UBM Studios Expansion Driven by Marketing-as-a-Service Demand

CHICAGO, March 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- UBM Studios, a turnkey virtual environment producer, today announced structural changes signifying UBM's commitment to the virtual environment marketplace, preparing the company for its next phase of growth.  Kate Spellman has been promoted to Executive Vice President, UBM and President, UBM Studios and Tony Uphoff, CEO, UBM TechWeb has been named Chairman of UBM Studios.  Spellman will now report to Uphoff.   These leadership changes fortify the organization to capitalize on the tremendous growth capabilities in Marketing-as-a-Service (MaaS) across the UBM portfolio through:

• Technology innovation;
• User experience;
• User platform; and
• Digital, mobile and social media.

UBM is transforming the way individuals interact and conduct business online.  UBM credits its success with the ability to bring the right content, to the right community with the right engagement.  UBM is the only global business media company to offer clients the production and creation of virtual environments combined with the content development, recruitment services, custom creative development and the management of audiences within the virtual environment.  

"Under Kate's leadership UBM Studios has become a global organization serving customers around the world," said Uphoff.  "UBM Studios serves our customer's needs by offering virtual environments in conjunction with innovative, ongoing, marketing solutions. I'm thrilled to see the UBM Studios team delivering on this promise and I look forward to working closely with them as they continue to create world-class virtual environments and expand MaaS capabilities."

According to Market Research Media, the virtual conference and trade show market has more than doubled in a year from 2008 to 2009 and they expect a compound annual growth rate of 56 percent through 2015.  Marketers are interested in working with full service virtual event providers – like UBM Studios -- to guide them through the process from vision to execution, to deliver a strong return on investment.  UBM Studios offers a wide variety of virtual environments in Asia, Europe and North America that solve marketing, communication and education needs with content, communities and social networking.

Key virtual innovations UBM Studios is creating for customers:

• Perpetual Events.  For companies that are seeking a virtual presence 365 days a year, UBM Studios is assisting organizations maintain momentum from a live and/or virtual event with refreshed content that extends beyond a single event to create a robust virtual presence/community.  
• Hybrid Events.  Hybrid events event contain both "live" and "virtual" components working together.  According to the BtoB study "State of Virtual Events," sponsored by UBM Studios, 35 percent of respondents said the strength of virtual events lies in their being staged simultaneously with a live event.
• Corporate Events.  Businesses can conduct private virtual events for employees and business partners for education, program releases, new products and user group meetings. Events can be targeted to a small or large audience of employees, customers, business partners and/or prospects. And the layout of the event can include a single-exhibit area that can be vendor, event, product specific or can include many exhibitors in an exhibit hall.
• Virtual Recruitment Events. Virtual recruitment events are an efficient, cost effective and eco-friendly way for recruiters to recruit and job seekers to secure employment.  According to a Unicruit survey from the Diversity Virtual Career Fair last week, 88 percent of attendees found the event easy to use; 92 percent of attendees asked to be invited to future events; and 84 percent would recommend the virtual career fair to others.

"Our expanded organization now offers new levels of service, expertise as well as virtual elements that are tightly integrated into marketer's everyday workflows and CRM systems," added Spellman.  "Cisco and COMDEXvirtual are two recent examples of how our platform, technology and services approach is serving as Marketing-as-a-Service for our customers. We're also launching new innovations like hybrid events, virtual recruitment events and perpetual environments."

UBM Studios has garnered industry recognition for its innovative work including:

• 2009 min's Integrated Marketing Award in the "Wow!" category for The Data Center of the Future
• 2011 min's Best of the Web Awards in the "Virtual Tradeshow or Online Event" category for Everything Channel's COMDEXvirtual
• 2011 Be2Award in the "Best Virtual or Hybrid Event" category for the UBM Built Environment's  Sustainability Now series of virtual events

For additional information on UBM Studios or to purchase a virtual business solution, contact Kate Spellman at 516 562 7383 or Kate.spellman@ubm.com.

To follow UBM Studios on Twitter, visit http://twitter.com/UBMStudios, to follow on Facebook, visit http://www.facebook.com/UBM-Studios and to follow on LinkedIn, visit http://www.linkedin.com/company/ubm-studios.  

About UBM Studios (www.ubmstudios.com)

UBM Studios is a leader in virtual events and virtual business solutions.  A pioneer with virtual platforms, UBM Studios delivers deep expertise in live and online events that brings business value to customers.  UBM Studios connects, educates and enables virtual communications through a portfolio that fits every budget.  UBM Studios is the only virtual event provider to offer platform, content, audience recruitment, reporting and social marketing and gaming.   UBM Studios virtual events include Virtual Trade Shows, Virtual Career Fairs, Virtual Seminar Centers, Virtual Resource Centers, Virtual Product Launch, Virtual Business Continuity, Virtual Corporate Meetings, Virtual Sales Meetings, Virtual Focus Group Centers and Virtual Training.  UBM Studios delivers a complete global communication solution in Asia, Europe and North America in industries including, health, finance, technology, building and education.

About United Business Media Limited

UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetisation of B2B communities and markets. UBM's businesses inform markets and serve professional commercial communities -- from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists -- with integrated events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into specialist teams that serve these communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to www.ubm.com.

SOURCE UBM Studios