News

Ocean Media Group

30 Mar 2010

Ocean Media’s spring of success

Ocean Media Group, organisers of high profile trade and consumer exhibitions both in the UK and across continental Europe, is confident that the exhibition industry will experience growth and development during 2010. Ocean Media has good reason to be optimistic. The company has just completed a series of successful shows, all staged during the first quarter of 2010, including the Event Production Show (Olympia), the National Wedding Shows (Olympia and NEC), Boat and Caravan (NEC) and Bridal (Harrogate). All have beaten their budgets and last year’s numbers.

An example of how Ocean Media achieved such positive results is the strategic step of renaming The Event Production Show 2010 and moving it to the bigger and more impressive Grand Hall at Olympia. Event Director, Michelle Tayton says, “The name change defined the show’s content. This year’s show looked impressive and the increased space allowed us to redesign the layout, making it much easier for visitors to navigate.” She added, “We’re out to significantly grow again for 2011, using all of the space at Olympia and introducing dedicated sector features.”

The National Wedding Shows have also undergone a carefully researched brand revamp. These two centre events, staged in the spring and autumn at Olympia and the NEC, saw a significant increase in visitor numbers over 2008 and 2009 by 8.5%. Encouragingly new media played a prominent part in the marketing campaign with use of Facebook driving over 3,000 visitors to the show out of the total attendance of two shows which is 26,566.

Ocean’s flagship consumer show, Boat and Caravan, is in a market sector which has not been impervious to the recent economic downturn but has weathered it better than most. In February 2010 the UK’s largest consumer event attracted 83,945 (abc audited) visitors looking to buy the latest caravans, motorhomes, boats, park homes, holiday homes, tents and accessories. Recently appointed Show Director Andy Gibb says, “Boat and Caravan boasts an impressive and faithful core visitor base but at the same time attracts a huge amount of new visitors to the outdoor market. We will celebrate the shows’s 50th year in 2011 by introducing more outdoor activity-led shows which we’ll be announcing within the next few months.”

James Brooks-Ward, Managing Director of Ocean Media Group comments, “While not wanting to jump the gun, this excellent start to the year bodes well for our business and I look forward to seeing the launch of ‘The White Gallery’ at The Saatchi Gallery in May and plans to expand our leisure division. I’m very encouraged by the results and proud of the excellent work achieved by Ocean’s show teams.”

For further information on Ocean Media Group and its range of exhibitions and publications please call Tel: + 44 (0)20 7772 8300 or visit www.oceanmedia.co.uk