Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire is one of England’s premier racing venues, home to nine of the country’s 26 top-flight Group I races. Founded in 1711 by Queen Anne, its strong royal connections live on, notably in the Royal Ascot Meeting in June, whose 300,000 spectators regularly include HM The Queen. For businesses, Royal Ascot is a popular and prestigious choice for entertaining key clients and associates. We were asked to review the packaging for the Hospitality Pack sent out to corporate customers by the five Royal Enclosure Restaurants.
Our initial assessment was that the presentation packs didn’t reflect either the venue, or the target audience. The box was large, rather clumsy and printed in full colour, and entirely lacked the premium feel and sense of ‘theatre’ befitting the occasion. We designed and produced a much more refined, elegant replacement which, despite much higher production values, was actually more cost-effective per unit. Smaller and neater, it featured a blue-and-cream stock with gold foil for the logos and a ribbon within the construction. Its combination of simplicity, style and beauty gave a much truer representation of the Ascot brand. We then carried ths design style over to the packaging for Ascot Racedays Tickets, used at all meetings excluding Royal Ascot.