The Brief: 120 years is a long time to be doing anything. For Ben, it coincided with their most significant strategic transformation since the charity was founded in 1905. The task wasn’t just to mark the milestone – it was to use it. To communicate a bold new direction, introduce a new leadership team, and set the tone for everything that followed. An event that honoured the past while making a clear, confident case for the future.
The Concept: The manifesto wrote itself: A Legacy of Support. A Future of Impact.
The event creative focused on Ben’s long heritage, drawing inspiration from automobile parts of the past and contrasting these with today’s equivalent, with timeline elements interweaved throughout.
But translating that into an experience people would actually feel required careful thought about venue, format and flow. We landed on the British Motor Museum at Gaydon, a setting that did half the storytelling before anyone had said a word.
The day was built in two halves. The morning was focused and deliberate, a showreel chronicling Ben’s 120-year journey, keynote addresses from the senior leadership team, and a fireside chat that brought the vision to life in conversation rather than presentation. The afternoon opened up entirely – an outdoor celebration, live music, food vendors, a service showcase that let people experience what Ben actually does, and the soft launch of BenFest, a new annual industry event seeded here for the first time.
Every touchpoint was considered. From the branded parking attendant on arrival to the 120 timeline graphics, the redeveloped road signs, the AV production and the print collateral, OffType designed and delivered the full creative and event experience end-to-end.
The Results:
Guest feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with attendees noting the professional organisation, the strong sense of Ben’s purpose and direction, and speeches described as inspiring and human centred. The service showcase areas were called out specifically for bringing Ben’s work to life in a way that felt tangible and real. BenFest generated immediate interest and laid the foundation for what will become a landmark annual event in the industry calendar.
