Paul Bunce Conference Aston Aston University Birmingham

Marketing Academic Venues

Two year round venues 30 Meeting Rooms 163 Hotel bedrooms 3-4 star standard

Summer Campus Conferences 50 + Meeting Rooms 800 bedrooms

Business Breakdown Who are our customers?

Internal University Business 3% External Corporate Business 97%

Key Industry SectorsGovernment NationalEducationHealth and PharmaceuticalGovernment LocalConstruction

OwnershipPublic Sector 40%Private Sector 52%Associations 8%

Repeat Business 25% Agency Business 30% New Direct Business 45%

Conference Aston revenue streamsWhat do our target markets use us for?

Other Revenue Streams Weddings and Functions Bar, Restaurant and Hospitality Services

Conferences and Meetings49%

Hotel Services

17%

Summer Schools

23%

Other11%

Marketing Initiatives Marketing Budget 1.3- 1.5% of Turnover Marketing budget focused on meetings and events, and summer schools

Marketing Initiatives… top three

Memberships and Affiliations

1:60 ROIWebsite and

online 1:39-1:25 ROI

Exhibitions and Forum Events

1:30 ROI

Memberships, you get out, what you put in…

Additional marketing opportunities available

Access to databases Make your budget go further Access a national and

international market Lift restrictions of being an

independent venue Combine with other

marketing activities to increase effectiveness

Cross-Industry options

Online marketing, not just the websites…

Google reigns as leading search engine Third party partnerships – Generate traffic Google adwords – Great for specifics, costly for generic! Increase in tablet and smart phone devices

Google analytics growth January 2012 How do people view your website? A website isn’t just for buyers

Exhibitions and Forums

Exhibitions over all major markets

Set specific targets! Show objective ROI Enquiry levels per day/show Follow up and conversion targets

Consistently highest ROI for single activity Team ‘Buy-in’ is essential People buy People

Additional Marketing InitiativesA few to consider…

Conference Booking Agencies

Hotel Marketing – No ‘Direct’ spend Third Party Commission Based Websites Laterooms, Booking.com, Expedia Let them do the hard work

Social Media Low to no cost Brand impact – Who are you? Extension of CRM Use it properly, no hard sell!

Make sure it’s targetedWhere are our customers coming from?

Residential Conferences National London/Manchester/Bristol

Day Meetings and Weddings Local – City Local – Region

Hotel Business National International

Internally Academic and Support Departments

Who books what and when?When are our customers making decisions?

Lead time analysis By event type By event size

Day Meetings: 2 days -12 weeks Residential Meetings: 6 months+ Campus and Summer: 12 months+

Weddings and Functions

Key exhibitions – Timing March/September/October

Hotels book every day Very competitive

Key messages and finding the USPsWhy are our customers choosing us?

Constant research into our customers’ decision making process Direct bookers vs Agencies… location vs price Customers use different venues for different reasons

Budget and Value for

Money

Size and Quality of Meeting Facilities

Location and Accessibility

Generation

Conversion

Delivery

Customer needs

It’s all about customer needs and they never stop changing, use your team to keep on top…

Thank you!