Rutgers Student Helps Gatorade With Its Social Media Marketing

Newswise — Jenna Dumanski grew up in a home with two television sets in the front room so the family could catch multiple football games at the same time. 

“I live and breathe sports,” said Dumanski, a first-generation college student who is beginning her junior year with the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. “Sports is just something that brings so many people together. I could talk about it all day long.” 

A career in sports is a natural fit for the 19-year-old. She experienced working in the industry firsthand this summer as an intern for Wasserman, one of the world’s top sports talent agencies by commissions and contracts, according to Forbes. In addition to sports, Wasserman provides entertainment and music marketing services. 

Interning remotely most days but making her way to Wasserman’s New York office in Brooklyn once a week, Dumanski is a social media management intern focused on one of the agency’s clients: Gatorade, the sports drink division of PepsiCo Inc.  

The Milltown, N.J., resident assists with community management, monitoring and engaging with Gatorade’s audience across social media platforms. Dumanski said she also “shadows” internal calls with Wasserman’s social media manager for Gatorade to gain insight into social strategy, campaign planning and brand voice development for Gatorade as well as contribute to evergreen content planning by organizing and tracking creative assets. 

“We do a lot with community management,” said Dumanski. “That’s the biggest thing I do, which I love. Basically, I just wake up, go scroll on social media, looking for any kind of content on TikTok, Instagram, X, anything like that, trying to find anything that Gatorade would maybe interact with. And then we come up with copy for comments that would engage with that.”

She added, “It’s tricky. You kind of have to speak in the Gatorade tone, which is such a known brand. And it’s been really interesting learning how to talk as a brand rather than just as myself.” 

Dumanski said Wasserman’s office culture “is very close-knit and family oriented. It’s hot desks: There are no cubicles. Everybody’s talking to each other. It’s so welcoming, which I love about the company. It makes you want to keep going to the office.” 

The Wasserman internship isn’t Dumanski’s only experience in the sports industry this summer. For a week in June, she served as a student ticketing volunteer with the United States Golf Association during the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in the Pittsburgh area.  

Dumanski, who operated ticket and credential scanners, described the experience as “amazing,” adding that it “taught me so much about event operations, guest services and the behind-the-scenes work that goes into hosting one of golf’s biggest championships.” 

On campus, Dumanski has been an intern for Rutgers University Athletics, “which is my favorite thing ever,” since the spring of her first year at the university. Promoted to executive marketing intern in the spring, Dumanski returns to the operation in the fall. 

“Basically, we do all the marketing game and pregame presentation, fan experience, everything like that for all the events,” she said. “We do the football games, basketball games, any sporting event that’s us. I’ve gotten to do things like producing music, calling a show or shadowing the calling of a show. I’ve gotten to produce my own tennis matches. I’ve gotten to come up with ideas for different promotions and our kids’ club. I really love it and put my pride and joy into it at school.” 

Initially planning on pursuing the journalism and media studies major “because I had wanted to be a sports broadcaster,” Dumanski attended a first-year interest group seminar on communication. Mark Beal, an assistant professor with the School of Communication and Information, spoke to the group about how he sought to pursue one career path, “but then found out he wanted to do something else,” Dumanski said.

“I talked to him I was like, ‘Wow, I love communications, I’m going to switch,” she said. “And then I kind of just fell in love with it.” 

“Jenna is an outstanding student with a focus on public relations and marketing and a passion for sports who is effectively bridging her course content, learnings and assignments as a Rutgers communication major with her internship experiences in the sports business industry,” said Beal. “Both internships are highly competitive, with hundreds if not thousands of university students across the nation applying. Jenna’s valuable experience at both internships, coupled with her studies as a Rutgers communication major, will set her up for success when she graduates and transitions from Rutgers to her career in sports and entertainment communication and marketing.” 

Aside from being about 10 minutes away from Rutgers-New Brunswick, Dumanski said there were other critical reasons for attending the university. 

“I realized how good of a school it was and for somebody wanting to work in sports,” said Dumanski, who played softball much of her life. “Rutgers is the perfect area for all sports since the market is so large here, with the Giants and the Jets and the Mets and the Yankees up in New York and the Devils and the Rangers and then you have all the Philly sports, too. It just seemed like the perfect place where I could get a good education and then use that education to get connections to the New York and Philly sports market.”