Uncovering talks from leaders at Magnum, Liquid Death, and UCL For us at DesignScene, attending talks by inspiring leaders at Magnum, Liquid Death, and UCL at MAD//Fest 2024 highlighted just a few of the reasons emotional engagement is the secret sauce for unforgettable brand activations. It’s not just about being seen—it’s about being felt. Emotions cement memories. Memories drive decisions. This is the foundation of effective experiential marketing. 1. Emotions drive consumer behaviour Joseph Devlin, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL, put it simply: “Capturing people’s attention is ..read more

A round up of our key takeaways after making a splash in the south of France. It can be an assault on the senses with the heat, rain, sun burn, heavy shoes, achy knees, ridiculously high step counts and last minute shopping trips. But the buzzing atmosphere and being able to see all the unique installations makes it all worth it. Being part of something so exciting is a privilege.  Working with the team setting up the Yahoo Beach, T-Mobile Cabana, Braze Cabana and an apartment take-over for Roku was an absolute joy. Everyone was in high spirits and it was a Cannes Lions we can all be pro ..read more

In Secret Theatre’s latest production, the iconic Studio 54—and its most famous clientele—sets the scene for an immersive nightlife experience like no other. The year is 1977, and we are standing in New York City’s most famous nightclub. Guests, dressed to the nines and sipping on champagne, mingle with the likes of David Bowie, Michael Jackson and Dianna Ross. This is the world-famous Studio 54—or, at least, Secret Theatre’s version of it. In the British immersive theatre company’s latest production The New York Secret, Mandala Club is transformed into the iconic disc ..read more

2024 marked DesignScene’s 7th year at CES, the world’s largest tech show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Our CEO, Attila Keskin, and Global Chief Marketing Director, Sophie Billi-Hardwick, both on-site, witnessed the pervasive influence of AI. From the kitchen, to travel and productivity, it became evident that AI integration was the event’s overarching theme. Although artificial intelligence dominated most aspects of the show, other important more human themes found their space, which to be honest, was a relief… Here are our eight key highlights and insights. 1. ‘AI for Everyone’ Samsung dedicated thei ..read more

What can brands learn from the Arts? Artists have always created innovative and exciting ways to captivate their audience. Brands could do worse than considering the arts and culture scene as competitors for consumer attentions – and actively learn from them in how to create immersive experiences. This summer has seen some incredible cultural and immersive experiences around every corner. With the variety of experiences happening right now in the arts, theatre and music scenes here is a roundup of some of our favourite inspirational experiences and the key take aways brands can learn from the ..read more

It wasn’t too long ago when Theoretical Physicist, Michio Kaku said, “Today’s clunky smart glasses will be replaced by smart contact lenses. We’ll command them by voice, blinking, or even thinking, to interact visually in 3-D with the internet.” We see companies race to compress, enhance, and improve the user experience in AR glasses. Why? While most might point to applications in video games, engineering, or medical fields as reasons to pioneer and enable widespread adoption, the limitation is that each of these industries have niche groups of users. Perhaps another place – a more popular pl ..read more

At every stage of our work, we aim to provide innovative creative solutions that create a scene to elicit emotions. From initial concepts, through to beautiful 3D renders and eventually the final production, we create scenes that immerse our clients’ audience’s senses in their brand world. But ultimately, whatever we produce, has to deliver on a specific client objective. This was no different at this year’s Cannes Lions, where we created a wide range of activations. An awful lot went into the creative, design, planning and activation for each project, we hope you enjoy this peak behind the sc ..read more

As part of DesignScene’s online Navigate summit, we hosted a panel discussion on Immersive Storytelling complete with a live, virtual audience. The panel featured senior DesignScene creatives Emma Wilkinson and Lucy Ducker, as well as the creative impresario behind Secret Theatres, Richard Crawford. The panel responded to the audience’s questions with their insights on immersive storytelling, its meaning, purpose and potential. We’ve summarised the panel discussion below, or you can watch the edited highlights by clicking the link. Q: What does immersive mean? – Immersive experiences are ones ..read more

After two years, Cannes Lions is finally returning as a face-to-face festival, and DesignScene is bringing our skills back to the French Riviera to create incredible events for five amazing global clients. Our team is thrilled to be heading back to connect with some of the best creative talent in the advertising industry and keen to see the array of work from all the brands which will be attending. In the past two years, although we were unable to bring our stand-out experiences to Cannes, we spent our time exploring new technology, suppliers, vendors, and ways of working in a more sustainabl ..read more

Before all the Covid craziness, DesignScene were lucky to travel and create amazing events in a wonderful variety of countries, cities, and environments. Now we’re seeing the world slowly tilt back onto its proper axis again, there are more opportunities than ever to make what we do impactful, engaging, and inclusive.  So, how can brands create experiences that pack a punch and are locally relevant for different audiences in different locations? There are two parts of the puzzle to consider: the audience experience and the physical build.  Craft an inclusive audience experience ..read more