade analysis, and present your findings directly to company leadership.
This role reports to the Director of Strategic Partnerships. You'll have access to key internal stakeholders and the context you need to do the work well.
What You'll Do
Competitive Landscape Mapping
- Identify and define the competitive universe (direct, indirect, and aspirational competitors in the gift card / payments / merchant solutions space)
- Build a tiered competitor framework segmenting players by market position, service offering, and target customer profile
- Develop 1-page competitor profiles for 8-12 key players covering products, pricing posture, messaging, distribution channels, and differentiation
- Map service overlaps and gaps – where eCard leads, where it lags, and where white space exists
Brand & Positioning Audit
- Audit eCard's current brand visuals: logo, color palette, typography, imagery style, and consistency across touchpoints
- Evaluate eCard's website messaging, structure, and online positioning relative to upmarket competitors
- Analyze voice and tone across eCard's digital presence (website copy, social, any partner-facing materials)
- Benchmark findings against 3-5 upmarket competitors to identify alignment gaps and perception risks
Synthesis & Final Deliverable
- Develop a gap and opportunity matrix identifying where eCard can differentiate, reposition, or reinforce its brand
- Compile a written competitive intelligence report and a polished executive presentation deck
- Present findings to eCard leadership at the conclusion of the internship
Who We're Looking For
Required
- Currently a junior or senior in a Marketing, Communications, Business, or related undergraduate program or enrolled in a related graduate degree program (MBA, MMark, MS in Marketing, etc.)
- Strong research skills -- comfortable synthesizing information from multiple sources into clean, structured outputs
- Clear, confident writer who can translate analysis into plain-language insights
- Self-starter who can drive their own work forward — you'll have a clear scope, a defined timeline, and a direct point of contact, but won't be micromanaged through every step
- Ability to work in-person at our Brentwood, TN office (hybrid schedule)
Nice to Have
- Experience with brand or competitive analysis projects (coursework counts)
- Familiarity with tools like Canva, Google Slides, Figma, SimilarWeb, or SEMrush
- Background or interest in fintech, payments, or B2B SaaS
- Experience building decks or visual frameworks for business audiences
How We Define Success
A great intern in this role doesn't just complete the work -- they change how eCard thinks about its market. Success looks like:
- A competitive tier map that becomes a reference tool for the partnerships team
- A brand audit that gives leadership a clear, honest picture of how eCard shows up vs. how it wants to show up
- A final presentation that could influence a real strategic decision
- An experience the intern is proud to put on their resume and talk about in interviews