If you are a venue marketing person, then the answer is most definitely yes.

Of course, the events are your clients and they bring in the money. If you have no events, whether they be celebratory, conference or expo, then your venue can sit empty. As a venue you need to market all the forthcoming features and events, where permission is granted. As a venue marketer it is so important to market the venue as a brand.

Some may say that venues are only as good as the events inside them. This may be true but prestigious client, events and shows like to host in prestigious venues. How you brand the venue can help you sell to host the events that you want.

Understand that your venue is an unique brand and needs an individual approach to market it. Your venue requires unique branding, message & design throughout all your communications. So what really is your unique selling point?

Could this be your;

• Location
• Style
• Size
• Architecture
• History
• Blank Canvas appeal
• Clients
• Theme
• Food
• Experiential and sensory experience

Events and venue marketing specialist, Darren Scurville reports, “Once distilled and defined as the single-minded proposition, venues can then tailor a targeted, results-driven creative campaign. The key is to know your own strengths within the saturated market and to deliver a differentiated marketing communications package based around this.”

“Of course,  once the message is understood internally, it can then be promoted externally through new or tried and tested channels such as website and email promotion, direct mail, advertising or a combination of all of these. Differentiating your venue brand and setting your values, profile and identity is the key to engage interest from your audience.”

It is true that we cannot all have the same USPs as

• 30 St Mary’s Axe- for its icon appeal
• The Crypt at St Pauls for it’s architecture
• Altitude 360 for the view

But, understanding what you do have to offer and how to turn this offering into a strong brand is vital in these times. Perhaps, more importantly, is whether this brand can be strong enough to be also applied for London 2012 marketing. More on that later.