MARKETING STUDENTS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH RICOH ARENA

20th April 2016

MARKETING STUDENTS WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE RICOH ARENA

People in Coventry and Birmingham are being urged to keep their eyes peeled and ears to the ground for some unusual activity over the next few weeks.

The heads-up comes from a group of marketing events management students from University College Birmingham (UCB) who have been given the chance to work with the Ricoh Arena to promote MTV Crashes Coventry, a two day music festival at the venue on Friday, May 27 and Saturday, May 28.

Seven groups of students worked together over a six week period to produce their own marketing plan of how they would promote the event, before presenting back to the Ricoh Arena’s marketing manager Maggie King, and UCB’s marketing lecturers Gillian McCurdy and Sian Williams.

Two groups were then selected to put their plans into practice, all of which will be revealed to the general public in the build up to the event.

“The students need real-life experience to develop their knowledge, particularly with marketing where it is very hands-on, so for them to get this opportunity with the Ricoh Arena and MTV is invaluable,” said Gillian.

“They have had to develop a fully-integrated marketing plan where they’ve had to evaluate the music industry and the demographics of the city before developing creative concepts. They’ve also had to think about what they would do across different channels, such as PR, digital media and advertising all on a £500 budget.”

The partnership between UCB and the Ricoh Arena is the start of a longer-term knowledge transfer project between the two organisations, which will allow students to gain live experience alongside their studies.

Maggie King, marketing manager at the Ricoh Arena, added: “These students want a career in marketing and events, so we’re delighted to be able to help them out. Not only is it good hands on experience, it is something they can add to their CV which will help them to get a foot on the career ladder.”

Grace Morton is one of the UCB students who will be taking part in build up to MTV Crashes Coventry, and she couldn’t hide her delight at being given the chance to work on a real-life event.

Grace, from Bulkington, continued: “It’s a great opportunity and I’m really excited. I was in a cafe with my parents when I got the email to say we had been selected to carry out our plans, and they could tell by the huge smile on my face what had happened!

“A lot of our plans still need development over the next week or so as a team, which will be another great experience for us. We’d ask people to keep an eye out on social media and on the streets, and to get involved.”

Individual day tickets for MTV Crashes Coventry are priced at £10, and can be purchased by visiting www.ricoharena.com For more information about MTV Crashes Coventry, visit www.mtv.co.uk/mtv-crashes-coventry