Claudia Stephenson, managing director EMEA, INVNT, shares her thoughts on how to elevate brand experience in the boardroom.
You can see it in the tight budgets. The limited risk appetite. The endless need for “justification” when something feels a bit too bold, too emotional, too… human.
However, the reality is that brands that are cutting through the noise are not the ones playing it safe. They are the ones investing in experiences that stir emotion, spark conversation and stay with people long after the campaign ends. And they’re giving finance teams a reason to smile too, with results that tie directly to revenue and growth.
Bold Creativity Means Bold Outcomes
In our work at INVNT, we have seen time and again that creative bravery pays off. Not only in headlines and social reach, but in real business results resulting in retention, loyalty, and increased revenue.
But the disconnect often lies in how we communicate this value to senior stakeholders. Marketers talk in impact, whereas the board talks in margin. Bridging that gap is not about compromising the work but about sharpening the narrative.
We have to remember that executives are not anti-creative; they are fundamentally anti-unclear. To bring them in and get them on board, you have to speak their language.
Reframing Experience as a Business Growth Driver
The perception of brand experience as a “nice to have” still lingers in some sectors. This is a hangover from the days when events were considered brand fluff. That time is over; today, brand experience is a strategic growth lever.
According to Deloitte Digital’s Personalizing Growth report, brands that lead in personalisation, an essential driver of emotional engagement, are 48% more likely to exceed revenue expectations and 71% more likely to outperform on customer loyalty. These statistics reflect tangible commercial outcomes rooted in emotional intelligence, data-driven insights and design thinking.
In the EMEA region, this shift has taken on particular urgency. For example, McKinsey highlights that experience-led companies are growing revenue at more than twice the rate of their industry peers and outperforming competitors by nearly three times in profitability. In the Middle East especially, brands that embrace experiential and omnichannel strategies are well-positioned to capture fast-evolving consumer demand, demonstrating that this is not about trends, but about meaningful transformation.
Metrics that Make Sense in the Boardroom
If you want the C-Suite to buy into a creative idea, you need to show them what success will look like and how it ties to the P&L. This means shifting the conversation from things like media impressions to the metrics that sit under the CFO’s nose:
- Customer acquisition cost
- Retention and renewal rates
- Sales pipeline acceleration
- Brand equity valuation over time
When we delivered a multi-layered experience for Hitachi Vantara, it was not just about putting on a world-class event, it was about how that experience drove community engagement and brand legacy, always tying back to strategic outcomes.
At NVIDIA GTC 2025, INVNT partnered with Hitachi Vantara to deliver two connected activations: the Workstation & Café and a thought leadership event in partnership with The Female Quotient. There were impressive top-line stats, 85K+ social views and even a keynote shoutout from Jensen Huang, but the CFO will be more interested in the results that speak their language: 904 booth scans representing potential customer leads, and 17 key priority meetings that could translate directly into revenue for the business.
We brought Hitachi’s bold vision to life by designing and producing a hospitality-led café with local baristas, shaded seating, and an interactive “Data Chaos to Clarity” game, while also navigating a last-minute relocation to a prime astroturfed spot complete with branded ping pong tables to drive playful engagement.
In parallel, we curated a high-impact evening event featuring Hitachi’s CEO alongside global thought leaders, facilitating meaningful conversations around equity in tech. From hospitality-led engagement to values-driven storytelling, this wasn’t just brand presence and an industry event, but strategic repositioning. Hitachi shifted from vendor to visionary, and INVNT was proud to power the experience behind that transformation, all whilst providing the client with measurable results to take to the boardroom.
Building Internal Champions
Another lesson I have learned is that the most successful experiential strategies often have an internal champion, this is someone in the C-Suite who gets it and has buy-in. Your job is to find that person and to build the business case with them. Your role is to arm them with data, but also with vision.
In many cases, that advocate is in the CMO role. But not always. CIOs and HR leaders are increasingly interested in how immersive brand experiences can attract talent, shift internal culture, and support innovation agendas. Experiences are not just for customers anymore; they are for employees, investors, and future partners.
The Time for Safe Thinking Is Over
If the last few years have taught us anything, it is that stagnation is not a strategy. Playing it safe is riskier than making bold moves.
That does not mean reckless creativity; it means bravery with purpose. Ideas that are rooted in insight, executed with precision, and measured by outcomes.
Executives are under pressure to deliver transformation, and brand experience can be a powerful tool in that journey, but only if we show up in the boardroom ready to connect creativity with commercial clarity.
Speak the Language. Then Raise the Bar.
The future of brand experience belongs to those who can translate magic into metrics. It is up to those who can prove that emotion is not just an outcome but a business driver. From my career, I have learned that creative teams should not necessarily be fighting for a seat at the executive table, but that they should be leading the conversation about how we win the future. Because when experience becomes strategy, everyone wins.
