How to turn a garden show into an attraction for the urban public: »The garden show you can touch«
For the Bavarian garden show »Natur in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm 2017«, EMBASSY broke with the conventions of flowers, butterflies and rainbows to position the show as an attractive excursion destination for an urban audience. The guiding principle and claim »The garden show you can touch« became the guiding principle for the event and communication in all channels. With success: »Natur in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm 2017« was the second most successful Bavarian garden show of all time.
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Garden shows in essence are quite simple: in addition to the local public, they attract a regular audience. Accordingly, garden show brands are always designed for the same audience and visitor numbers remain largely constant.
However, the small town of Pfaffenhofen a. d. Ilm, located halfway between Munich and Ingolstadt, had much more ambitious goals for its garden show and wanted to significantly increase visitor numbers. In the joint workshops, it quickly became clear that new audiences would be important to achieve these goals, especially from the neighbouring conurbations.
The result was a brand that departed from all the clichés and conventions of garden shows.
Instead of using flowers, butterflies or rainbows in the logo, the design was inspired by the way in which attractions in cities (museums, zoos) have developed from passive viewing to interactive exploration for modern audiences.
This gave rise to the guiding principle and claim »The garden show you can touch« and an approach that invited visitors to discover rather than just look at. EMBASSY developed the brand and the visual identity, ranging from the logo to the design guidelines. Since 2015, the brand has not only shaped the design of the garden show, but also provided orientation in the conception of content, programme and advertising.
The success proved Pfaffenhofen right: in an environment of shrinking visitor numbers and completely cancelled garden shows, »Natur in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm 2017« was the second most successful Bavarian garden show of all time.
