Panda’s brand excellently showcased by an impressive exhibition stand

The annual Licorice & Salmiak Festival is the place to be for licorice and salmiak lovers. Held at Wanha Satama in Helsinki in October, the festival offered plenty to see, experience and, most importantly, taste for visitors. One of the highlights was Panda’s exhibition stand adorned with the company’s Lakukka® design, which drew quite a crowd. Created in collaboration with marketing communications consultancy Miltton and Grano, the exhibition stand proved an overwhelming success for Panda. 

Known particularly for its licorice and assorted chocolates, Panda is the second-largest confectionery company in Finland, the products of which are manufactured at the company’s factory in Vaajakoski, Jyväskylä. Panda is part of the Orkla Group and Orkla Suomi companies. 

“The atmosphere here at the festival has been really fun! People have come out in droves despite the somewhat rainy autumn weather. It has been great to see so many visitors find their way to our exhibition stand. The stand is very inviting and people are clearly happy to come by to taste our products. One of the products available for tasting is our new Panda Choco & Lakrits flavour, white chocolate and salmiak, which we will be launching in January,” says Marketing Coordinator Suvi Korpela from Orkla. 

Technical design and implementation directly based on wishes

The exhibition stand was designed in collaboration with Panda’s marketing partner Miltton and Grano. Before commencing with the actual production of the exhibition stand, Grano translated Panda’s and Miltton’s wishes for it into structures in line with the budget and suggested elements that could be incorporated into the design. In addition to the technical implementation, Grano provided Miltton and Panda with various structural and product ideas.

“Panda® Lakukka® is the first design used with confectionary to have been awarded the Design from Finland mark by the Association for Finnish Work. This is something that we wanted to celebrate with the design of the exhibition stand. In other words, we had an idea ready for the stand and just needed a partner to take care of the technical design and implementation,” says Art Director Katri Kurisjärvi from Miltton. 

“We have worked together with Grano on various productions in the past. Our cooperation in previous projects has been smooth, and we knew that Grano was also offering event production services. As has been the case with previous projects as well, Grano responded to our need and provided added value by offering various implementation options in line with the budget and preparing an illustration of what the exhibition stand would look like,” says Project Director Tanja Ijäs from Miltton.

Comprehensive service on a turnkey basis

The production and setup of the exhibition stand was offered to Panda as a comprehensive service. The finished stand included promotional wall structures with printed images and spotlights, carpeting, printed lightweight fabric screens, a printed board hung at the entrance, branded tasting and sales counters as well as T-shirts, among other elements. Grano was also responsible for the dimensioning, setup and dismantling of the exhibition stand as a turnkey service.

“Grano ensured that the project ran smoothly from start to finish. They were able to suggest and recommend things that we would not have known to take into account ourselves. Everything went according to plan, and the project was completed on schedule and on budget. We were thoroughly impressed by the end result,” says Graphic Designer Sanna Hyvärinen from Miltton. 

“The most important thing to us was that the overall look of the exhibition stand was in line with Panda’s brand. The stand was a huge success in that regard, featuring clear colours and certain elements that are repeated in Panda’s communications. The Lakukka® design was highlighted well. Grano’s professionals took care of both the setup and dismantling of the stand. All the deliveries were made on time as well. I came by myself on the day the stand was set up and everything was almost done in the afternoon, well ahead of the time the stand needed to be ready by. Everything was taken care of as a turnkey service,” Suvi from Orkla summarises.