Lights, Legacy and Leadership - Insider on Corporate Events

How KFC and McDonald’s Create Events Worth Remembering.

Not every corporate event needs fireworks to make an impression. But when done well, even a training graduation or a leadership offsite can carry weight, not just for the people in the room, but for what the room says back. 

For two of Australia’s biggest restaurant brands, KFC and McDonald’s, working with Spotlight Letters helped them create a unique, bold and memorable visual impact to set the scene and greet their attendees.

At McDonald’s, that room was filled with recent graduates from its national training program. At KFC, it was a gathering of state managers from across the country. Both events were inward-facing and designed to acknowledge milestones, share strategy, and strengthen culture. And in both cases, the stage was set not only with speeches and name tags, but with something simpler: large, illuminated letters spelling out the moment.

"GRAD" for McDonald's, "FLG" (Finger Lickin' Good) at KFC.

These are subtle gestures, but intentional ones. Behind those installations was Spotlight Letters, a Sydney-based company that’s become a go-to for event visuals that need to say something — clearly, confidently, and in lights. 

The New Visual Vocabulary of Corporate Branding

The modern corporate event is no longer just content with a lectern, a logo, and a tightly run agenda. Increasingly, what matters is how the experience feels. This is not just for those in the room, but to anyone who might see it later. A photo, a shared post, a quiet sense of cohesion between brand and space. These are now essential elements of internal communications, not just marketing.

Corporate Events Designed for Meaning and not just Decoration

That shift has created space for companies like Spotlight Letters, whose installations function as more than just decoration. They are designed to reinforce theme and identity, to make abstract values feel concrete and immediate. At McDonald’s, “GRAD” said everything that needed to be said. At KFC, “FLG” acted as both a shorthand and a reminder — a moment of levity and pride that staff could instantly connect with.

"Letters are simple, but they're not generic," says Roger Fernando, director of Spotlight Letters. "Each word is chosen for a reason, and the way we light and place it gives it meaning. Light up letters are as much about intention as they are about signage. What the room says matters", he says.

Theming Corporate Events

Spotlight Letters role isn’t to steal focus, but to frame it. The installations sit quietly until they’re needed in a photograph, a speech, a casual moment when someone stops to take a picture. They work because they’re not trying to be everything. They’re trying to be clear. 

KFC State Managers Conference: Lighting the Brand

When KFC brought its state managers together for a national conference it was a routine but important fixture on the company’s internal calendar. The brief was familiar: bring teams together, communicate strategy, and keep the atmosphere sharp but energised. What stood out this time wasn’t just the agenda, but how the space itself carried the brand.

At the centre of the stage stood a large, light-up installation: six letters KFC FLG, rendered in KFC’s signature red and white.

Short for “Finger Lickin’ Good”, the slogan is a cornerstone of the company’s public identity.

Here, it served a different purpose. It wasn’t marketing to customers; it was signalling to the people behind the brand that they were part of something cohesive and consistent.

• Spotlight Letters handled the design, construction and install of the letters.

• The letters were custom-styled to match KFC’s corporate colours and sized to act as both a statement piece and a photo backdrop.

• Set in a clean line against the stage, they gave the room a visual centre — a kind of informal gathering point that drew attention without asking for it.

“The letters were a real highlight of the event”, one KFC organiser said after the conference. “They grounded the space and gave people something to connect with as soon as they walked in.”

McDonald’s Training Graduation: Celebrating the Moment

McDonald’s took a more celebratory tone. The occasion was a national training graduation that is an internal milestone recognising the efforts of staff who had completed one of the company’s professional development programs.

Held at McDonald’s Australia head office in Sydney, NSW, the event needed a visual cue that matched its purpose. Spotlight Letters provided just that: a four-letter installation that simply read “GRAD”.

Positioned in the entrance foyer lit in cool white, the display served two functions.

• It offered a visual anchor to the space, and it provided the ideal backdrop for photos. Graduates posed in front of it. Managers stood beside it during presentations.

• The simplicity of the word gave it flexibility. It was fitting for post-event photos and informal conversations.
  

Spotlight Letters also handled event photography for the graduation, capturing both the formalities and the small, candid moments.

The images have since been circulated across McDonald’s internal platforms and communications teams, reinforcing not only the achievement but the identity of the event itself. 

For McDonald’s, the visual language was clear: this wasn’t just a procedural recognition, but a moment worth documenting.

Details that Speak Loudly

Neither event was designed to be theatrical. There were no headline acts or elaborate stage shows. But what stood out in both was a kind of visual clarity - a deliberate choice to use space and structure to say something quietly but unmistakably.

That’s the value of working with a event professional like Spotlight Letters. The installation doesn’t have to explain itself. It just has to fit. In these two events, it became clear that the measure of success wasn’t how loud or bright the letters were, but how naturally they belonged in the room.

And when it comes to brand-driven events, that kind of fit tends to leave an impression.

What Clients Say: Feedback that Shines

The most telling feedback often doesn’t come in a formal debrief. It comes in the quiet moments. That’s the way staff gather instinctively in front of the light up letters installation, how managers incorporate them into their speeches without prompting, or how photos taken casually during the event become the ones shared company-wide the next day.

At both the KFC and McDonald’s events, organisers noted how seamlessly the signage integrated with the atmosphere. There were no questions about setup. No adjustments needed on the day. The letters didn’t need explanation. They did their job clearly and without distraction.

It’s that quiet competence that Spotlight Letters has built its reputation on.

The company doesn’t aim to surprise. It aims to deliver consistently, and with an understanding that the best details are often the ones that don’t need to announce themselves.

When Visuals do the Talking

There was a time when internal events were treated as merely something to get through. Something that was recorded in the minutes, and moved on from. That’s shifted.

• Organisations in Australia and worldwide now understand that the way a room looks, feels, and photographs plays a part in how a corporate message lands.

• Culture, identity and tone are no longer confined to what’s said onstage. They’re embedded in the visual grammar of the event itself.

In this space, details matter. Not because they demand attention, but because they shape how people remember where they were and what it meant to be there.

For KFC and McDonald’s, the choice to work with Spotlight Letters was less about spectacle and more about control using a few deliberate design elements to say something clearly.

This is what the best event design achieves. It doesn’t distract from the message. It supports it, quietly and precisely. And when it’s done well, you don’t just remember what was said. You remember how it looked.