Building the marketing engine for growth

Vivify Venues is a fast-growing edtech business helping schools open their facilities to their communities, generating additional income for schools while giving clubs, organisations and individuals easier access to spaces.

The business had significant growth ambitions and a strong product, purpose and team. I was initially brought in to take a broader look at the opportunity, considering where Vivify could win, how it could build a genuine leadership position in its market and whether its existing marketing capability was set up to support the next stage of growth.

My initial review looked across the market, audiences, brand, customer experience, channels and internal capability, identifying considerable headroom for growth. Competitors were making similar claims without any one business establishing a truly distinctive leadership position, while Vivify had the product, scale and credentials to occupy that space. There was also significant potential to grow the overall market rather than relying solely on taking share from competitors.

The strategy set an ambition for Vivify to become the first-choice venue provider for schools and hirers across the UK. We developed a position around Vivify as a tech-for-good leader, using innovation to create meaningful change for schools and communities.

At the heart of the brand work was Powered by Vivify, positioning the business as the engine behind the ambitions of the people and organisations using its platform. It gave us a proposition that could work across both sides of the marketplace, from schools and trusts to clubs, businesses and community organisations.

Following the strategy and blueprint work, I joined the leadership team as Fractional CMO for nine months, taking responsibility for turning the strategy into a programme of activity while strengthening the marketing capability around it. Working with the internal team and specialist partners, I led the brand refresh and implementation of the new positioning, introduced more deliberate audience planning, developed social and content activity, introduced paid media and strengthened website management and conversion planning. We also put CRM, lead generation and data plans in place to create a stronger foundation for acquisition and customer development.

During the period, performance strengthened significantly across the digital funnel. Website sessions increased 53% year on year, with users up 44%, increasing the number of people discovering Vivify and actively searching the platform. That increased visibility was accompanied by much stronger engagement and intent. Key events across the platform increased 349% year on year, while booking requests grew by 65%. Most importantly, that increased activity was translating further down the funnel, with requested revenue up 66% year on year.

Alongside the immediate delivery, I worked with the leadership team on longer-term growth planning, including future propositions and M&A considerations, while reviewing the structure and capability the marketing team would need as Vivify continued to scale.

Throughout the nine months, the focus was on creating momentum while building something sustainable, improving performance while putting the plans, systems and capability in place for the team to continue developing beyond my fractional tenure.