I joined Brand Events as Show Director to launch a brand new addition to the 2017 summer festival scene.
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Launched in just six months in conjunction with leading chef Tom Kerridge, the event concept was immediately deemed a success and within two months a very targeted and localised marketing campaign had secured over 35,000 people signed up for ticket pre-sale.
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Following the storming success of 2017, we responded to demand by bringing the festival to three new locations in 2018. Over 40,000 tickets were sold for the tour within the first 24 hours, once again proving how popular the combination of gourmet food, top chefs and great music is.
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We continued with this exponential growth by adding a further four locations for the 2019 schedule which increased the total festival tour audience to 120,000 people.
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Results:
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All 18,000 tickets sold out within 24 hours in year one
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Tour extended to eight locations selling 120,000 tickets by year three
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The Cycle Show was re-located from London to Birmingham in 2011, which resulted in a steep decrease in visitor numbers. This was compounded by the introduction of a new competitor cycling event in London which quickly sprung up in its place.
I joined the team to work on the 2012 event and we implemented a number of strategies to give the event a much-needed new lease of life.
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I overhauled many of the team systems and processes to fine tune the commercial focus which resulted in a number of new exhibitors and sponsors. This increased revenues and extended the offering for visitors.
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A new marketing strategy was introduced to segment the audience into their various tribes (road bike commuters, mountain bikers, BMXers etc.). New content such as an electric bike zone and a dirt track were added to the event to provide a more interactive element for visitors and more experiential brand activation for exhibitors, which garnered a higher return on their investment.
Results:
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23% increase in visitor numbers
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37% increase in net profit
I worked for CEDIA ( The Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association) to run the 2011 edition of their Home Technology Event, which had seen both visitor and exhibitor numbers decline in previous years.
The first phase was to conduct thorough research into lapsed visitors and exhibitors to understand the reasons behind their withdrawn support. It was clear that the event was considered to have lost its relevance in the industry, having not had any new content for some time.
We gave the event a new brand identity, forged new media partnerships and implemented a revitalised marketing strategy. We created seven new show features which allowed us to acquire new PR coverage, helping to reach a new audience and boost visitor registrations, which in turn encouraged lapsed exhibitors to return to the event.
We were also able to renegotiate all supplier contracts thus driving the operations budget down to further increase the bottom line.
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Results:
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60% increase in net profit
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58% of audience were new
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7% increase in visitor numbers
The Caffè Culture show, a B2B event for the cafe and coffee industry, had seen a gradual reduction in visitor numbers over previous years, and had suffered from the launch of a new hybrid B2C / B2B competitor event.
After conducting research amongst the industry, I re-alligned the brand to bring the marketing material and creative strategy more in line with modern coffee bars and to reflect a new breed of cafe owners. A careful balancing act was to be managed in order to maintain our position as a business-focussed event which also felt current and fresh.
New partnerships were made which helped enforce our credibility in the industry and which attracted a new audience of speciality coffee buyers. I also commissioned some industry-wide research which secured extensive press coverage to allow us to reach new audiences.
Results:
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15% increase in net profit
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8% increase in visitor numbers