By Glen Smith, Marketing Manager at WISE Worksafe

Event staff work in a wide variety of settings, from small to large scale, indoor to outdoor and formal to informal. Clothing requirements will vary depending on the nature of the event, the season and the tasks staff are expected to perform. However, what your events team wear will always be an important consideration, both in terms of their health and safety and the overall success of the event. Events staff often act as brand ambassadors, and failing to provide them with impactful corporate branded clothing is a missed opportunity for raising brand awareness.

Their role also entails maintaining the safety and security of all those attending an event. Making sure event staff are easily identifiable helps participants and colleagues find help when they need it. Providing hi-vis clothing such as jackets and vests is a simple yet effective way to keep everyone safe. Clothing for event staff is an often neglected topic, so we’ve put together our top five reasons why it’s important to give this due consideration if you want your event to have a positive outcome.

  • Raising Brand Awareness

Whatever the event, most staff will be representing a particular company, event or cause. Event staff are walking advertisements for your business. Why would you not want to capitalise on this opportunity for some added brand-boosting exposure? Think carefully about the design of the garments you select for your events team to wear. Staff need to stand out in a crowd, so your colour choice is important. But don’t rush to create tops in bright stand-out colours if these are not used anywhere else in your branding. The colours you choose should enhance the familiarity of your brand to the people attending, which means building on the image they already have of your company. Colour has been shown to increase brand recognition by 80%. Also beware of opting for an ensemble that is too “busy”. It’s great to get sponsorship and affiliate your company with other established brands, but if your logo becomes just one in a sea of others, the message will be lost.

Choose a bold, simple design that aligns with the branding you use elsewhere in your marketing and advertising efforts. For maximum brand exposure, consider practicalities, such as where your staff will be positioned in relation to attendees. If they’ll be working in a bar or other service area where they will often have their backs turned towards customers, don’t forget to add some branding to the back of the team’s t-shirts. If staff will be working outside and need to wear hi-vis vests on top of their corporate branded clothing, you might want to provide long sleeve tops with logos on the arms to avoid all your carefully designed branding being hidden. Consider event staff clothing as part of your event advertising strategy and you’ll reap the rewards.

  • Delivering a Positive Experience for Event Attendees

Ensuring event staff are easy to recognise and highly visible at all times makes life a lot easier for those attending an event. Imagine being stuck in the middle of a 600-strong crowd needing help and having no way of knowing which of those 600 people are the ones to go to. Event staff who wear corporate branded clothing or hi-vis garments can be quickly identified as a source of help and guidance. Happy customers or delegates means positive event reviews and repeat custom. This, in turn, reflects well on the brand and increases the likelihood that the event will be deemed a winner and run again. Adding embroidered or printed text to a top or jacket, such as, “I’m with the events team, how can I help?” is a great way to send a clear and friendly message.

  • Ensuring the Safety of Event Staff and Attendees

Event staff often have to spend extended periods of time outdoors in all weathers. Providing your team with clothing that promotes your brand or the event, but also keeps them comfortable come rain or shine, is essential to maintaining health and safety standards, team morale and employee engagement. The best way to dress for comfort, especially for staff who may be constantly moving between indoor and outdoor locations, is to adopt a layering system. A base layer will wick moisture away from the skin, keeping your staff cooler in warmer weather and helping them retain heat if temperatures drop. Add a mid-layer for insulation and an outer shell to keep your team protected against the elements.

However, you don’t have to sacrifice branding for functionality. If your team is likely to be spending long periods outdoors in less-than-favourable conditions, invest in some branded waterproof jackets. These can be used time and again by different staff members as they are not worn close to the skin, so they represent great value for money.

Providing event staff with suitable hi-vis clothing helps to keep them and event attendees safe. Activities such as crowd control, which is essential for maintaining everyone’s safety, are much more efficient if the people in charge are highly visible. People who need help are also able to quickly identify who to turn to.

  • Creating a Teamwork Culture

Uniforms with a company logo or branded workwear unify a team and help to foster a culture of teamwork. Event staff often have to work in high-stress environments where responsibilities are significant and responses must be immediate. Staff who work together as a team are more likely to feel supported, act with confidence and achieve objectives efficiently. A shared uniform marks staff out as separate from the crowds and united with one another. Staff will also feel valued by employers who take the time to select clothing that is comfortable, fit for purpose and keeps them safe. This is key for improving the employee experience and creating more engaged, happy and, therefore, productive staff, making boosting morale critical to event success.

  • Improving Staff Efficiency and Performance

Event staff are generally on their feet for long periods of time and required to be active for the duration of their shift. It is important that they are comfortable and have clothing that allows them to perform their duties efficiently. Staff who are required to wear high heels or smart suits are less likely to perform well in a setting where they need to jostle between people, manage crowds and potentially run between event areas. Providing your employees with appropriate clothing will enable them to disregard what they are wearing and focus on the job at hand. Staff who feel that their best interests are being taken into account are also more likely to be engaged and motivated to perform well. The end result is enhanced efficiency and performance, which supports the delivery of a successful event.

There is so much to consider when planning an event that it can be easy for details such as event staff clothing to fall down the list of priorities. But this is a missed opportunity to enhance brand awareness, improve employee wellbeing, increase staff morale and, ultimately, increase the chances of your event being a storming success. Spending money on corporate branded clothing or uniform may seem like another outlay you’d rather avoid, but investing in high-quality branded uniforms will deliver immediate and long-term results.


As Marketing Manager, Glen Smith has been handling corporate branding and company clothing at WISE Worksafe for over 15 years. He has a passion for making brands stand out from the crowd, and helping organisations provide their people with the perfect uniform.

Adam Parry
Author: Adam Parry

Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.