1. Commercial Members Meeting
26th February 2014
marketingbirmingham.com

2. Welcome
Ian Taylor
Commercial Director
marketingbirmingham.com

3. Agenda
8.00am
Welcome
Ian Taylor, Commercial Director, Marketing Birmingham
8.05am
Transforming The Mailbox
Sam Robinson, Head of Marketing, Milligan Retail
8.25am
Marketing Birmingham Operational Briefing
Ian Taylor, Commercial Director, Marketing Birmingham
8.45am
Questions
9.00am
Meeting concludes

4. Transforming The Mailbox
Sam Robinson, Head of Marketing
Milligan Retail
marketingbirmingham.com

5. Operational Briefing
Ian Taylor
Commercial Director
marketingbirmingham.com

6. Christmas 2013 ‘Now trending in Birmingham’
Increase the number of visitors and visitor spend, focusing on
overnight visitors
Hotel occupancy and revenue
Raise awareness of Birmingham as a great place to visit during the
Christmas season

7. Advertising
ABC1 targets within
one hour travel – car
and train
Doordrops
PR
Increase
visitor
numbers and
value
ABC1 targeted with a
reach of 600,000
Media profile, with
hosted journalist visits
Partners
Attractions, retail,
accommodation,
transport
Digital
Social media, website
and enewsletter
channels
Visitor
experience
Market Meet & Greet
service
Document Headline
marketingbirmingham.com
Document Sub-headline

8. Website
91% increase
in unique
visitors
Print &
online ads
6.2 million
reach
City centre
footfall
10% increase
year on year
Social media
10%
19%
“Among
highest ever
engagement
rate!”

9. Hotel
Occupancy
1.5% increase
year on year
PR & Media
value
124% increase
Hotel RevPAR
9% increase
year on year

10.  Second phase targeting key foodie and trade publications
 Highlighting key events & festivals including Chef’s Table

Promoting city’s foodie reputation

11. Meet/Visit sales missions

IMEX USA
- key event for American audience

VisitBritain India sales mission
- Mumbai & Delhi

VisitBritain Nordics sales mission
- sales appointments with travel trade

AIME
- Asia-pacific market

12. Visit & Meet Birmingham
campaign impact 2013/14
Campaign
Period
Website traffic
Hotel RevPAR
Hotel occupancy
See more,
feel more
(culture)
Mar – Jun
+ 5%
+ 4.5%
+ 4.7%
Birmingyum
(food)
Jun – Aug
+ 49%
+ 5%
+ 7.4%
Now trending
(Christmas)
Oct – Dec
+ 69%
+ 1%
+ 7.3%

13. Meet Birmingham performance 2013/14
Event
Bids
Pending
Confirmed
Bednights
International
10
6
1
9000
National
17
7
8
6200
Enquiry source
%
Sales activity (missions/exhibitions)
67
Partner venue referrals
30
BCC referral
3
BCB venue location
Events confirmed
Event value
2013/14
71
£318,260
2014/15
14
£189,279

14. Growing reputation
 Fastest growing Christmas & New Year destination – 118%
 Fastest growing Valentines destination – 80%
 Best start-up hotspot outside of London
 fDi Magazine – Top 25 European Cities of the Future (19 th)
 fDi Magazine – Top 10 Large cities for fDi strategy (3 rd)

16. International priorities 2014/15
Greater Birmingham
Visitor Economy
Growing Volume and Value
Develop/Grow
Maintain / Grow
China
Germany
Russia
India
France
Brazil
USA
Italy
Business
Catalyst
Netherlands
GCC
Nordics
Nurture
Lead
Generation
Agents
Breeze Social
Japan Media Award

17. India market
 India is ranked in the top 5
markets for Birmingham
 50% increase in bookings
 Key interest areas: shopping,
sport, culture, food

18. Meet business development

VisitEngland German sales mission
- 3 cities in 3 days

Best of Britain & Ireland 2014
- business & leisure tourism

C&IT Association Forum 2014
- pre-scheduled sales appointments

Meetings Show UK 2014
- hosted buyer exhibition

19. Where the World Meets – phase 2

Real people, real expertise

Advertising: targeting key
trade publications

Social media: highlighting
individual profiles and thought
leadership across the city and
Business
Catalyst
Lead
regionGeneration
Agents
Breeze Social
Media Award

20. Meetbirmingham.com relaunch



Business
Catalyst
Following user experience
research
Refocused to organisers vs
delegates
Improved visibility of enquiry
forms and BCB services
Lead
Generation
Agents
Breeze Social
Media Award

21. Meet Birmingham Pipeline
No of
conferences
No of delegates
Bednights
International
8
24,990
71,460
National
5
2,700
4,650
13
27,690
76,110
National – 6%
International – 94%

22. Visit England
Cities campaign
■
Domestic campaign
■
Time Out magazine
■
#moreBirmingham

23. Domestic targets 2014/15

RGF funded campaign
- domestic market
- Birmingham vs international cities

Objectives
- increase overnight stays
- promote the city’s tourism offer

This is Birmingham
- using the 30 sec film
- digital, door drop and TV advertising

24. Lead
Generation
Agents

25. “a year of essential events, programmes and
activities to showcase the scientific spirit, heart
and minds of the Birmingham city region”
For visitors, students & academic communities
www.birminghamyearofscience2014.com

26. Greater Birmingham Visitor
Economy Strategy
Marketing Birmingham in partnership
with the Greater Birmingham LEP and
the Black Country LEP have
commissioned Blue Sail Consultants to
develop a Visitor Economy Strategy
and Action Plan(s)
The project focuses on the
visitor economy as a whole
rather than just tourism per se.

27. Greater Birmingham
Visitor Economy Strategy
PURPOSE
Project outputs will:
be used to provide strategic guidance for development of
the sector in the short, medium and longer term
act as a tool to guide and coordinate the work of Marketing
Birmingham, partner organisations and businesses in the
sector
provide a coherent rationale that can be used to support
future funding bids

28. Creating a TBID
Focus activity and
work together to
invest in the areas
that can help grow
business
Create a new
industry led
vehicle with the
aim of increasing
overnight visitors
Attract new
overnight visitors,
aiming to grow
hotel revenues and
increase RevPAR

29. To continue Birmingham and Solihull’s current growth trajectory and maximise the
impact of the huge investment in our infrastructure will require a new approach to
promoting the visitor economy.
Public sector funding will significantly diminish in 2014.
It’s an increasingly competitive global market place out there.
We need to FOCUS and work together. We need to INVEST in our future, so we can
GROW our markets.
The creation of a TBID for Birmingham and Solihull is an opportunity for you to
shape the development and promotion of Birmingham and Solihull as a visitor
destination. It is your chance to work with partners to bring more custom to the
region, build your business and boost the area’s reputation
The TBID will focus on profitably growing the number of overnight
visitors to Birmingham and Solihull in order to help grow hotel revenues
and improve trading performance

30. Questions
marketingbirmingham.com