Refreshers Fair 2019
Birmingham City Students’ Union (BCUSU) is a not-for-profit organisation aiming to empower Birmingham City University Students with the means to shape their own lives. The Refreshers Fair is a national concept where student unions across the UK celebrate the arrival of new students and allow local businesses to showcase their products and offers. Birmingham City University Students’ Union (BCUSU) has been discussing the feasibility of holding a Refreshers Fair for several years but did not have the venue to accommodate such event until this year. Hence, following high demands from students and the recent development of a brand new building in the City Centre campus, BCUSU put together Refreshers Fair 2019 with the following goals. Brief: Hold the first Refreshers Fair for Birmingham City University January intake of students in the City South Campus by bringing together local and national businesses to meet the students to promote the BCUSU brand while creating a sense of belonging for the students. Goals: Put together an event marketing plan to outline the details of the elements for the Refreshers Fair. Promote the BCUSU brand and generate a sense of belonging for new and existing students. Ensure a successful event with a minimum of 40 external bookings and 3,000 attendees. Bring an income of £5,000 from external advertisement. Delivery: The marketing campaign ran for a three month period focusing on local demographics with a specific emphasis on Birmingham City University students between the ages of 18-23. Communication relied on various items of the marketing mix with a combination of traditional and digital media. Tactics: Developed an event marketing plan on three stages: pre-event, event launch, day-to-day and last call prior to the day of the event. This included social media announcements and consistent posting (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), email campaigns as well as site flyering and incentive distribution. Reached out to existing client accounts and prospected new leads based on inbound sales methodology of focusing on individual buyers, points of interests and goals. Prepared the venue for the day and ensured that all the logistics are in place. Results: The event organisation and marketing campaign was based on a three month period and the marketing and communications team have had work under tight deadlines to deliver a successful event. The Refreshers Fair 2019 gathered a total of 4521 students and bought an income of £7,350 exceeding the set target of £5000.