The brief
A valued client of ours is the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE). Its membership comprises plumbers, heating installers and Industrial Associates, which are corporate brands – predominantly manufacturers, distributers and merchants.
CIPHE wanted to reach its key audience to:
- Demonstrate itself as an active member of the community
- Raise awareness of the organisation’s offering and benefits package
- Obtain face-to-face time with members, potential members and brands
Refresh identified InstallerSHOW, held at the NEC in June, as a prime opportunity. It is the one place each year where thousands of installers and manufacturers congregate for three days of networking, socialising and learning.
18
Key influential attendees
100%
Positive feedback
2
Sponsors
The event
The show has a packed schedule, and Refresh knew an event in the daytime wouldn’t work due to other distractions, so it needed to be an evening – but both key show nights are already taken with popular events.
Refresh therefore proposed an event on the evening before the show started (day zero). Knowing the venue well, Refresh advised an event at the Sky Bar’s Secret Garden in the entertainment centre next to the NEC. The venue is unique: a quality location with a stylish feel, very accessible, known to attendees and crucially, it has a VIP room which allows for private functions.
Refresh managed the guest list, inviting contacts it has gained over the years in the sector. The team booked the venue and the food, managing budgets carefully. During the day of the event, Refresh was on hand to call the attendees to double check attendance to ensure the inaugural evening event was a huge success.
Services delivered
- Full event management
- Social media support
- Influencer engagement and management
- Introductions to potential members
The results
Refresh delivered:
- A quality evening event with maximum attendance. The event lasted four hours but the networking continued past midnight
- Face-to-face contact with installers and brands: key opportunities to discuss the CIPHE offer and build relationships
- Positive feedback from all attendees
- Key influential attendees with thousands of social media followers
- Talkability: before the show had opened, everyone was talking about CIPHE
- Content: lots of content was captured on the night which will be developed into video and stills to promote the thriving CIPHE community
- Desire to be included next year. “Where was my invite” was a common question!
We know that other brands will be watching with interest and that the Monday could become an extension of the show for others, but for now CIPHE is the name that everyone is associating with the extension of the three-day event into four.
As a result of the success of the evening, two of the brands in attendance have confirmed sponsorship of the event next year and the venue has already been re-booked, which is testament to the success of the evening.
“A key part of our plans this year has been to close the perceived distance between the organisation and our members. So, holding an event that showcased how integrated we are with the heating and plumbing community was the perfect way to build new relationships and nurture existing ones. It proved to be an amazing start to the show, and we already can’t wait to get planning for next year! There’s something about Refresh – everything they do has a certain zing to it, even when you can’t put your finger on quite what it is!” Tim Sainty, membership director, CIPHE