Earlier this year, the WonderGirls attended the e-Delivery and Internet Retailing Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham. With over 300 exhibitors attending, 8 conferences 20 workshops and 15 clinics for the Ecommerce industry, it was the biggest one to date. Our clients, Citipost Mail and 13ten were exhibiting at the event and it was our job to make their stands pop, not only as individual businesses but as sister companies too.
One of the main deliverables for the event was the design of the exhibition stand, so efficient planning was crucial. We worked off the plan and secured a good floor space, and using our expertise and brand knowledge we worked with the clients and external stand design teams to create something spectacular and bring to life our vision.
Our main challenge was finding a suitable way to utilise the square space. We didn’t want our client to be another boxed schell scheme that blended in with the background. We wanted to appeal to passers-by, as well as promoting both businesses, separately but also as a complete unit too. We needed to show our client as sister companies to enable cross selling opportunities and use the space provided effectively. We approached this by dividing it diagonally to create a dual-stand, allowing both sides to have equal interaction from potential clients within the prime corner location at the event.
It was important that the design concepts highlighted what each brand represented and the services that they provided, so we used their brand iconography as visual cues throughout.
The scale of the stands allowed them to be visible around the exhibition hall. After a little creative thinking and seeing the client’s reactions, we knew we had answered the client’s brief. They wanted a show-stopper, which was innovative and completely unique. The giant envelopes and letters towering high above the other stands were impossible to ignore. We used the shapes of the envelopes and boxes to our advantage to create shelves and stands for branded collateral and screens for presentations.
The space had to be visitor friendly, so we planned an open plan show with one main middle section, and small units on the edge corners to hold collateral. This design would allow a passage way for people to easily access both sister stands.
Alongside the impressive stand, the attention of visitors was also grabbed by a number of items that were worked to promote our clients and their services. The stand’s collateral mirrored the stand’s unique identity with bright eye-grabbing brand colours, graphical style and snappy copy lines. We worked on one key message per brand and executed it across all collateral.
Citipost Mail were aiming generate interest amongst marketers interested in direct mail, and 13ten focussed their aim at Ecommerce businesses looking for an efficient and cost effective parcel process. With that in mind, we brainstormed with the client and came up with a line for each brand.
Citipost Mail: Don’t get your marketing budget in a tangle…
13ten: Get your ducks in a row!
With a main message established for each brand, we began our creative thinking on freebies and giveaways for the event, and decided on the following collateral:
13ten A4 gatefold brochure:
The brochure promoted all current, new, and upcoming services, including 13ten’s UK and International service with new Direct Entry Services and tariffs. It was our job not just to create ‘another collateral brochure’, but to create a visually appealing, and concise brochure, highlighting everything great our clients could offer. The back of the brochure featured dual branding of its sister companies, allowing us to promote the both brands to the same customer.
13ten Rubber Duck:
We ran with the ‘rubber duck’ concept, and included a real life duck as part of the freebie package.
Citipost Mail Tangle Toy:
The Tangle Toy was one of the key driving forces for the Citipost Mail campaign visual. The curly anti stress toys came in red with the branded Citipost Mail logo, strapline, and iconography (we can’t get enough of these tangly toys!).
Citipost Mail Z card:
Using the Tangle Toy as the creative starting point, we annotated the shape with facts, stats, and everything related to direct mail around the page. The colours ensured the collateral popped on the page to encourage engagement.
The size and nature of z-cards were a perfect piece of collateral for the event. Although small in size, they contained all the information required to promote the brands.
Dual branded tote bags:
After much deliberation, we decided to use a dual branded tote bag to discourage customers from choosing between separately branded bags.
Dual branded chocolate pizzas:
Using dual branded chocolate pizzas allowed us to keep the tote bags branded, but still enjoyable (who can say no to a bit of chocolate?). We sourced our pizzas from the Gourmet Chocolate Pizza Co, a locally run business that allowed us to promote both brands on the pizza.
Prize Draw A4 Posters:
Using the two brands campaign message, we created simple A4 posters that would slip into clear POS holders which would sit on the stand and entice people over. We wanted to ensure data capture on the stands so the client could utilise its stand footfall.
After months of brainstorming, designing and management, it was a proud moment to see all our hard work brought to life on such a momentous scale. We received some incredible feedback from onlookers, exhibitors and of course our wonderful clients. Following the event, we were delighted hear that our client had received a huge wave of interest from potential clients, with one even signing a contract within 2 weeks!
It was a fantastic project to work on, and we would like to thank everyone who helped in making it all possible, including all of the WonderGirls, external suppliers such as DMN Design Build, and last but not least – our amazing clients!
Created by Julie Hayes, Becki Ashton, Lynsey Cooper and Victoria Edmonds
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