1. Storytelling sets the stage

The first step of planning any event should be curating the story you want to tell. For a corporate summit focused on innovation, you might use futuristic visuals and abstract taglines, or a team offsite at a nature retreat could feature earthy colours and calming design.

Every touchpoint of your branding - from the colour palette to the tone of voice - should weave that narrative, ensuring attendees feel a sense of familiarity even before arrival.

2. Consistency builds credibility

From the first digital invite to the on-the-day signage, consistency is key. By creating a cohesive visual story, attendees will subconsciously associate your event with creativity and attention to detail. Think of it as your event's personal style, and make sure it’s distinctive, consistent and memorable.

We create a concise set of brand guidelines for our clients’ events, including fonts, colours, images and tone of voice, to ensure that anyone who plays a part in the event organisation can nail the branding.

3. Anticipation is half the fun

Who doesn't love a little suspense? Teaser communications, countdown emails, sneak peeks at speakers or venues… These elements all ramp up excitement. We love sprinkling these moments throughout our clients’ pre-event communications, transforming a simple event into a must-attend experience.

For our client’s global roadshow, we used cheeky plays on words in our pre-event communications to tease the event activities. One of the activities was a brewery tour, so we included the line: ‘Get ready to have a barrel of laughs on this brew-tiful evening!’.

5. Create conversations before arrival

A smartly branded pre-event journey sparks chatter and excitement among attendees - whether to each other or on social media. Incorporating shareable elements, hashtags or conversation-starting content can help build a sense of community long before anyone walks in the door (virtual or physical!).

Create a unique event hashtag and encourage attendees to share their excitement or event-related posts ahead of time. If it’s an internal event, this is a great time to make use of your intranet feed!

6. Post-event branding keeps the magic alive

Branding doesn’t end when the doors close. Sending beautifully branded thank-you notes, sharing event photos and creating useful follow-up content turns a great event into an unforgettable one. Attendees leave feeling valued, remembered and more likely to become advocates for your brand or project.

A powerful activity can be to ask attendees to write a letter to their future selves. Collect the sealed letters, then send them out in a year’s time - creating both a full-circle moment for attendees and a timely reminder about your event and brand!

7. Every touchpoint matters

When starting to work on a client event, we map out the entire attendee journey - from invite to follow-up - and ensure every touchpoint is intentionally on-brand. Each email, social media post or piece of event merch should feel purposeful, adding layers to the attendees’ experience and connection with your business, brand or project.

Our client’s global roadshow had a theme of travellers setting sail towards a shared destination. As event merch, we gave attendees custom-designed luggage tags - a practical and on-brand item that would be used well after the event!

Ready to rethink your event branding?

Ultimately, creating a showstopping event is about making people smile, connect and remember. This means putting as much care into your invite as you do into your catering (because both matter!). So, start your branding early, make every moment count, and enjoy the ride - we know your guests will!