Student Nights Done Right: Events with 20k+ attendees
this is Land Securities
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One Brief, Six Centres, 70,000+ Students
Land Securities partnered with BAM to transform their Student Lock-Ins into fully rebranded, fully reimagined Student Nights—live events designed to drive retail footfall, boost student data capture, and elevate the brand experience across six of the UK’s busiest shopping centres. Taking place at St David’s Cardiff, Trinity Leeds, Gunwharf Quays, The Galleria, Bluewater, and Buchanan Galleries, the campaign required flawless, multi-location event delivery that balanced entertainment, retail, security, and experience—all on the same nights.
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Complete Event Management from the Ground Up
BAM’s role spanned every layer of delivery. We coordinated pre-event planning with over 24 centre visits, produced custom event status dashboards, and deployed a management team led by a dedicated central account lead. Each site saw full queue infrastructure setup, barrier systems, wristband distribution, and security team coordination, often managing footfall in the tens of thousands per night. Our promo and management staff (over 127 trained team members) ensured that students were processed quickly—some queues cleared in under 30 minutes—while keeping the experience friendly, branded, and efficient.
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Brands, Atmosphere & Queue-Tainment
To build buzz beyond discounts, BAM brought in a mix of high-profile national and local brands including Spotify, NowTV, The Guardian, and Dr Who Experience, alongside emerging names in fitness, housing, and F&B. In some centres, we incorporated photo booths, DJs, Nerf games, and VIP wristband experiences, creating moments worth sharing and queues that became entertainment in themselves. The Green Screen activity, in particular, created viral excitement—snapping students into exotic locations and populating their feeds with Hostelworld-branded content.
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A Tailored Approach, A National Footprint
Despite being a nationwide project, every Student Night was individually designed to meet the expectations of each centre. We built bespoke relationships with local student unions, securing collaborative media partnerships and over £23,000 in media value from a £12,000 budget. Retailers saw uplifts of up to 250% in same-day sales, with some venues like Trinity Leeds processing 22,500 students in a single evening. Through precise queue design, brand onboarding, and event flow management, BAM ensured a seamless and scalable model that made retail spaces feel like student playgrounds.
