April 2012

Event to prepare local business for the next generation

Business leaders across Yorkshire are being invited to the first Mobile and Apps in Marketing Conference at Leeds Metropolitan University on Wednesday 4 July.

The inaugural event, jointly hosted by Leeds Business School at Leeds Metropolitan and the Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and held at the Rose Bowl in the city centre, will connect business owners and managers in the region with leading mobile marketing and technology practitioners, highlighting the latest challenges and opportunities around the mobile platform including mobile app development, advertising, digital strategies, business integration and enhancing customer satisfaction.

From smartphones to iPads and Bluetooth devices, organisations are increasingly recognising the benefits and the value of the mobile platform for their customers.

Neil Richardson, organiser and Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Leeds Business School, commented: In 2011, 4.5 billion apps were downloaded, and this is predicted to rise substantially by 2013. Apps allow information and services to reach customers in seconds, anywhere and at any time. As the number of mobile devices and operating systems grow, so does the need for mobile communications to be included in marketing plans. The conference is planned as being the first of three events in the next year all linked to digital marketing. We will explore key themes including: the

growth of mobile and its potential for an organisation; the need for sustainable mobile marketing practices; mobile apps and the power of the mobile internet; practical issues such as implementation and control of mobile strategies; internal communications and the future of digital marketing.

Speakers at the event represent Leeds Metropolitan University, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the Business & Organisations for Sustainable Societies Group, University of Leeds, Techmesh, Leeds Media and the Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, offering a combination of practitioner experience, researchers, best-selling app authors and practitioners directly involved in the mobile platform.

The Mobile and Apps in Marketing Conference will run from 8am to 12.45pm and costs 59/49 for Chamber members. Places can be booked online at http://www.yourchamber.org.uk/events-training

Internal only: Places for Leeds Metropolitan staff and students are free and can be reserved by contacted Neil Richardson -

N.Richardson@leedsmet.ac.uk

Ends

For further details please contact Carrie Braithwaite in the Communications team at Leeds Met on 0113 812 3022 or email c.braithwaite@leedsmet.ac.uk

Notes for editors: Leeds Metropolitan University has over 25,000 students and around 3,000 staff. The Vice Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University is Professor Susan Price and the Chair of the Board is Lord Woolmer of Leeds.

Leeds Metropolitans four faculties are: Arts, Environment and Technology, Business & Law, Health and Social Sciences, and Carnegie.

Leeds Metropolitans heritage can be traced back to the founding of the Mechanics Institute in Leeds in 1824. International students rated the University top in the UK for language support, accommodation quality and learning spaces in the 2010 Autumn Wave of the International Student Barometer and sixth in the world for the quality of its lectures. We have over 1,500 international students from 122 countries around the globe.

The

Universitys

award-winning

learning

environments

include

Broadcasting Place, which was voted the best tall building in the world in 2010 by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and also winner of the 2010 Leeds Architecture Awards New Building category.