Diageo & Mondelez
In Cannes with Mondelez & Diageo
It’s a huge conference and expo, thousands of delegates, key buyers from the travel and duty free markets, and the brands they’re there to meet. And our exhibition specialists delivered huge stands for two massive, international clients, Diageo and Mondelez.
Diageo
For the past five years Diageo, one of the main global players at the event, have tasked us with creating their highly exclusive presence on the TFWA exhibition floor.
As owners of many of the world’s biggest drinks brands, Diageo’s sales team have a clear idea of what they want from an event like this. They know who they want to meet, so their stand is closed to general exhibition traffic; uniquely, at this event, accessible by invite only.
The brief is clear: two stands, approximately 240 square meters in total, comprising a number of smartly designed, branded meeting spaces. This year we also helped deliver an evening soiree for a few of the firm’s select clients, taking over the poolside terrace of a high-end, boutique hotel in down-town Cannes for a sophisticated night of high-class relaxation.
The key to a smooth experience
Knowing which hoops to jump through is crucial on the ground in the crazy environment of an exhibition set-up. Having worked at the TFWA venue in Cannes for a number of years, our events teams are well acquainted with the rules and regulations associated with putting together a complex exhibition stand there.
Zealous health and safety officers have been said to sometimes take a lighter to carpets and fittings to test their flame retardant properties, and it’s not unknown for entire stands to be condemned as a result of failing to meet standards; knowing and observing the nuances of the rules is key to the smooth running of a project.
So how do you breeze through stringent health and safety restrictions at an exhibition. Here's a handy 7 step guide:
- Always read the exhibitors’ manual from cover to cover. Leaving stuff to chance will bite you in the backside
- If in doubt, ask. Send the organizer your plans; even if you think it’s a tiny detail (refer to previous tip)
- Keep in constant contact with the H&S people at the show. They need to know you’re taking it seriously, regardless of your private personal feelings
- If you’re asked to change something, do everything humanly possible to make it happen, make sure they see you doing it
- Take the client for a coffee/lunch when the H&S officer comes round to do his inspection
- NEVER assume that last year’s rules will apply this year
- NEVER assume that a third-party contractor has read the manual as thoroughly as you
This knowledge proved highly beneficial for our first ever project with international confectionary brand owner Mondelez World Travel Retail (WTR), part of Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods). Avoiding the health and safety red pen meant the build was signed off two days before the event actually opened.
Mondelez
Mondelez WTR had asked us to produce a high-end stand that would last several years and promote their industry standing as ‘Category Captains’ in the travel retail space. We started from raw and created an original design based on the Mondelez logo, specifically the teardrop-shaped facet – see our concept development above.
The 146 square meter stand incorporated both private and informal meeting spaces, 19 digital screens of varying sizes and well defined areas for all the main Mondelez WTR brands. And with meetings and PR launches occurring throughout the event, there were very few points during the show when the space had to accommodate less than 30 people, so the design concept had to lend itself to fluid traffic management as well as being easy on the eye.
“We were very happy indeed with the high quality stand and the team’s support over the week,” said Anna Szentivanyi, Manager Customer Marketing for Mondelez WTR. “The great work was highly appreciated, and I’m very positive in looking forward to future collaboration.”
To find out more about how Bray Leino Events can supercharge your exhibition activity in 2014, visit- www.brayleinoevents.co.uk/