Preparing for MIPIM: A marketer’s perspective

It’s the biggest event in the property calendar - one that myself and my marketing and events team spend a significant amount of time preparing for – it is of course, MIPIM.

This will be my 6th year heading off to Cannes in the South of France and I’m very excited about what this year’s week-long event has in store. MIPIM is famously described as ‘a year’s worth of business in four intensive days’, as hosts and guests alike scramble to make important business connections. 

MIPIM is different every year, and one of my favourite parts of the process (which is many months!) is watching things come together. Whilst 2019 is my 6th year attending; I’ve organised and coordinated Malcolm Hollis’ attendance and profile in Cannes for over a decade, which means I’ve (hopefully) been able to fine-tune things.  

From a marketing perspective, there are few events more dynamic and involved than MIPIM, due to the sheer scope of activities to manage and profile opportunity it presents. The days are long with something going on every minute! After the core 9-5 working hours end, the real MIPIM work begins. Client dinners and drinks dominate the evenings, and it’s not unheard of to be managing events for the better part of 24 hours. My survival kit consists of berocca; sunglasses; throat lozenges; a charged phone and a sense of humour!

Let’s not forget the pre-MIPIM build up either: this year, Malcolm Hollis is a Cycle to MIPIM ride sponsor and my colleagues Mark Hampson and Karl Stansbie will be cycling 1,500 km to Cannes. We also have Partners Ian McKenna and Steve Hughes motorbiking to France with a group of other like-minded Property Petrol Heads. In addition to these events, as marketers, we are responsible for all the traditional marketing leaflets and materials, social media posts, advertising and much more.

From Monday 11 March, we’ll be hosting guests throughout the week on board our chartered yacht Hutiane as well as at various land events. In case anyone misses the boat, a branded taxi will be circling Cannes all week and we will be offering advice on Malcolm Hollis services from our stand (R7:E69) in the Riviera Hall.

Our marketing campaign this year is ‘find all the advice you need, in all the places you need’. We’re even running a competition; not quite a scavenger hunt through Cannes but something simple and fun, visit our stand next week to find out more! 

It will be a week full of opportunity. The Malcolm Hollis orange and campaign message will be all but unavoidable (that is the plan!)

But of course, the work of a marketing partner doesn’t finish at the end of MIPIM week. We work hard to follow up and maximise opportunities when we return and dare I say start jotting ideas for the next MIPIM!

I look forward to seeing both existing and new contacts in Cannes.

The Malcolm Hollis team for MIPIM 2019 includes: Anne Johnstone, Ash Winter, Chris Sullivan, Edward Pittar, Ian McKenna, Ian Shaw, Jamie O’Brien, John Woodman, Mark Hampson, Mark Smith, Paul Heyes, Peter Martin, Robert Ballantyne, Roland Vernier, Stephen Lemmon and Steve Hughes.