Brighton – Digital Marketing Hub?

Brighton has slowly developed itself into a most cosmopolitan and tolerant community. The expansion of the student population has brought a highly skilled workforce for local businesses. Its proximity to London and small city seaside town vibe is attracting many hi-tech start-ups.  

One Brighton firm has attracted much attention throughout the news, DC storm who have just signed a deal the Japanese equivalent of Amazon and the 3^rd biggest online retailer in the world. DC Storm have spent the last decade developing a software which tracks consumer spending habits online and now has plans to undertake a global expansion (BBC, 2014)

However, the market is becoming saturated, with many competing firms in the market. Although brighton is becoming a hub for digital marketing, a search for ‘Brighton Digital Marketing’ brings up many different companies all offering similar services without much differentiation. So how do they compete? And how to companies choose which company to go for? Companies are now even opting to just employ their own in house Digital Marketing Executive who will simply run all the facets required, further decreasing the need for these Digital Marketing Specialist Companies. Also many decision makers are convinced they know enough about social media and emails to conduct the digital marketing themselves and save costs, but these attempts are often pointless and do little for the business other than slightly increasing online presence.

To the Student Population, Brighton University offers many courses which are perfect for these employers. Digital Marketers are looking for young, knowledgeable characters with outstanding writing skills. With courses such as Digital Media, Digital Development and Digital Design as well as business and marketing graduates specialising with module options such as Digital Marketing and E-Commerce, making the city a breeding ground for the ideal entry level workers for these Digital companies.

Brighton is even holding a Digital Marketing Festival which is back due to popular demand, with keynotes and workshops. It has been described as a “well organised event facilitating local marketing specialists to network, gather new ideas and explore new strategies to benefit their companies”. It even includes guest speakers from the Body Shop and is hosted by Brighton based email marketing specialists Pure 360 as well as other Marketing specialists from other well-known brands. (BDMF, 2014)

 

References:

BBC. (2014). Brighton 'set to become digital marketing hub?'. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-27639419. Last accessed 02/06/2014

BDMF. (2014). Brighton Digital Marketing Festival. Available: http://www.brightondigitalmarketing.com/. Last accessed 02/06/2014