How we designed and built QuickBooks show-stopping stand at Accountex, UK
AT A GLANCE
Client: QuickBooks UK
Brief: Exhibition Stand
Location: ExCel London
Lead time: 12 Months
Build time: 2 Days
Duration: 2 Days
THE CLIENT
Our client QuickBooks (Intuit) dominates the accountancy software market in the US and was undergoing a large strategic push into the UK market. With the onset of the cloud accounting transition, they also wanted to dominate the biggest accountancy show in London.
THE BRIEF
Our brief was simple - to create the most eye-catching stand at the Accountex Show at the ExCel Centre London. Having purchased the site plan some months before, the marketing team's requests were ambitious to say the least. They wanted to incorporate a reception point, a demo area and a lecture theatre whilst being on-brand and on-message. But the predominant feature of this stand was to be the biggest impact in the room.
THE CHALLENGE
We know building trade stands at ExCeL comes with many constraints that often clients don't see. Primarily it's about marrying ambition with reality, given the logistical constraints these locations inherently present. Like most logistical and time-pressured builds, we needed to work through many problems before we could present a final solution. We are not only working through our own technical challenges regarding build, access times, delivery points, weight constraints we are juggling the site with other stand construction companies.
OUR APPROACH
Working across the project over 12 months we broke it down into five specific stages.
1. Concept Visualisation
Following several deep-dive workshops with QuickBooks we understood the brief's objectives, so we worked on a final digital concept presentation. On the face of it, this sounded easy, just build a big stand. But with big competition bidding for visibility, we needed to think more strategically. The eureka moment came from our Director, Simon Maddison marrying Intuit's cloud messaging ambition with the potential cloud space above the stand - we knew this was the area we needed to equally dominate.
2. Design and visualisation
To convince our clients to also build up, we walked them through our concept with a modelled stand in 3D. It soon became apparent that the key component of this stand would be the suspended digital screen with its apt cloud messaging. Our ambition was that it would be seen from all entrance points into the hall. By going up we had conquered the on-brand messaging problem and our digital screen would constantly rotate with QuickBooks' ‘Embrace the Cloud’ marketing message.
3. Construction Phase
The six-month construction phase took place at our Cotswolds warehouse near Swindon, working alongside a number of dependable suppliers, including:
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Graphic designers
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Cabinet makers
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Fabrication workshops
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Paint sprayers
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Electricians
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Software engineers
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Lighting professionals
Keeping to timescales and budgets, we assembled the full rig in our warehouse, suspended it to check all weight calculations, and formulated a strategic load-and-build plan.
4. Logistics and Rehearsal
Whilst it's tempting to avoid this aspect of a build and given Simon's military background, we concluded that the rehearsal phase was an essential part of ensuring this project would be a success. This involved us dismantling the entire stand and loading it strategically into articulated lorries and then rehearsing unloading it again to ensure that we utilised our build window at Excel on arrival.
5. Delivery
The rehearsal time paid off as both build days went like clockwork and we avoided overlapping with other stand builds. We logistically planned for our artic's arrival commencing with the floor, cloud digital screen and finally the show stand and services. This allowed the QuickBooks team to gain access to the stand by 5 a.m. on day three, show day, to ensure all systems were running and teams could rehearse on the show floor before gates opened. The strike commenced at 6:00 PM on day four, with our teams successfully exiting Excel at 2:00 AM the next morning, well ahead of schedule.
6. Show day
When the doors opened at 10am on show day, it was abundantly clear we had created the most innovative eye-catching display. Our suspended digital screen was visible from every entry point, drawing the attention of all the visitors and other envious stand competitors. It literally dominated the skyline as we had hoped and shared the cloud accounting message.
OUR STAND-OUT SUCCESSES
The key successes from this event was our ability to understand our client's brief but also to add real value to it. We understand that psychological engagement takes place at many levels. Not only did we give our client everything they asked for, including a reception point, demonstration pods and the lecture theatre, we captured the attention of more sceptical customers with digital engagement screens around the stand. By going up and into the cloud we extended our brand message reach - way beyond our stand position. But it didn't end there! We knew we had to keep the focus on our stand so we also presented our client with a schedule of timed events and activities that would draw attention to our stand, including fairy cakes delivered by Mr QB and the world's number one keepy uppy footballer performing at our stand.
THE RESULT
A visually impactful innovative stand build that exceeded our client's expectations. It successfully presented the 'future of cloud accounting' and left no one in any doubt as to who the world leader in this sector is.
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16,000 accounting event professionals attend Accountex
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Intuit reported a record number of qualified leads from this event
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Excel reported an increase of 7% footfall on previous years
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Intuit reported this as their " biggest yet" at Accountex
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Accounting Web reported it as Intuit's biggest stand yet with an amazing lineup of speakers
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Intuit reports that is has surpassed 1 million paid subscribers
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Accountancy Age gives particular coverage to Intuit and its dominance at the show
WHAT INTUIT QUICKBOOKS SAID
"Thank you Planet Pursuits for your creative vision and Herculean efforts in creating the most ambitious UK trade stand we have ever undertaken. You were instrumental in understanding the customer journey and marrying it with our huge cloud accounting ambitions."
Intuit Head of Marketing UK
Accountancy Age interviews UK MD Richard Preece at the QuickBooks stand
WHAT WE DELIVERED
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Concept design and 3D visualisation
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Bespoke design and build
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Innovative suspended curved digital screen
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Large open reception area
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Demonstration stations
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Lecture theatre
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Digital engagement explainer screens
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Pop-up entertainment
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Two-day on-site build, technical run and strike
Heading into the Cloud with our visually impactful 'Cloud Accounting' trade stand at Excel, London. It was a technical challenge that resulted in the 'stand-out' and most visually impactful stand at the show!
We met the client brief on all levels and more, with a large reception area, demo stations and 'cloud' digital display
It was about understanding our clients ambition and marrying human psychology to take potential customers on a journey
Keeping potential customers engaged and drawing them away from the competition was a conscious part of our build strategy
"Our added value: how could we dominate 'the cloud space'? Then — ping! — there it was: we'd build up, not out."
The well rehearsed strategic build on the morning of day one at Accountex, ExCeL London."
The digital screen in place by afternoon of day one at Accountex ExCel London.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to design and build a major trade stand? It does depend on the size of your stand but this particular stand needed a long lead time of at least 12 months from conception to warehouse construction and site delivery. The onsite build for this type of stand was dictated by the venue and consisted of two days that set the parameters for what we thought we could achieve in this time scale. It was an ambitious target but we knew with pre-event rehearsals and detailed logistical planning we could achieve this build. Smaller stands with less technical aspects could be achieved within three to six months and a build time of approximately one day. The most important thing to remember is that you are juggling delivery and builds with a number of other event professionals, all vying for the same delivery point. What is involved in suspending a large digital screen from an exhibition hall ceiling? There's a lot to consider for a complex build of this nature. The first and most important interaction is with the venue itself, checking for the venue's rigging tolerances and load points, particularly in the ceiling in this case. We also had to consider the position and running of cables to support this structure. The venue will be well aware of its limitations and will guide you as to whether this technical build is feasible within the time constraints. For the QuickBooks stand we were mindful that we needed to connect the lower part with the upper part whilst also providing it some structural fail-safe support. What does a bespoke trade stand at ExCeL London cost? All the costs associated with the actual trade stand are absorbed by the client and are usually booked well in advance. Whilst our clients spend remains confidential, as an event management company we always give our clients a detailed breakdown of anticipated costs after we have presented our concept and visuals. As a ballpark spend on a large scale such as this you would need a budget of approximately 150-200k. Can you handle stand design, build and event-day staffing under one contract? Yes, absolutely. That is always our endeavour to provide our clients with end-to-end event management support from conception through to event strike. Our services include managing and working with a huge number of suppliers and the venue to achieve an ambitious project like this. We also worked on this particular project with the communication and marketing team at QuickBooks reporting to them weekly, to ensure that we married the vision and ambition with the reality of what could be achieved within the two-day window.
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Tel +44 (0) 1793 772999
