Experiential is everything. If you don't think so, you're doing it wrong.

Let's try that headline another way... "everything is experiential". Just the musings of an overly zealous strategist who's spent the better part of his career building live experiences for brands? Maybe, but in that time, I've seen the way that creatives have turned classic ad mediums on their head and completely rejuvenated segments of our industry that otherwise may have gone the way of the buffalo long ago.

Remixing Advertising's Greatest Hits

When I started, there was nothing more exciting than seeing my designs printed up on a billboard, for the world to see. I remember getting my first billboard on Sunset, a glimmer in my naive eye as I looked around and waited for people to point up at it and exclaim praise for whoever was so clever to come up with that tagline... Big surprise, it didn't happen. People barely noticed. I was floored.

Fast forward a few years in tech and we're coming up with new ways to make those old eyesores interactive, using augmented reality, forced perspective, dimensionality sometimes throwing real life characters up on the catwalk to make a scene. In short, the best thinkers are turning print media into something to be experienced. Using time sensitive appearances, scannable tech, and a whole suite of other sticky tactics that completely change how people interact with the world around them.

These days, if you're not thinking of whatever you're doing as interactive, whether it's print, digital, or anything in between... and challenging audiences to feel something, you're probably not being noticed.

Feeling Our Way Through Modern Media

In an age of AI, zoom meetings, automation, etc, you would think that something like the lived experience would be fading to obscurity. The opposite is true.

Across the board, attendance at live events is way up, full of people who's day to day life is often a set of remote habits, looking to feel something real and surround themselves with the energy of shared tangible moments of touch, sound, and emotion.

Some of the most digital-centric brands are finding new ways to bring ideas like the metaverse into meatspace, working with agencies like ours to physicalize their online offering in new ways. AR companies are adding a fantasy lens to sports events, giving brands a way to play with the idea of interface, offering a window of entertainment and insight into second screen fueled sporting events that are becoming less passive by the day.

Looking Ahead - A Return to Analog

All vinyl DJ's, live orchestras, low-fi culinary experiences... whether it's off grid experiences taken to the next level like Burning Man, or a shopping trip to buy something hand made, we have a feeling that as the world becomes more technologically sophisticated - experiences infused with craft and human made artistry will carry a premium. And we're totally here for it.

Interested in more of my rants? Follow my agency- Dorothy - where we share occasional pieces exploring the future (and present) of creative industries.