Home>Messages>EssilorLuxottica Varilux organises state-of-the-art product launch event in Jaarbeurs

EssilorLuxottica Varilux organises state-of-the-art product launch event in Jaarbeurs

Claire van Berkum

19 October 2023

5 min

Organising a product launch event for the most innovative progressive lens on the market; of course, that has to be done in a modern and innovative venue. Louise Versavel, product manager of Ghent-based event agency Fast Forward Events, had no hesitation in organising the product launch in congress hall Polar of Royal Jaarbeurs: 'Such a sleek venue as this, is perfect for such projects.'

Over 400 opticians gathered in the Polar hall of Jaarbeurs for the product launch of the Varilux XR series, organised by EssilorLuxottica. The progressive lenses are the most innovative on the market and developed with Artificial Intelligence. Reason enough to go all out during the product launch. Fast Forward Events, a highly regarded events agency from Belgium, took charge of the organisation. The agency furnished the Jaarbeurs conference venue with LED screens, displays, touchscreens and OLED screens to present the product.

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Louise Versavel, project manager at Fast Forward Events says: 'Our focus was on the launch, in addition to the support EssilorLuxottica offers opticians. All aspects of the event were designed with this in mind. There were several state-of-the-art screens where visitors could interactively discover the new product. In addition, videos were shown and opticians were explained how to present the product. It looked very cool. The contact between the sales manager and opticians was a very important aspect. Therefore, there was also an opportunity for networking, around dinner time. We chose to walk out dishes, instead of a running buffet. That way, no one had to walk away from a conversation. We really thought about every aspect in detail.'

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Fast Forward Events specifically chose Jaarbeurs for several reasons. The unique look of the Polar conference room is ideal for a state-of-the-art product launch, but its central location, combined with a train station and large car park are also great assets. Louise: 'Polar is an innovative space, it is sleek and clean. That matched our objectives. We also decorated it in the house colours by working with uplights. Jaarbeurs offered the right, technical support. The visitors were also huge fans of the atmosphere. We got a lot of reactions to the u-shape, where the stage was in the middle. The atypical setup proved very flexible and ensured a smooth flow during the event.'

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"Such a sleek venue like this is perfect for a product launch."

For Louise, it was her first time at Jaarbeurs, but not the last. She is very pleased with the venue with its extensive facilities and the way Jaarbeurs cooperates with its customers: 'It strikes me that in the Netherlands there are a lot of industrial spaces like factories, and not so many sleek venues that are well-finished in terms of technical capabilities. Such a sleek venue as this, is perfect for a product launch. In addition, I think communication is important. There is nothing more troublesome for an event manager than bad communication. At Jaarbeurs everything went very smoothly and our account manager Bas thought along nicely with us.'

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"They are small details, but we were very happy that Jaarbeurs was so actively thinking along."

Asked if she could give an example of how Jaarbeurs thinks along, she said: 'More and more customers are opting for a combination of events in different countries. This saves costs, because we only have to create the digital content once. The script does require some adjustments, sometimes because of cultural differences. It was great that Jaarbeurs was also alert to this and thought along with us how we could best serve this target group specifically. Because although the cultural differences are not great, they can have an impact. For example: in Belgium we are used to eating later, but our account manager said that in the Netherlands it is more usual to eat earlier. So we also served snacks before the plenary session. That way, nobody went into the presentation hungry and we were able to keep people's attention. These are small details, but we were very happy that Jaarbeurs thinks along so actively.'

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Account manager Bas

Looking for a conference venue in Utrecht? The Polar is the perfect venue for your conference.

Want to know more? Contact me for all possibilities. Or come along and experience the many possibilities of our conference centre for yourself.

jaarbeurs+31(0)30 295 58 81

Bas Sterrenburg