News from the Applied Marketing Research Group (AMRG)

AMRG hosts Building Brands conference, September 2025

On 11 September, the Applied Marketing Research Group was delighted to host the Building Brands 2025 conference at the Bristol Business School for the second consecutive year. Over 200 marketing practitioners from the South West attended and were able to choose from a variety of workshops throughout the day on topics such as AI-powered SEO, raising brand visibility, and behaviour-based email marketing. The event was an excellent opportunity to welcome local businesses and raise awareness of what the Business School offers. 

Promoting a Place, July 2025

Dr Tom Bowden-Green and Dr Pawel Capik hosted a day of workshops on 'place marketing' at the Watershed Cinema, entitled 'Promoting a place: Insights from academia'. Together with Dr Hanne Knight (University of Plymouth), they welcomed representatives of the so-called 'visitor economy' across Bristol to the Watershed Cinema, to discuss research relating to investment, sustainability, and branding. They also revealed the latest findings from UWE research into perceptions of the Bristol brand. 

Sharing research with businesses in the region, June 2025

The Applied Marketing Research Group held a half-day event on 16 June 2025 at the Business School entitled ‘Confronting alienation: What can we learn from employee ownership?’ Professor Mario Vafeas and Dr Ed Little presented the findings from their research project on alienation and the positive impact of co-ownership practices. Guest speaker was James de le Vingne, CEO of the Employee Ownership Association. Panellists included Richard Gosden from the John Lewis Partnership (the UK’s largest employee-owned business) and Katie Scott, MD of Interactive Learning & Development (an employee-owned SME).

Research with purpose, May 2025

Research conducted by Clare Mackay and Dr Ed Little on the lack of provision at live events for people with dietary needs, has been reported by Access All Areas, the marketing intelligence publication for live events industry professionals. The research was funded by the Association for Events Management Education. 

Venue partner for Building Brands conference, September 2024

The Applied Marketing Research Group (AMRG) co-sponsored and hosted the Building Brands annual conference at Bristol Business School on 3 September 2024. Over 200 marketing professionals from the South West attended the all-day event which consisted of workshops and keynote speeches from industry experts on the latest developments in marketing.

KTP with Lynne Fernandes Optometrists rated ‘Very Good’, August 2024

The two-year KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership) between UWE Bristol and Lynne Fernandes Optometrists, which concluded in May 2024, was recently rated, based on its outcomes and achievements, as ‘Very Good’ by Innovate UK. The academic team consisted of Michelle Jackson and Professor Mario Vafeas from the Applied Marketing Research Group, with input from Dr Mary-Ann Sherratt of UWE Bristol’s School of Health and Social Wellbeing.

Bristol Business Breakfast, July 2023

Dr Tom Bowden-Green, together with Chloe Foy from McCann Synergy, welcomed academics and the business community to the last Bristol Business Breakfast for the 2022/23 academic year. The topic of the presentation and subsequent discussion was ‘How your business can benefit from behavioural science’.

Festival sustainability, June 2023

Clare Mackay and Dr Ed Little presented findings from their research on environmentally responsible behaviour at Boomtown music festival at the Festival Sustainability Symposium, Edinburgh Napier University. 

Welsh Government - driver behaviour change, April 2023

Professor Alan Tapp is currently consulting on a driver behaviour change project for the Welsh Government.