Planning to open a store

Opening ceremony

Why hold an opening ceremony?

Opening ceremony is an important activity in marketing and PR of newly opened stores, companies and businesses. For the purpose of introducing the brand's products and services as well as building close relationships with customers, partners and the public.

Opening ribbon cutting

The benefits of opening

Marking a new beginning: Considered as a new turning point in the owner's business career. If the opening ceremony is favorable, it will imply that the future business will also be smooth and successful.

Brand promotion: This is an opportunity to promote products/services, brands to customers and the public. By using means such as banners and banners to attract attention, thereby increasing the recognition to customers.

Increase sales: Help businesses increase sales during the ceremony itself and long after. Businesses can display products in an eye-catching way as well as create trial programs, give testers, or give special discounts to customers who come to the opening ceremony.

Planning the opening ceremony

To organize a successful grand opening event, it is necessary to carefully prepare items and have contingency plans in place to deal with all situations, from potential hazards to unexpected risks, to ensure the best possible program quality. Here are the steps to planning the grand opening of your corporate store.

Choose the opening date and time according to feng shui

As a country imbued with Asian culture, from the past to the present, on important occasions such as opening ceremonies, homeowners or businesses will choose dates according to feng shui, adhere to spiritual factors because according to The concept of our forefathers: "If the head goes down, the tail will come in".

According to feng shui, the choice of opening date and time must be based on the age of the owner, the destiny, the location of the store and many other factors. However, there is one point to note: Avoid unlucky lunar months such as: July and the 5th,14th, and 23rd days. If possible, should consult with feng shui experts or experienced people to choose the best opening date and time.

In short, choosing the opening date and time according to feng shui is very important to ensure the success and convenience of the store. However, in addition to choosing a good date and time, it is also advisable to choose a time that is convenient for attendees, for example weekends, this will be even better.

Create ideas and themes for the grand opening plan

Planning a business opening ceremony

This is an important step in planning the grand opening, because new and creative ideas and key hooks will be the highlight to help the attendees impress and remember the event of the business longer. In addition, the development of ideas and themes for the event plan should also be based on the wishes of the business and the target audience.

Choose space, decorate events

Normally, a store opening event will have two parts: a ceremony and a gala dinner. The ceremony will be held at the customer's business location and the meeting will be held later at the restaurant or hotel depending on the needs and budget of the customer.

When choosing a space for the opening event, it is necessary to choose a place that is large enough (enough seats for guests) and well-lit. Symbols such as logos, slogans, and signs of the business must be placed in a conspicuous place, with a large number of visitors. In addition, an important event with many guests attending should be decorated in an elegant and polite style to suit the majority of guests.

Steam gate in the opening ceremony

Welcome gate area: Use air gate (balloon or formex welcome gate), velvet rope barrier, red carpet, flowers on both sides of the entrance to show the spirit of hospitality as well as help welcome guests. become more formal.

Outside the ceremony area: Hang vertical banners, welcome banners, banners, standees introducing the company so that customers can grasp information about the event.

Opening ceremony area: Stage staging, opening event backdrop, program information presentation equipment such as led screen, projector, reception desk, fireworks. In addition, guest tables and chairs must be decorated with white towels wrapped in blue/red bows.

Opening area: Ribbon cutting to inaugurate the inauguration

Banquet area (if any): To increase the uniqueness of the party, as well as retain guests, usually the opening ceremony will be prepared with a teabreak party including: tea, cake, coffee, fruit, .. the amount of food and drink will be adjusted according to the size as well as the number of participants.

Display area: Normally, businesses will install their products/services in the display area to facilitate guests to access products.

Make a guest list for the opening event

On the opening day, the business needs the large participation of customers, partners, etc. Along with that, the presence of famous people will also make an impression and bring effective promotion. images for shops, companies, businesses. Therefore, the list of invited guests needs to be understood by the business and detailed in terms of quantity to prepare for the event space: number of seats, food. From there, design and send invitations to attend the opening ceremony 1 week in advance so that guests can arrange their time and attend in large numbers.

Proposing a number of business objects to invite to attend

Business partners: Invite partners, suppliers who have worked with your company to strengthen relationships.

VIP/loyal customers: Those who have used your company's products/services and have made great contributions to your company's revenue.

Industry experts: If the company is organizing a grand opening ceremony for the cosmetic or cosmetic industries, the company should invite industry experts so that they can share their opinions and experiences about the product or service. of your company, thereby increasing credibility with guests attending.

Journalists and bloggers: Invite journalists and bloggers so they can write articles or post information about your event to increase the attention of potential customers.

In addition: It is indispensable for employees in the company, friends, relatives and influential people (government) in the locality.

Build a specific opening scenario

In an important event with the presence of a large number of attendees, in order to avoid mistakes and lose sympathy with guests and delegates, you need to make a clear and complete opening script with the following part:

Dragon Lion Dance in the opening ceremony

• Receptionist welcomes guests and puts flowers on delegates' shirts for guests to attend.
• Dragon Lion Dance opens the opening event
• MC introduces delegates and guests
• Welcome Arts
• The statement of the reason, purpose of the event as well as the opening ceremony of the business representative
• Fake cockroaches exchange performances,  games to stir up the atmosphere
• Ribbon-cutting ceremony to open stores and companies
• Experience trying products, services, giving gifts (if any)
• Enjoy the food
• Opening ceremony and reception to see the guests off

The essential tools and equipment of the event

Equipment and tools such as: sound, light, backdrop, tables and chairs, tablecloths, flowers, cups, etc. must be carefully prepared and have backup products to replace if there is a shortage. or damaged during event decoration.

These items will be prepared by the organizers before the opening day to ensure the event goes smoothly, without making any mistakes. The items in the opening event should be prepared in an elegant style. In addition, the organizers can choose to order or hire outside depending on the requirements of the business.

Allocate personnel in the opening plan

Not only in the opening ceremony, but also in any event, the human resource is always an indispensable factor. You need to choose an event company with a professional, reputable and experienced staff. In addition, it is necessary to ensure a sufficient number of personnel for the opening ceremony, to solve problems during the event, to avoid shortages that affect the program.

MC: Should choose a presenter with experience in similar events. In addition, the MC needs to have a style suitable for the ceremony, be flexible and have the ability to communicate and interact well with customers.

Singers, dance groups: Depending on the size and characteristics of the business as well as the audience to participate in, then select the appropriate singer/dance group.

Promotion Girl (PG): As the representative staff to welcome guests as well as the face of the program, so choose PGs with good-looking, smiling and flexible appearances.

Lion and Dragon performance group: Need to perform enthusiastically to attract the attention of customers.

Filming and photography crew: Having good experience and techniques to capture beautiful moments in the event. Because of these image and video sources, they will be used for promotion and communication.

Event organization team: Need professional, have many years of experience in the field of organizing the opening ceremony to ensure the event goes smoothly.

Marketing and promotion plan through the opening event

In fact, the planning of marketing and promotion should be decided right from the moment you intend to open a store, company, or business. The opening ceremony is a means for businesses to effectively reach potential customers.

Some forms of promoting businesses and branches that are about to open are:

Marketing online

With the current 4.0 technology era, promoting through social networking platforms such as facebook, youtube, instagram, .. becomes easier than ever. To attract attention and reach a wider customer base, you can use online advertising support tools such as Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads,... to manage and optimize your ad campaign. In addition, it should be noted that images and content running ads need to be carefully invested to be able to create high efficiency.

Traditional marketing

Impressive opening banner

You can use banners, banners, and flyers to convey information about your business's opening ceremony to customers.

Promotion

This is considered a tool that has never been outdated, because customers are often attracted to gift programs, discounts, and great deals, because at that time they feel they have just bought a bargain. Based on this mentality, businesses can offer great discounts and trial products/services before and during the opening event.

Budgeting for the opening event

Estimating costs and budgets is a necessary step when planning a company store opening ceremony. The costs can be mentioned such as: the cost of renting a venue for the gala party, food and drinks, hiring staff to run the event, printing costs, gifts and other ancillary services. In the cost calculation, it is necessary to have a reserve budget to anticipate arising and urgent expenses.

Make a contingency plan for the opening day

Even if the opening ceremony has been prepared in the most detail, there can still be unexpected situations that are difficult to handle. Therefore, to avoid unexpected situations, you need to proactively plan a backup to best and promptly deal with unexpected problems.

Thien An Media - opening ceremony service

Some examples of contingency plans in grand opening planning:

Personnel risks: Your company's personnel do not pay attention to time, hours, arrive late, do not have professional skills as well as expertise in event organization. Therefore, to solve this problem, you need to hire a reputable opening event organization service to ensure the success of the event.

Risk of weather conditions: This is a factor that directly affects the opening event, whether the ceremony takes place indoors or outdoors. Therefore, regularly monitor the weather forecast 3 days before the event to have appropriate adjustment plans.

Equipment risks: Just having equipment such as projectors, microphones, sound problems for 1 minute can cause the program to be affected. Therefore, there should be backup devices in case of damage, breakage or loss of equipment for timely support.

Above is the most detailed opening plan template, hope to help you get more necessary information. Besides, if you are looking for an event organization company for your business, please contact Thien An Media. With more than 5 years of experience, we are confident to bring the best package event service to you.