Brand Activation: Bespoke Styling, Florals & Prop Hire for the Financial Times Annual Festival

We’ve had the pleasure of working with the Financial Times over the past 4 years to style and design the subscriber's area at their annual festival. We first worked with the team in 2019 where we created a mid-century inspired look that incorporated seating for attendees and bespoke floral installations.

As a team we are passionate about brand activations and experiential events, and love designing concepts that encapsulate the brand and prioritise guest experience.

Bespoke Floral Entrance Arch

At the entrance to the VIP area, we created a statement entrance arch. This epic floral installation combined pretty fresh florals and dried flowers, and enticed guests into the space. The branding for the event included pink, so we used tones of this throughout our floral designs and added branded signs either side. The luxe floral touches, combined with the branded signage all helped to increase brand recognition and loyalty.

Brand Engagement

We understand the importance of creating share worthy moments at pop-up events and so alongside the entrance arch, we decided to create a bespoke floral backdrop for attendees to engage with. The backdrop incorporated a bench for guests to sit on, which we surrounded with fresh florals and foliage. We finished the design with signage above that included the event's hashtag. The bench was the perfect backdrop for guests to take photos with and share online.

Styled Seating for the VIP area

Inside the stretch tent, we styled lounge areas for guests to relax in and added charger points for attendee convenience. Alongside the seating being a practical addition to the space, we handpicked pieces and styled them to ensure it was visually beautiful and fitted the style of the event. We chose furniture from our existing stock and sourced new pieces to complete the look. We mixed leather and linen sofas and chairs to suit the mid-century style and added accessories and soft furnishings in tones of pink to tie the look together. As well as soft seating, we added coffee tables and side tables for guests to use. As well as floral arrangements, we also placed copies of the FT on coffee tables and side tables throughout the space, both to style the lounge areas and promote brand awareness.

To utilise space in the VIP area, we also added more seating to the perimeter of the stretch tent. We included cane seating and matching coffee tables, to create additional outdoor seating for attendees. All of the furniture pieces used are from our sister company Stories Event Hire, and their full stock can be seen here.

We loved planning the bespoke design for this brand activation and subsequent festivals. To find out more about our commercial styling and installation services get in touch with our team.