Routemaster buses have recently been voted in the top ten of Britain’s favourite designs and have been nominated in the top 12 favourite British icons alongside Stonehenge and the FA Cup (source: BBC news website). The national and international affection for this British icon make it ideal for Brands with a British identity.

Red Room Events took The Red Room to a small island in the Mediterranean. The one thousand one hundred mile journey to the private French island was made on behalf of their client Chivas Group for an international trade show where they were promoting new acquisition Beefeater Gin.

1.Site survey

After initial interest was expressed by the Client, a site visit was undertaken to determine the feasibility of transferring The Red Room from mainland France to Les Embiez. CAD drawings were made and a solution to the problems identified at the survey was devised, cost-ed and presented to the Client. Enquires were made regarding the logistics and requirements of driving such a vehicle in France. Red Room Events were quickly able to confirm that they could attend the event.

2.Scope and Quote

Meetings with the Client were held to define the scope of works and a formal quote was submitted to the Client.

2.1 Branding

The Client wished to take advantage of the many branding opportunities of the Red Room. Red Room Events managed the production of the branding vinyls by a contractor. Red Room Events provided the Client with a document detailing the size and location of all brand able spaces. (For a copy of this ocument please email info@redroomevents). The client’s art department provided images and instructions as to how each space should be branded. The contractor then made proofs of each image, which were approved by the client.

The branding was applied on site in France to avoid any complications regarding French laws on advertising alcohol on vehicles and to make sure they were in the best possible condition for the event. Because of this, 2 copies of all vinyls - excluding the main advertising boards – were ordered in case of any problems that may have occurred during their application. Un used vinyl’s were returned to the client.

2.2 Bar and meetings:

In the evenings the Red Room was a bar while during the day it was used for bi-lateral meetings and to exhibit their branded goods.
In this case the client provided their own outside seating but this is also offered by Red Room Events.

2.3 Lighting and Power

The Client required the Red Room to be illuminated in each of its 3 locations on the island. There was also a short turn around time between each venue.

RRE presented 3 options to the client. Each was based on using RRE’s own 6kva, <64 Db generator.
The chosen lighting solution combined the latest LED par cans, up-lighters and conventional floods and lighting desk. The LEDs gave good control and flexibility while also requiring low energy consumption and low temperatures. These 2 factors both reduced the size of the generator required, posed less of a health and safety risk because of the temperature and were more suited to being moved from location to location quickly.

The lighting solution illuminated the bus and it’s branding, while features such as trees were up lit to bring the bus into its surroundings.

2.4 Sound

The Client utilised the Red Room’s built in AV facilities for inside and outside PA. The Red Room also provided DVD and flat screen facilities on the upper deck. These are also available for the lower deck and outer areas. For full details of the Red Room AV facilities see the ‘product spec’ page on the website.

3. Delivery

The delivery to site was planned and undertaken by a mechanic/driver with a wealth of experience of driving and maintaining vehicles on the

road throughout Europe and Asia – including taking a tour to Everest base camp – and a second driver.

But with an average speed of just under 40 miles an hour, plenty of time was allocated for the delivery. At the end of the third day travelling a bearing on a flywheel, which powered the alternator, broke and needed to be repaired by French mechanics. One day was lost. The Red Room was delivered on the 5th day of travelling. One day later than expected but one day earlier than the deadline.

4. The Event:

Red Room Events provided 3 staff for the duration of the event and an additional one for the preparation day when all the branding was applied and the vehicle prepared. The 3 staff consisted of one AV technician, one carpenter and one driver. They provided a flexible approach and were able to respond quickly to the changing requirements of the client.

Jo Smith, Brand Manager, Chivas Group.