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Date:04 November 2011

Mobile Masters in Manchester

MANCHESTER has become a centre of excellence in mobile enablement and – to prove the point - the leading authority on e-retail has chosen the city for its exclusive retail-focused Mobile Seminar.

The Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) is recognised as the UK’s authoritative voice for e-retail and has travelled north to put together an expert panel in mobile customer engagement.

The IMRG has called on the expertise of Manchester’s Starfish 360’s CEO, Chris Brassington, to chair its invitation only Mobile Seminar for retailers, which will be held in Manchester’s Piccadilly Plaza on November 8.

Chris says: “I’m delighted to be chairing such an influential summit and it’s about time Manchester was recognised for its growing expertise in customer engagement through hand held devices.

“It’s misleading to talk about ‘mobile’ because everyone automatically thinks we’re referring to the phones but we’re actually talking about customers on the move – anytime and anywhere retail!

“Retailers need to address the whole customer experience and engagement across the multiple devices now available to them. It’s about contextual marketing and unifying all retail departments to work for the customer wherever he or she may be at the time – in store, at their desk, on the train or in the bath!”

IMRG says that 61% of online shoppers will browse more frequently via their phone over the next 12 months, with just under half (49%) of these making a purchase from their smartphone as well. It is those sorts of statistics that have led to the likes of ASDA, Ted Baker, JD Sports, Shop Direct and 25 other retail brands to commit their presence to the Mobile Seminar.

David Smith, Chief Marketing Officer for the IMRG, said: “This is our second m-commerce event of the year, which really illustrates just how important this area is for retailers. It is also the first IMRG seminar to be held in the north and indicates the strength of Manchester and Northern retail businesses in the m-retail sector.

“Chris from Starfish 360 is an excellent choice to chair the event due to his experience, knowledge and leadership in the field of mobile.”

IMRG members not able to attend the Mobile Seminar can view a live stream of the event, ask questions and join in discussion online via a chat function. For more information go to www.imrg.org or email events@imrg.org.

Starfish 360 brings together significant mobile marketing experience from across the industry into a single client engagement and delivery team for the retail industry.

Pooling over 60 years experience in the industry, the team has developed an integrated end-to-end process for retailers that fuses business strategy, and multi channel customer engagement with the best-in-breed technology partners.

For more information about Starfish 360 please click on www.starfish360.com or contact Starfish 360 at info@starfish360.com.


Editors notes:

Starfish 360 provides market leading customer insight and technology enablement for the retail sector. Its experience and expertise in mobile means it can provide the best approach to mobile engagement, based on a customer's profile, technology enablement, plus clear measurement via analytics.

Chris Brassington is former Group Managing Director of 2ergo group plc, CEO at Totem Communications, and held senior roles at NCR, Cap Gemini and BT. He is currently the CEO of Starfish 360 as well as a mentor at The Marketing Hall of Legends a charity helping develop marketing talent in the UK.

For more information about Chris follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/C_Brassington