The ‘Small Changes, Big Difference’ Company Conference 2014 was a one-day event for store managers and key support centre colleagues and was held on the 1st April at The Telford International Centre.
Halfords is no ordinary retailer and the conference certainly reflected this, as the daytime event saw 600 colleagues arrive in themed fancy dress reflecting their business unit and individual role for a memorable, fun-filled but strategic plenary session. The objective of the event was to deliver key annual business updates and motivate colleagues to maintain their fantastic recent delivery levels, while encouraging them to continue to implement those small changes, which will naturally make a big difference. This was brought to life through theatrical video skits, team energisers, a celebrity speaker and a light-hearted April Fools stunt.
The afternoon featured three breakout sessions and a large expo area allowing delegates to meet over 40 key suppliers, while the evening saw delegates don a splash of ‘Halfords’ orange for festivities
including an awards ceremony, Indian banquet dinner and entertainment from the Mumbai Brass Band and ‘live karaoke’ group Rockaoke.
Using the business strategy and key messaging of the conference as a basis, fresh created an identity and concept which ran through the entire event, from print and design assets to video, energisers and plenary content. fresh created nine videos for the conference, including an event sting, walk-in montage, vox pops with customers and colleagues and a set of light-hearted, humorous films featuring the senior executives.
Meanwhile, the fresh exhibitions team managed the expo area, liaising with over 40 key suppliers to create a dynamic exhibition zone featuring cars, bikes and inflatable structures, where colleagues could network and learn more about upcoming product releases.
Phil O’Connor, Head of People Development at Halfords, said “Yet again, a superb event with superb production.” Laura Taylor, Group Account Director at fresh, said “We were delighted to be appointed once again to deliver the Halfords Company Conference 2014. Following last year’s conference we have worked closely with Halfords on various video and design projects, and it was great to use our deeper knowledge and understanding of their brand and business, to build a fantastic event for their store managers and colleagues.”