DESIGNING EVENTS & EXPERIENCES FOR SUCCESS
What is a memory you never want to let go of?
It’s likely the experience included other people and awakened the senses to evoke an intense, personal emotion.
Originally presented by our Head of Experience Design, Strategy and Brand, Adam Mortimer at the 2025 ABEA Conference host to industry and emerging leaders, we unpacked how events and experiences are being designed for success in the new era: the discipline that brings a brand or story to life in memorable, powerful and performance driven ways.
“The more digital our lives become, the more people crave concerts, tastings, festivals, activations and shared moments that feel unscalable and a little unpredictable. Live experiences are, by definition, scarce. There is a hard cap on seats and ticketing capacity and a premium on status, memory and emotion...”.
Understanding how brands should engage in this new era requires some digging into theory of designing experiences for global brands and world class events in Australia and around the globe.
This understanding turns transactions into communities and audiences into advocates.
For an industry in evolution there are many moving parts, so we drew focus on the need to deliver solutions within tighter timeframes, experiences designed to achieve efficiencies, the vital role of people and aligned teams - all with an emphasis on the increased expectation on the role of events and experiences to deliver.
“The good news: the events and experiences sector is undergoing growth driven largely by audience demand for the authentic and the shared.
The hard news: brands and audiences expect more than ever - baseline expectations have evolved...” Adam Mortimer
To assist, we outlined some of the core thinking that allows experience designers, clients and partners to create more engaging and memorable experiences - every time.
EXPERIENCES PRIORITISED AS CENTRAL TO THE MARKETING STRATEGY
Live and digital experiences create six times the brand memory recall compared to other marketing efforts, and with the experience economy set to reach $8 trillion globally by 2030 it’s clear relevant brands are working to ensure brand focused experiences sit central to marketing efforts.
· Enhanced brand perception.
· Target audience engagement.
· Nurturing brand communities.
Efforts to centre experiences reveal it’s important to remember who the core audience is. The expansion of the experience economy is part driven by the shift in millennials and Gen Z with 78% actively choosing to spend on desirable experiences over objects. This shift is crucial for brand leaders to understand and design for as part of an omni-channel marketing approach.
“Experiences are replacing possessions as the main source of value and happiness because they provide identity, connection and are longer-lasting than material items alone...”
Experiences are central to modern brand building: driving commerce, communities and importantly culture that surrounds brands. This is why it’s important to design experiences with layers of creativity and design to deliver an unexpected and fresh approach...
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Edgar Degas.
CREATING BRANDS PEOPLE BELIEVE IN AND SHAPING EXPERIENCES AS THEATRE
Consider the last time you were deeply moved by a film or stage play – it’s likely that it was created with structured to lead the audience through the story in a cohesive manner – guiding the viewer to the takeaway.
We can apply this same principle to experience design. Strategising and designing in clearly structured acts, setting the scene, crafting narratives for the audience to engage with and designing for wonder and awe. In the new era, people expect to be offered an alternative to being view solely as consumers – they want to feel like they are part of a story.
Treating the people engaging with brands as audiences attending theatre allows more space for the creators of experiences to design with humanity, story depth and lasting connection in mind.
THE ROLE OF STORY AND SELF
Curiosity is the superpower of the experience designer.
Every program provides learning opportunities that help us inform and shape the next – where are people dwelling, how are they feeling, in what ways are they engaging?
Actively listening and while leaning on deep experience allows us to use each experience or event as a valued teaching point to inform and shape the next.
Valuing the unexpected – ask yourself, “what did we not expect the audience to do that was pleasing or beneficial?”.
Staying curious, listening deeply and exploring behaviours that arise often gives direction and insights for how the design of the experience can evolve.
LESSONS FROM AUDIENCES - AND THE CURRENT STATE OF THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMY
Build eco-systems, not just one-off events. Measure for cultural fit, not just attendance. Treat experiences as cultural tools, not marketing assets.
It is important to understand that experiences are no longer about capturing attention but earning belonging and creating a community that encompasses people and brand.
Some of the leading audience-first trends to consider for the design of your experiences:
· Designing for belonging and active participation [story being]
· Blended realities [IRL+URL as a baseline]
· Sensory exploration [all the senses – awakened!]
· Experiential retail: environments that feel less transactional
· Wellness and calm-tech to enhance the quality of the experience
RESOURCES
And given the Xmas timing of the conference, a selection of audience gifts and useful from us...
· WXO – World Experience Organisation
· REMARKABLE 2025 | Laura Hess
Designing experiences with memory-making at the core is an act of care for your brand, your audience and for lasting competitive advantage. When you create experiences that engage, involve and move people, you shape how your brand is remembered long after the experience.
If you’d like to know more about the importance of designing for impact and connection, continue reading B&T’s piece from our conversation here: ( Designing For Impact )
Ready to design experiences for impact?
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