Workshop Events, a Sydney event company, has been operating for over 25 years. We’ve produced a range of events from celebrity weddings to international conferences. We’ve engaged with many brands on a smorgesboard of product launches and brand activations… launching a Porsche car showroom, Armani fragrances, Paspaley Pearls, GE fridges, TV series’... wines, spirits, buildings and holiday destinations!

Westfield Digital Spectacular screen launch - in-house event required additional logistics planning for installation to work around retail trade.

Most corporate events or social events are planned with an intention; an objective. A birthday party can have a variety of intentions… to thank guests for their friendship and support, to strengthen a friendship group by having some fun together or in some cases, simply for the guest of honour to be the centre of attention for one night! One of our client’s once had a whole Mardi Gras style entrance parade designed for his arrival at his 40th birthday party.

Corporate events similarly need a clear objective to be most successful. Planning an event with too little time to clarify the objectives can lead to a meandering path through the pre-production process and ultimately a less clear ‘story’ for the audience attending the event.

So why do businesses hold product launches? The most obvious reason is to present a new product to their current or potential audience. Fast moving consumer goods are a good example of this. The key with this though is to understand which audience this is and where they are. Once audience has been determined, where are these people? Martin Place in Sydney’s CBD is often used as a public location for pop up promotional activations but if your audience isn’t the corporate set or tourists… if you’re needing to reach a teen audience for example, you’re not likely to find many in the centre of the business district (other than a few skaters wagging school of course). After school at the local mall or a suburban beach might be a better location to grab the attention of a teenage target market (or maybe even take your event online… the internet and social media can also be considered locations!)

Holiday Inn brand activation… highly visible location - First Fleet Park, Circular Quay, Sydney

Not only is location key for public activations. If you’re launching your product to a targeted invitee list, location can be the make or break of the event. Most workers are time poor and hiking an hour across the city to a 2hr launch event might just not seem worth it. And we know how many ‘no shows’ there can be at non paying events. Either make the location super convenient or even better, provide transport. If a hire car is waiting at the door to transport the guest to an exclusive launch event, there is one less excuse available in the kitty of repeat no show offender! We even provided horse and carriage transfers for one beauty industry launch from the Centennial Park gates to the restaurant… a practical and memorable experience.

Maybelline Christmas In New York… venue was Centennial Park to give the feel of being in Central Park and the NY skyline was created as a stage backdrop.

Glamorous horse and carriage entrance to Centennial Parklands event. Meet & greet host assists with arrivals.

Similarly it’s important to get timing right. There’s a fine balance between taking too many hours out of someone’s work diary and encroaching on their personal life. Generally launches are held mid week but if an event was appealing enough and a ‘plus one’ could be invited why not go for Friday after hours and make it the social event of the week? Breakfast launches are also popular for the right products. Catering is less expensive (as alcohol can be left off the menu) and venues are often more cost effective to hire. It also means attendees can make your event the first task of their day and guarantee they will be there rather than getting trapped in the office and skipping an event later in the day.

Clashes can be a particular issue… before firming up a date, check for public holidays, events such as Melbourne Cup, building or road works in the location of your venue and clashes with competitors from the same industry. Best to get the invitation right the first time and not have to reschedule - it’s not a great look but can also lead to people attending on the wrong date or key suppliers being unavailable on the new date.

When deciding on a date, ensure there is a generous pre-production timeline. Your product needs to be presented in its best light. Guests will be critical and lack of information, a slapped together presentation or absence of the actual product (yes, this has been known to happen!) will not have the desired results. People will talk about what went wrong and you don’t want that to undermine any positive experiences.

I’ve also been to more than one venue launch or promo event in my day where there’s just not enough food. If you’re going to bother hosting an event to showcase your venue and catering, lay it on, make the guests feel special and ensure they walk away convinced you have a quality product.

The beverages were certainly flowing at the Tattinger Champagne event!

A product launch event is also an opportunity for your brand to be creative. It’s important to consider that bringing in a professional event planner might give your event the extra edge. Your guests will be comparing your product with your competitors and as much as their head says you have a quality product they would like to purchase, they also need to make an emotional connection with your brand. So how do you do this? The event shouldn’t just be educational… it should be fun or hip or quirky or clever or edgy… key is that it’s unique and memorable.

There is a lot of potential to be creative by using unique venues. What message are you trying to tell, what environments are associated with the product, is there a key feature of the product that could be highlighted? We’ve produced events in a bowling alley at Botany, literally on the training arena at Centennial Parklands Equestrian Centre, on the tarmac at Sydney airport, all super memorable venues for the attendees. When the event industry magazine, Spice News was launched, Souk in the City, a Moroccan restaurant with ‘spice’ laden cuisine was a hit location. In contrast, mini gourmet hotdogs and milkshakes were perfect for a retro style lipstick launch set in an old school bowling alley.

Glam waitresses were styled to fit the Forever Colour lipstick launch at a retro bowling alley.

Sometimes the venue can be enhanced with a theme to reinforce the brand. A tourism launch on the pool level of Ivy was given an extra Middle Eastern dimension with the addition of freestanding pergolas hung with floral garlands, exotic lanterns and a tailored canape menu.

Iconic American architect Frank Gehry designed a range of jewellery for Tiffany & Co and this high profile launch was a key event for the brand. What else could be more impressive than hosting an exclusive group of customers at Sydney Opera House’s Bennelong Restaurant? The folds of the concrete ceiling mimicked the contemporary jewellery design and the catering was also fittingly high end for a brand such as T&Co. A perfect pair… venue and brand.

Transformed from its normal white linen look, Bennelong’s tables are dressed with rich linen, custom table centrepieces and personalised plates.

A jewellery salon was set up in the restaurant to display the product range.

The other creative aspects of an event; styling and entertainment can also reinforce the brand message. Sometimes a brand or product has a very clear visual statement and it’s just a matter of creating an environment to mimic the look.

In other cases, the styling might reinforce the brand or product in a more subtle way. For a group of Sydney magazine beauty editors attending a cosmetic launch we brought in a water wall as a screen rather than using the venue’s drop down screen to showcase the ‘misty’ cosmetic foundation. It was definitely a technical challenge but had great impact.

Making an entrance with a themed bridge.

Skylanders launch styling directly linked to the product.

A cuddly baby animal is always a hit with the beauty editor set… think ‘talent’ in the form of cuddly Shar Pei pups for a wrinkle cream product or fluffy white bunnies for a soft skin moisturising product. They do always say not to work with children or animals but if you find a high quality, professional breeder to work with, guests will love it.

You can also use human talent to bring the brand alive… the CEO or marketing team might be reinforced with thoroughly briefed presenters, actors or promo staff. They can interact with the audience in an engaging way on arrival or throughout the evening. Sometimes a comic element is appropriate and can create a relaxed atmosphere for guests to enjoy themselves. ‘Kath & Kim’ (lookalikes) were invited to attend a new gym launch in Alexandria. Clad in 80s lycra, they tested the equipment and encouraged guests to copy their moves on the flashing dancefloor later in the evening. A bit of tongue in cheek fun!

VIP guests at the All Sorts Gym Launch provided great entertainment.

On a more serious note, high end entertainment can be a drawcard for an event or simply reinforce the high quality of the brand. A famous brand ambassador to speak and mingle with the crowd can add value, guests love a selfie with a famous face. A name vocalist or musician for a punchy spot act can be entertaining but also a drawcard to encourage people to attend.

It’s also important to think outside the box and not just go with the obvious. A hotel brand with a new range of pillows could have done a simple promotional event with samples of their pillows for guests to test out… test them they did… in the form of a pillow fight. With a public ‘pillow-like’ pop up inflatable tent in the heart of Sydney, with support from social media, competitors battled it out for the title of Pillow champion. Fun and unique… a highly successful and award winning campaign.

Holiday Inn Activation - Pillow fight public event in Circular Quay.

In the old days (like 20 years ago 😁) launch events had to be at the beginning of the week so that the images captured by professional photographers were ready for publishing deadlines. This would ensure that your event was included in the social pages of the Herald on Sunday. Not these days… the social pages have no deadline… they are a continuously evolving network of individual social media profiles.

Giving your guests opportunities for photography is essential… common are the media wall, the branded frame complete with hashtags ready for a red carpet pose. But to guarantee the imagery gets out there, technology now allows us the tools to instantly share the guests’ pics to their facebook or instagram account without them having to take the time to do so. Branded, sharable content can be created in a simple photo booth format or more elaborate activities can be incorporated. Challenges in a variety of forms (dance, car racing… the list goes on as anything is possible) can be enhanced with green screen image editing, virtual reality and customised graphics/video to create an engaging piece of media that consumers are keen to share with their ‘friends’.

Create photo opportunities for sharing on social media.

Sometimes it’s appropriate to leave your guests with more than just memories and pics for their social media profiles… the gift!

Many guest speakers and celebrity chefs have published books which, when personally autographed, can be a treasured souvenir. In an industry associated with excess waste, we often encourage hosts to consider decor that can be gifted at the end of the night to the guests… an armful of flowers, a personalised tealight holder, potted succulents or crystal wine glass.

One of the most original take home gift concepts we’ve produced were large scale origami artworks. An artist folded large sheets of card into flowers, birds etc. on a central stage during dinner and placed them in the centre of the dining tables. At the end of the night thrilled guests had a unique item to take home with them.

More high tech giveaways are able to be produced these days too with the availability of instant printing… customise a gift for your guest and have it printed or embossed on site ready for them to take home at the end of the event… a quality waterbottle with a custom name… I’ve even heard of Christmas wrapping paper with a repeat pattern of the customer’s face!

Gifts for the guests… personally signed books.

But watch that the items aren’t just your stock standard promotional products. Caps, umbrellas, plastic water bottles and cheap sunglasses plastered with your brand might not be considered a gift, rather, a marketing object that is disregarded and quickly ends in landfill.

Please don’t send your guests home with a 1kg bag of promotional printouts either! Wads of paper catalogues are history and actually usb sticks probably are too these days… I have quite a collection in my top drawer. My preference is a personalised email post event with a thank you for attending and links to any product information that might be relevant … just make sure the person checking the names at the door is accurate (or you use an automatic scanner)... there’s nothing worse than telling someone it was nice to meet them at the launch in your post event email when they weren’t even there!

By Alexandra Cowie, Senior Event Producer, Workshop Events (Corporate Event Management Sydney)

Workshop Events can assist with your event design, management and production, whether it’s LIVE OR ONLINE - www.workshopevents.com.au