How One Company Hosted a Surprise Rebrand Party

Last month, 1,200 event industry vendors and corporate and social planners headed to Baltimore for what they thought would be a client appreciation party—complete with the opportunity for a free tattoo—hosted Baltimore-based production company Chicka-Fandango Event Design and Production. The Tattoos & Tassels party had been in the works since July 1 as a way to thank clients, reconnect with those who hadn’t worked with the company in a while, and to showcase the new 100,000-square-foot warehouse—a one-stop-shop for event design.

However, just six weeks beforehand executives decided to utilize the event as an opportunity for rebranding the combined companies of Fandango and Chicka to Revolution Event Design and Production.

The combined entity began with Fandango Productions in 1989. The sibling trio that started the company sold it in 2001, continued working for the new owners through 2006 before taking a few years and coming back with the newest event production venture, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Fast forward to 2012: the siblings have reacquired Fandango and began using the name Chicka-Fandango in the marketplace. For a company that garnered business on its creativity and branding skill executives knew they needed had a branding issue.

“People kept asking what we were going to do [with a naming], but we couldn’t decide if we would keep Chicka, which was known for social and creative events, or Fandango, which was big with corporate,” said creative director Katie Kirby. “We love branding and being creative with our clients on branding solutions so we felt we had to do a good job with our own.”

Thus the client and vendor relations party turned into a rebrand launch party. However, the new company did not announce the renaming immediately. Use of the hashtag #eventrevolution on the invitations gave guests a sneak peek of what was to come.

A marquee-style lighted sign reading “Revolution” welcomed guests as they entered the warehouse, which housed 50 different experiences in 46 separately branded areas. Those experiences included various themed wedding rooms, a “Who’s Your Granny?” game show, Truth or Dare bar, live tattoos on-site, and showcase rooms for corporate dinners, lounge areas, and experiential marketing.

“We really feel we are a creative trendy company and always looking for the buzz to make your event different and special so we thought, what will people leave talking about?,” said Kirby.

The new company website exclusively displayed pictures from the party through September 14, when it switched over to the new corporate site. Take a look behind the scenes of the event.