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Save-the-Date ads, 2013-2018. Through 2013, the event was called the "Annual Meeting" and collateral featured photos of the host city. In 2014 the name changed to AAO + year (e.g., AAO 2014) and primary photos were of the meeting. In 2016 all collateral took on the new branding of the Academy.

EVENT MARKETING & PROMOTION

AAO ANNUAL MEETING: REBRAND & INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

 

BACKGROUND

The American Academy of Ophthalmology holds an annual conference that draws about 25,000 attendees. It's the largest gathering in the world of ophthalmologists, technicians, practice managers, and industry experts. 

 

As Marketing Manager, I developed the strategy and oversaw the implementation of tactical marketing plans to drive professional attendance and meet revenue goals.

 

CHALLENGES

To differentiate ourselves from other supranational and national societies; to maintain our stature as the conference "Where all of ophthalmology meets®"; and to increase attendance and revenue while many medical meetings are seeing downturns in response to increasing regulation. 

 

SOLUTIONS

In 2014, I introduced an annual conceptual/word theme. These words — engage, discover, innovate, new, art+science, and inspire — highlighted the value of the Academy's meeting, differentiated it from the competition, and gave our campaigns a more cohesive, purposeful feel. I added more video, ads, and postcards to the mix and ensured that our messaging was concise, on target, on brand, and error-free across all print and digital touchpoints.

 

RESULTS

My efforts helped us exceed attendance targets by up to 15% and revenue by up to 18%. Our words proved to be so popular as to be used by other ophthalmic associations and incorporated into session titles and exhibiting companies' marketing. (Imitation is flattery!)

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