Association Insight International & European Association Insights Winter 2015 | Page 25
Association Insights
Association Success Story
NETWORK
Background
Previously IBMS student membership was limited to “Free Associate” membership
- offering one year of free membership and only available to students at IBMS
accredited universities, with the option to continue in membership as a paid
Associate member.
The majority of students delayed taking Free Associate membership until their final
year of study meaning we lost up to 3 years of potential Associate membership fees
from students.
Attrition amongst Free Associates was poor, staffing resources required were
intensive and print and postage costs were substantial. The IBMS also had limited
control over marketing messages and limited direct communication with Free
Associate members.
In order to address the issues of a costly student membership offer with a high
attrition rate and to offer a wider group of students a cost effective offer that would
better meet their needs, the Membership and Marketing Team proposed an online
only student membership; IBMS eStudent membership.
IBMS eStudent was designed to be an electronic only membership category of the
IBMS - developed in conjunction with biomedical science students – providing a
branded microsite, tailored content and regular electronic communication.
Activities
In order to achieve the Institute’s strategic goal of amending our value proposition
and expanding our membership into non-traditional markets, the Membership and
Marketing Team proposed developing an electronic only, paid student membership
category.
This proposal, along with market sizing data, was presented to the Institute’s
Membership and Marketing Committee (MMC) in Autumn 2012. It was agreed that
additional research around the content and pricing of the offer be undertaken and
presented at the next Committee meeting.
Developing an offer to meet students’ needs at an appropriate price point was
central to the eStudent offer’s potential success. Extensive research was undertaken
by the IBMS Membership and Marketing Team with student focus groups and via
surveys, indicating that students wanted information tailored to their needs and
would prefer to be communicated with electronically.
Having secured MMC approval to begin development of the eStudent offer, the
research undertaken with students, price comparison and further financial modelling
was undertaken and a price point of £10 was proposed by the Membership and
Marketing Team and approved by the Institute’s MMC in April 2013.
The Membership and Marketing team then began work with our web supplier
and database manager to develop an online only offer. This involved developing
and hosting an automated online joining and renewal process and creating of a
microsite on the main IBMS website featuring eStudent branding and developing
tailored content. The student research was used to develop the tailored content on
the eStudent microsite and an eNews roundup.
The online only membership prompted the development of an online version of the
IBMS journal The Biomedical Scientist. In partnership with our publisher.
The Head of Communications worked with a designer to develop a brand and logo
that would feel like it was part of the IBMS brand, creating a sense of community,
but with a distinct identity of its own - emphasising the modern, electronic nature
of eStudent membership. The branding was used for the eStudent website and all
eStudent promotional materials.
ESTUDENT LOGO:
www.associationsnetwork.org
Winter 2015 | 25