The Year Experiential Took Centre Stage – Bellwether Report Unwrapped 2024
The Year Experiential Took Centre Stage – Bellwether Report Unwrapped 2024
What makes experiential marketing the standout strategy for brands today? Why are companies pouring more into live events and experiences than ever before? 2024 marks a defining chapter for experiential marketing, its 11th consecutive quarter of growth. The summer brought a perfect storm of opportunities, as global spectacles like the Paris Olympics and The UEFA European Football Championship gave brands unparalleled opportunities to build meaningful connections with fans. Meanwhile, creative seasonal activations—from interactive sampling tours to dazzling installations like Wicked’s Emerald City-inspired Christmas tree—sustained this momentum and captured consumer imagination. This article draws on insights from multiple IPA Bellwether reports to trace this year’s unprecedented growth in events and experiences. Nigel Clifton, Head of Creative at N2O, examines how immersive experiences and nostalgia are reshaping consumer engagement, while Nancy Cullen, CEO of SpaceandPeople, reflects on the evolving industry landscape. Together, they highlight why 2024 has been a landmark year, but also offer a glimpse at the experiential trends to watch out for in 2025.
The Year Experiential Took Centre Stage – Bellwether Report Unwrapped 2024
What makes experiential marketing the standout strategy for brands today? Why are companies pouring more into live events and experiences than ever before? 2024 marks a defining chapter for experiential marketing, its 11th consecutive quarter of growth. The summer brought a perfect storm of opportunities, as global spectacles like the Paris Olympics and The UEFA European Football Championship gave brands unparalleled opportunities to build meaningful connections with fans. Meanwhile, creative seasonal activations—from interactive sampling tours to dazzling installations like Wicked’s Emerald City-inspired Christmas tree—sustained this momentum and captured consumer imagination. This article draws on insights from multiple IPA Bellwether reports to trace this year’s unprecedented growth in events and experiences. Nigel Clifton, Head of Creative at N2O, examines how immersive experiences and nostalgia are reshaping consumer engagement, while Nancy Cullen, CEO of SpaceandPeople, reflects on the evolving industry landscape. Together, they highlight why 2024 has been a landmark year, but also offer a glimpse at the experiential trends to watch out for in 2025.
Q1 2024 – Roaring Start for Experiential Budgets
A roaring start to Q1 set the tone, with events and experiences achieving an astonishing 23.1% growth—up from 15.9%—the fastest expansion in the 11-year history of Bellwether data. This unprecedented investment highlights the sector’s unique ability to bring brands and fans together, inviting them to live, breathe, taste, hear, and feel the brand. The ‘why’ rests in consumers’ increasing demand for human connection. As more work and leisure time is spent in the digital world, the desire for thrilling real-world experiences continues to increase, making it an essential channel for brands looking to build powerful audience connections.
Events and experiences soared by 23.1%—the fastest growth in Bellwether’s 11-year history…
Q2 2024 – Summer of Sport
In the second quarter, experiential marketing continued its upward trajectory, with the Bellwether report highlighting a 17.2% increase in events budgets—solidifying its position as a cornerstone in modern marketing strategies. The summer brought a perfect storm of opportunities, as global spectacles like the Paris Olympics and The UEFA European Football Championship gave brands an unmatched stage to build meaningful connections with fans both on-site and online. As the UK advertising industry hit its highest peak in over a decade, the desire for social interaction and in-person connection was resounding. Nancy Cullen, CEO of SpaceandPeople, reflects on the summer of sport and its impact on the experiential industry.
Q1 2024 – Roaring Start
A roaring start to Q1 set the tone, with events and experiences achieving an astonishing 23.1% growth—up from 15.9%—the fastest expansion in the 11-year history of Bellwether data. This unprecedented investment highlights the sector’s unique ability to bring brands and fans together, inviting them to live, breathe, taste, hear, and feel the brand. The ‘why’ rests in consumers’ increasing demand for human connection. As more work and leisure time is spent in the digital world, the desire for thrilling real-world experiences continues to increase, making it an essential channel for brands looking to build powerful audience connections.
Events and experiences soared by 23.1%—the fastest growth in Bellwether’s 11-year history…
Q2 2024 – Summer of Sport
In the second quarter, experiential marketing continued its upward trajectory, with the Bellwether report highlighting a 17.2% increase in events budgets—solidifying its position as a cornerstone in modern marketing strategies. The summer brought a perfect storm of opportunities, as global spectacles like the Paris Olympics and The UEFA European Football Championship gave brands an unmatched stage to build meaningful connections with fans both on-site and online. As the UK advertising industry hit its highest peak in over a decade, the desire for social interaction and in-person connection was resounding. Nancy Cullen, CEO of SpaceandPeople, reflects on the summer of sport and its impact on the experiential industry.
“In the second quarter, experiential marketing continued its upward trajectory, with the Bellwether report highlighting a 17.2% increase in events budgets—solidifying its position as a cornerstone in modern marketing strategies. The summer brought a perfect storm of opportunities, as global spectacles like the Paris Olympics and The UEFA European Football Championship gave brands an unmatched stage to build meaningful connections with fans both on-site and online. As the UK advertising industry hit its highest peak in over a decade, the desire for social interaction and in-person connection was resounding.”
Nancy Cullen, CEO of SpaceandPeople
Q3 2024 – Experiential Holds as Budgets Plateau
By Q3, experiential marketing demonstrated its resilience, with companies continuing to prioritise direct customer engagement despite broader economic caution. Events and experiences posted a net balance of +9.9%, holding steady even as overall marketing budgets plateaued. Entertainment and seasonal campaigns took centre stage this quarter. After Barbie painted the world pink, Wicked turned it green, kicking off the festive season in spectacular fashion at St. Pancras International with an 11-metre Christmas tree inspired by the untold story of the witches of Oz. This dazzling installation, complete with 1,000 hand-painted flowers and a glowing yellow brick road, invited visitors to immerse themselves in an Emerald City fantasy. Thanks to tpf, Sky also stood out at Waterloo Station with its Sweetpea campaign, bringing the show’s sweet-but-deadly themes to life through bespoke floral arrangements created by Freddie’s Flowers. These campaigns demonstrate that even in challenging times, experiential marketing remains a vital channel for building connections and energising fans.
Predictions for 2025
2025 is going to be an exciting year for experiential activations and brands that make them part of their media mix. Consumers—especially Gen Alpha—will crave vibrant, immersive brand experiences that excite and educate on their terms. They’ll be even more open to, if not demanding opportunities, to taste, test, and try products in new ways. These physical hands-on experiences will be pivotal to fuelling sales, loyalty, and sustainable growth for brands. Nostalgia and purpose-driven interactions will captivate audiences, while premium brands can thrive by weaving sustainability and storytelling into their offerings. We work in one of the most creative and exciting areas of marketing and we will have the power create meaningful connections that will transform consumer relationships with brands.
Nigel Clifton, Head of Creative at N2O
We anticipate the trend towards creating immersive and more personalised experiences with consumers to continue with brands focussing on attracting and nurturing their target demographic in an engaging and more tailored way rather than mass marketing. PR stunts will also continue – the Specsavers bollard stunt earlier this year and the recent projection of LEGO mini figures onto Battersea Power Station were both excellent examples of this. Brand collaborations will also be leveraged such as the Sky x Sugababes “Push the Button” campaign. All of these examples were amplified significantly by going viral on social channels – although an increasingly busy media, if the activation is original and captures people’s attention, it will effectively cut through the noise and create mass awareness.
Nancy Cullen, CEO of SpaceandPeople
As we look to 2025, the outlook remains optimistic, with a net balance of +18.7% of marketers planning to up their event spending further. It’s clear that experiential isn’t just an accessory—it’s at the core of brand strategies aiming to build loyalty through authentic, meaningful interactions. Events and experiences thrived in 2024 because they offered something irreplaceable—the power of shared moments. In a landscape where digital and AI-driven tactics often lead, the simplicity of in-person connection has proven to be a breath of fresh air. Whether through unforgettable pop-ups, intimate brand experiences, or large-scale events, the industry has shown that there is still magic in the tangible. And as brands continue to navigate this evolving marketing landscape, one thing is certain: the future belongs to those who invest in the power of human connection.
Experiential marketing has earned its place at the centre of brand strategies, but with this growth comes the challenge of navigating economic shifts and regulatory changes, such as the potential ban on zero-hour contracts. Through the IPM Experiential Community, we are safeguarding our agencies and workers while pioneering standardised measurement techniques that enable brands to quantify impact and demonstrate ROI with greater confidence. By tackling these challenges together, we ensure experiential marketing continues to grow as a measurable, impactful, and irreplaceable part of the marketing mix.
Emma Kirk, IPM General Manager
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This summer’s global events like the UEFA European Football Championships and the Olympics, as well as the F1 British Grand Prix, Wimbledon and summer festivals, have demonstrated that many people like to experience these events with others. High-footfall venues became critical touchpoints for brands, allowing them to meet consumers where they were already excited and engaged and enabling the public to experience the highs and lows sports bring together. We saw an incredible shift as brands leveraged these spaces not just for visibility, but to create interactive, memorable experiences that deepened their connection with audiences. It’s a clear sign that the appetite for face-to-face interaction is back in full force, and experiential marketing is leading the way in capturing this momentum.
We saw a range of high-volume sampling campaigns, with our insights platform CORE showing that the average daily number of soft drink samples distributed exceeded 30,000 and personal care products exceeded 12,500. Health and wellbeing products were also very active – Liquid I.V were a particular highlight distributing almost 300,00 samples over 18 days across 6 stations. We also saw an increase in drinks brands in particular creating immersive experiences for consumers such as the Aperol Spritz Aperidisco and Lipton Ice Tea Lunch Club tour.
Nancy Cullen, CEO of SpaceandPeople
Q3 2024 – Experiential Holds as Budgets Plateau
By Q3, experiential marketing demonstrated its resilience, with companies continuing to prioritise direct customer engagement despite broader economic caution. Events and experiences posted a net balance of +9.9%, holding steady even as overall marketing budgets plateaued. Entertainment and seasonal campaigns took centre stage this quarter. After Barbie painted the world pink, Wicked turned it green, kicking off the festive season in spectacular fashion at St. Pancras International with an 11-metre Christmas tree inspired by the untold story of the witches of Oz. This dazzling installation, complete with 1,000 hand-painted flowers and a glowing yellow brick road, invited visitors to immerse themselves in an Emerald City fantasy. Thanks to tpf, Sky also stood out at Waterloo Station with its Sweetpea campaign, bringing the show’s sweet-but-deadly themes to life through bespoke floral arrangements created by Freddie’s Flowers. These campaigns demonstrate that even in challenging times, experiential marketing remains a vital channel for building connections and energising fans.
Predictions for 2025
2025 is going to be an exciting year for experiential activations and brands that make them part of their media mix. Consumers—especially Gen Alpha—will crave vibrant, immersive brand experiences that excite and educate on their terms. They’ll be even more open to, if not demanding opportunities, to taste, test, and try products in new ways. These physical hands-on experiences will be pivotal to fuelling sales, loyalty, and sustainable growth for brands.
Nostalgia and purpose-driven interactions will captivate audiences, while premium brands can thrive by weaving sustainability and storytelling into their offerings. We work in one of the most creative and exciting areas of marketing and we will have the power create meaningful connections that will transform consumer relationships with brands.
Nigel Clifton, Head of Creative at N2O
We anticipate the trend towards creating immersive and more personalised experiences with consumers to continue with brands focussing on attracting and nurturing their target demographic in an engaging and more tailored way rather than mass marketing.
PR stunts will also continue – the Specsavers bollard stunt earlier this year and the recent projection of LEGO mini figures onto Battersea Power Station were both excellent examples of this. Brand collaborations will also be leveraged such as the Sky x Sugababes “Push the Button” campaign. All of these examples were amplified significantly by going viral on social channels – although an increasingly busy media, if the activation is original and captures people’s attention, it will effectively cut through the noise and create mass awareness.
Nancy Cullen, CEO of SpaceandPeople
As we look to 2025, the outlook remains optimistic, with a net balance of +18.7% of marketers planning to up their event spending further. It’s clear that experiential isn’t just an accessory—it’s at the core of brand strategies aiming to build loyalty through authentic, meaningful interactions. Events and experiences thrived in 2024 because they offered something irreplaceable—the power of shared moments. In a landscape where digital and AI-driven tactics often lead, the simplicity of in-person connection has proven to be a breath of fresh air. Whether through unforgettable pop-ups, intimate brand experiences, or large-scale events, the industry has shown that there is still magic in the tangible. And as brands continue to navigate this evolving marketing landscape, one thing is certain: the future belongs to those who invest in the power of human connection.
Experiential marketing has earned its place at the centre of brand strategies, but with this growth comes the challenge of navigating economic shifts and regulatory changes, such as the potential ban on zero-hour contracts. Through the IPM Experiential Community, we are safeguarding our agencies and workers while pioneering standardised measurement techniques that enable brands to quantify impact and demonstrate ROI with greater confidence. By tackling these challenges together, we ensure experiential marketing continues to grow as a measurable, impactful, and irreplaceable part of the marketing mix.
Emma Kirk, IPM General Manager
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