Sense Marketing

In the year ahead, marketing is facing a major issue: message saturation. ☔   Information overload, ADHD on the rise, mental availability in decline. People are so overwhelmed by daily demands that “brain rot” was even named ‘Oxford Word of the Year 2024’. 🧠   As a push back, people are seeking simplicity and deeper connections, where they can engage with the world in meaningful ways, finding textural experiences that connect them with their environment and each other. 🤜🤛   Everything points to 2025 being the year where attention is the most valuable commodity. So how can brands help fight the rot? By offering people something real, human, memorable and maybe just a little bit weird. 😊   From fandoms to absurdism to anti-algorithm behaviour, we examine how brands can create more meaningful, empathetic experiences that resonate in a world that is simultaneously more connected and more fragmented. 🌎   Bought to you by our in-house team, The Futures Lab.    Download the report here for insights and trends: https://lnkd.in/e3Sez-aN  

2024 has been a standout year for the experiential economy, with global investment in experience marketing growing an impressive 23.1% to £1.283 billion! 🚀 At Sense, we’ve been thrilled to partner with so many amazing brands, flexing our full creative muscle to meet clients’ renewed appetite for genuine creative variety. From equity-driving FMCG activations to collaborative pop-ups, amplifiable stunts, and a surge in B2B events, this year has truly showcased the power and breadth of our sector. 💪 We hope you enjoy a little look back at some of our favourite campaigns from the last 12 months, and join us in looking forward to what next year will bring too. ✨ Happy Christmas and Healthy New Year to all. 🎄 Link for full Spotlight download in comments. 👇

Taking a year off doesn’t mean falling behind - it can make you even better. After 14 months, 1 baby, and countless nappy changes later, our amazing Senior Account Manager Rachael Tettey is back with a bang - channelling her 'Big Mum Energy'... ⏰ Patience is everything. "Babies (and clients) sometimes communicate in unexpected ways. Staying calm makes all the difference." 🎨 Creativity thrives outside the (toy)box. "Watching my daughter explore reminded me to embrace new ways of thinking." 🔎 Perspective is key. "After a year of keeping a tiny human alive, PowerPoints feel a lot less daunting." 💪🏼 Uber-efficiency is a superpower. "When life revolves around nap schedules, you master the art of getting things done quickly." Great to have you back Rachael! 🫶 Link to full article in comments. 🥰 #BigMumEnergy #WorkingMum #CareerGrowth

Bright Spots #11: Home to Headliners. Aloft Hotels, part of Marriott Hotels and renowned for championing unsigned artists, partnered with Sense for 'The Homecoming Tour' - an unforgettable experience designed to reconnect hotels with their local communities by bringing award-winning artists back to perform at their hometown Aloft venues. The seven-stop global tour featured intimate concerts showcasing the brand’s dedication to an uncompromising musical experience, featuring Troye Sivan in Perth, BANKS in Los Angeles, Dermot Kennedy in Dublin, NJOMZA in Chicago, Mala Rodríguez in Madrid, Mohamed El Majzoub in Dubai, and Caloncho in Lima. Each performance incorporated innovative augmented reality (AR) into the stage design, thanks to an exclusive collaboration with GIF-ITI artist INSA, which when combined with devoted fans and the stunning settings of Aloft Hotels, created a series of truly unforgettable experiences. ✅ 68.8m social impressions ✅ 2.3b PR reach ✅ 2000 VIP ticket-winners across 8 global events Want to know more about these campaigns, or have a similar global challenge? We’d love to talk. #MakingBrandsBrighter #BrandExperience #GlobalAgency

There's some things AI can never replicate. Bright Spots #10: People Power. Being 'kind' is a historically well-trodden purpose territory, so as a brand named KIND, Sense really wanted UK festival and event attendees to experience their distinctive, fun, and tangible take on KINDness first-hand. ‘Powered by KIND’ was a versatile experiential platform back in 2019 that became a beacon for the brand wherever it went, creating altruistic activations that harnessed the physical movement of people on our kinetic floor to power tangible benefits for others. At Camp Bestival, our dynamo dance floor directly charged phones and hair straighteners. Meanwhile, at Virgin Runs across the country, warm-up classes with Kim Ngo / Food & Lycra powered giant motivational message boards along the route that allowed supporters to send love directly to the runners. ✅ 91k went on to purchase after activity ✅ 40% new consumers to brand Want to know more about these campaigns, or have a similar purpose-led challenge? We’d love to talk. #MakingBrandsBrighter #Kindness #BrandExperience

Unlocking Opportunity Through Experiential. ✅ 🔆 Bright Spots #9: Since its launch, COBRA BEER UK had primarily been associated with one type of cuisine. To broaden this perception, the brand set out to shift the narrative. Through the ‘Brewed Smooth for All Food’ campaign, Sense devised the ‘Cobra Flavour Rooms’ as part of a partnership with London Food Month, offering an experience that would showcase the versatility of Cobra. The event unfolded in two parts. On the ground floor, guests could enjoy Cobra’s smooth, complex flavours with a global fusion menu curated by Gary Maclean, MasterChef: The Professionals Champion. Upstairs, for the more adventurous foodies, an immersive blind-tasting experience combined tastes, sounds, and aromas with the Cobra range, elevating its flavour credentials and pairing potential in surprising ways. Our post-event evaluation showed that impact was clear: 🍺 40% of visitors went on to enjoy Cobra with diverse foods 🍽️ 28% increase in those who felt “Cobra is a beer I would drink in any restaurant.” Interested in exploring a similar brand perception challenge? Let’s talk. 🗣️ #MakingBrandsBrighter #BrandPerception #EffectiveExperiences

As part of our '𝟮𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲' series, the Futures Lab team have observed the changing landscape of experiential, in particular how brand behaviour has evolved and pivoted within a rapidly changing world, amidst new audiences with changing priorities and interests. This has uncovered some clear themes and trends. Here's number four: 'Making real-world change became central to audience criteria.’ #MakingBrandsBrighter #ExperientialTrends #20YearsofSense #FuturesLab

🎄🎅 Christmas Spirit: Activated. ❄️ ⛸️ This weekend, Glide London opened at the iconic Battersea Power Station, featuring Chocomel’s new Hot Chocolate as the exclusive hot choc drink for the festive event. ☕ Chocomel set out to make their rich, creamy hot chocolate the ultimate winter treat, and where better to showcase it than Battersea’s premier winter experience? Plus, for an added indulgent twist, they’ve partnered with Rémy Cointreau to serve boozy hot chocolates with an array of tasty toppings too. 🍫 🍊 🍡 🥃 We're raising a mug at Sense HQ to Chris MacRae and Georgia Mason (Adams) for such a schweeeet job. 👏

Team Sense were represented by Livvi and George at the inspiring Festival of Happiness held at Google HQ last week. Hosted by the Alliance of Independent Agencies, the event highlighted the impact of employee happiness on office culture and commercial success. 📈 Key speaker Matthew Phelan from The Happiness Index unpacked the vital difference between happiness at work and engagement with work; Happiness, he explained, is about feeling part of the community and feeling heard, while engagement stems from purpose in the work itself. The data was clear: boosting both happiness and engagement leads to better company success. Elaine Jobson from Jetts 24hr Fitness UK also challenged the idea that employee happiness is just about ‘perks’. Sometimes, it’s simply about ensuring a safe and supportive environment. 🤗 Our key takeaways from the event: 🤝 The average number of meetings has tripled since COVID, most being online, which limits hugely beneficial in-person interactions. 🗣️ 40% of people feel comfortable discussing mental wellbeing with managers - a good start, but there’s room for agencies to foster even more open conversations. 🤖 Companies see a 40% improvement in performance when tech tools are used to ease workloads and reduce stress. Overall, it was uplifting to connect with independent agency leaders who are prioritising wellness in agency culture. Now, time to put what we learnt into action, even in awkward public photo sesh! 😂 #FestivalofHappiness #HappyAgency #HealthyAgency

Bright Spots #8: Long Term Tactics. 🤝 🐼 🌳 International awareness of the deforestation issues in the Amazon is high, but few understand how their own actions can have an impact. So in support of Sky and WWF’s Rainforest Rescue campaign, Sense was tasked with helping the British public think and act more sustainably. At the time, research showed that compared to other charitable causes, deforestation is lower on most people’s list of concerns in the UK as not directly exposed. Therefore, in order to get them to care about issues further away, we knew we must first get them to appreciate what’s closer to home… In a long-term partnership with the Forestry England, we created interactive walking trails in some of the UK’s most beautiful spaces, featuring installations along the routes that explored the links between the local surrounding nature and the Amazon, and how we can all play a part in maintaining them both. ✅ 77% of visitors ‘inspired to make life changes to help the rainforest’ ✅ 61% Felt tackling deforestation was more important than they had thought before ✅ 3m visitors walked the trails across all sites Want to know more about these campaigns, or have a similar engagement challenge? We’d love to talk. 🦜 #MakingBrandsBrighter #Sense20 #BrandExperienceMeasurement