Case Studies
MBE going from strength to strength
Mortgage Business Expo is the meeting place where mortgage intermediaries, brokers and advisers discover new products and services from Banks, Building Societies and financial service providers. Until 2013 MBE was the only event for its industry and enjoyed a unique position and respect in the market. During this year, not one but two competitive events were launched in London.
Following a change of internal management at MBE and with our extensive knowledge of the exhibition industry, Liaison was asked to take on the major responsibility for the event direction of the Show. After a relatively successful 2013 Show, we sought the views of its exhibitors and visitors and made some fundamental changes.
Firstly, to reflect the poor financial market conditions that the mortgage industry was facing, we made a realistic change to make the Show a one-day event to concentrate activity and give exhibitors the best return on their investment.
Secondly, we moved the event back into the City of London, where the majority of financial visitors are located. Plus, access to much stronger transport links and infrastructure made it an easier proposition for visiting. This resulted in a much higher attendance figure in 2014 and with the backing of the industry, a regional event was launched into Leeds in 2015 to serve the market in the North East.
The inaugural MBE Leeds in 2015 was a resounding success and is repeated annually continuing to go from strength to strength, seeing its fourth event take place in April 2018.
With our extensive knowledge of the exhibition industry and passion for visitor growth, MBE has been transformed into the leading Expo for the mortgage market.
Stainless Steel Focus advertising sales increase with appointment of Liaison
Stainless Steel Focus was launched in 1990 as an International version of an already successful German language publication based near Dusseldorf in Germany.
Although well received Stainless Steel Focus struggled to attract advertising support as the sales team who were based in Germany lacked the language skills to communicate effectively with International companies.
Mike Mikunda from Liaison Communications was recommended to the company as a possible solution provider and after a short discussion took on the International sales for the publication, within 12 months revenues had increased from under £1000 to over £20000 per edition.
Since then the magazine has continued to flourish and together with Liaison Communications has launched a series of successful conferences in Italy, Switzerland, Dubai and the UK.
Liaison contracted for marketing relaunch of the FIT Show
With a combined 100 years of publishing and exhibition knowledge and experience, Liaison were the perfect choice to help re-launch the Fabricator Installer and Trade Show.
On the back of Sara’s in-depth knowledge and experience at Emap on Glassex, the show dedicated to windows and doors, she was approached to join the FIT Show team to head up the marketing offering in 2016.
The Fabricator Installer and Trade (FIT) Show was launched in 2013, to fill the gap left in the market following the demise of Glassex (many years after Sara’s departure from Emap!!). The inaugural Show got off to a storming start and was extremely well received by the industry, this was followed by another successful Show in 2014. However, in 2015 the industry demanded a gap year to regroup and refocus, as it felt a yearly Show was not practical.
Capitalising on Sara’s past experience she was contracted to effectively softly relaunch the 2016 event. She introduced many exhibitor initiatives to help promote visitor invitation and retention, including an exhibitor manual, a suite of exhibitor marketing collateral, exhibitor’s guest VIP scheme and a reward based exhibitor guests competition.
Mike proved invaluable to the 2016 FIT Show by supporting the team on the sales and sponsorship side, selling out every inch of the venue and options available.
The event saw an unprecedented 82% growth in visitor attendance, 102% including revisits, with both extremely happy exhibitors and visitors alike. FIT Show was so successful that it outgrew its home at Telford and relocated in 2017 to the NEC, Birmingham.
Sara continues to work on the FIT Show marketing, in 2017 delivering an incredible 17% increase in unique visitors over the previous year. With FIT Show missing a year again in 2018, the 2019 Show is well on the way to be 25% bigger in exhibition space and Sara is working on delivering an audience to match.
‘Sara is a very detailed and thorough professional. She has huge experience in exhibition marketing and delivered fantastic results for the show in 2016. I am looking forward to working with Sara again. A fantastic addition to the team.’
Nicola West, Event Director at the FIT Show
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