At blooloop’s 2026 Festival of Innovation this year, an expert panel of speakers from Excel London/Immerse LDN, BRC Imagination Arts and THG Creative explored what makes a successful immersive experience and why goosebump moments are so important.
On the panel were Damian Norman, founder of Immerse LDN, the UK's largest immersive entertainment district; Christian Lachel, chief creative officer at BRC Imagination Arts, a full-service strategy, design, and production company that transforms how people feel, think, and connect; and Kate McConnell, senior creative director at THG Creative, an agency specialising in developing attractions for theme parks, museums and brands
The session at the Festival of Innovation began with a look at what clients want, starting with a robust business model and results.
THC transformed the Top of the Rock experience into a journey through history, culture, and designRockefeller Center
“I was fortunate enough to work with Harrison Alan ‘Buzz’ Price [the research economist who helped Walt Disney pick the optimum locations for Disneyland and Walt Disney World] when I started in this industry.
"I sat in the room and watched the master think about the economics on a project right from the start,” said Lachel.
“Clients want to have a great immersive idea, a great concept, but if it's not backed with a really strong sense of purpose, business sensibility and feasibility, it may not get off the ground.
“We had another client who said, ‘I've had hundreds of master plans. I'm tired of just doing master plans. Get us things that are real.’ We've been fortunate enough to work on a lot of projects that get executed, produced, and actually do turn the turnstiles in our successful businesses.”
Know your audience
The panel emphasised the importance of understanding who an experience is being created for, from longtime fans familiar with a brand to newcomers discovering it for the first time
McConnell said: “There are obviously a lot of different factors that go into it, but one that I've been thinking a lot about lately is the audience.
"Start with the audience first: who are you talking to? How well do they know this IP? How can you speak to the deep divers of the IP, as well as the people who are brand new to it? How can you make sure that you're being targeted and focused on how you create an experience?”
Lachel added: “We always start in the heart of the audience and work outwards, and try to find the right creative hooks and the right immersive moments or elements that are going to create something unique and different that the audience is really looking for.”
Immerse LDN is the UK's largest immersive entertainment districtImmerse LDN
Norman said: “It's about knowing your addressable audience and going after that audience.
"When we launched Jurassic World: The Exhibition, we sold 314,000 tickets in four and a half months. I was like, ‘Wow, this is a really easy industry. This is perfect. We just need to do more of this.’ And then the next one doesn't sell.”
When creating immersive experiences, developers often have to work within operational and financial constraints. However, these parameters can sometimes provide the starting point for new ideas and storytelling opportunities.
Top of the Rock experience
“The operational or financial parameters can actually lead you to some really magical things. For example, THG recently opened the Top of the Rock experience in New York City. We created a six-minute show for the lower floor before guests take the elevators up to the observation deck so there isn’t a long queue,” McConnell said.
Over five and a half years, THC and Tishman Speyer transformed the Top of the Rock experience into a journey through history, culture, and design, where every element is crafted to immerse guests without breaking the narrative flow.
“It let us tell this really great, rich, important story about Rockefeller Center, about the building of the centre, and it helped set up The Beam – the ride that's up on the observation deck. The ‘Lunch atop a Skyscraper’ photo was taken at Rockefeller Center when they were building it.
“The ride lets guests recreate the photo up on the top of the Rockefeller Centre. The show was a great chance to tell that story, and get guests excited, hooked and emotionally connected to Rockefeller Center.”
Fame*Factory investment
Immerse LDN’s Fame*Factory prioritises personalisation over scale or automation, but this can come at a cost.
Launched in October 2025, the immersive theatre show gives guests a taste of stardom. During the experience, guests fly on their own private jet, perform in front of their adoring fans, star in a photo shoot and a movie, and walk the red carpet.
"It's a really unique concept. It's a very cast-led experience, and what makes it great is that it's very personal. You're not being pulsed through it; 50 of you. It's for six to eight people at any one time, so you do feel like the star of the show,” Norman said.
“But that's got a heavy opex per person. When you try to commercialise these things, but not automate them with technology, and make them with human beings, the business model needs to be really, really robust.”
Trends for 2027
Moving to trends for next year, Norman said: “We have a duty to our audience to create goosebumps, and that can take many different forms. It can be the hairs on the back of your neck. It can make you terrified. It can make you feel really emotional. It can make you laugh out loud.
"We have to treat that responsibility as sacrosanct.
“If we can elicit some of those emotions from someone, where they really feel something and remember something, which probably means putting their phone down and allowing them to be in that moment, then you're doing something quite real.”
He added: “We have a responsibility when we produce these shows to give people a real-life moment, and goosebumps is one of the metrics we look for.
"Give people a moment that, when they come away, they don't forget, and they talk about. Give them something that is beyond everything that they've seen before.”
Serving the guests
“A really important part of this is the emotions and how we make people feel, but it also comes down to celebrating the world of the audience. It always starts with putting ourselves in the heart of the audience.
"We could take them on a journey, but we have to make sure that we're doing it with the intention of the audience itself,” said Lachel.
“We ultimately have to always remember who we're serving, and it's always the audience. We can take them on something so transformative and magical that it leaves them with a memory that they can't get anywhere else. That's our obligation as an industry.”
Designed by BRC Imagination Arts, the Johnny Walker Experience launched in Edinburgh in 2021Diageo
Designed by BRC, the Johnny Walker Experience launched in Edinburgh in 2021. Covering 71,500 square feet, it offers immersive tours, a rooftop bar with views of Edinburgh Castle, and locally sourced cuisine.
It also includes an experiential retail space, and innovative dispensation systems with more than 800 flavour combinations.
“It started with audience insights, working closely with Diageo. We realised that Scotch has a bit of an issue with younger audiences, so we knew that we needed to create something contemporary, something different that would attract new people into the category. Also, something that leans towards women more than men, which is not typical,” said Lachel.
Johnny Walker Experience
“We had to find a way to make it unique and personal, so we used AI and new technologies to create a personalised experience for everyone. We understood the emotions. We understood the audience. We understood the operations. We didn't create a one-size-fits-all."
The Johnnie Walker Experience offers immersive tours and a rooftop bar with views of Edinburgh CastleDiageo
“If you're a whiskey aficionado, we've got great experiences. If you're a VIP, we have the vault. If you're a bartender, we have learning experiences in the best bartending academy in the world.
"And, we have the best view in the city to see the castle. We took advantage of a combination of things to create something that was truly interesting, immersive and emotional for a wide range of audiences," he added.
“It's working really, really well. We're very proud of the results of the project, and so is Diageo.”
Challenges in immersive
For all the excitement around immersive entertainment, the sector still faces the challenge of turning unique experiences into sustainable businesses. For Lachel, that can include the right marketing plan and smart reinvestment.
“So much of what we're doing is working with clients to get them to truly understand what it takes to keep these things going and successful, including having the right marketing plan,” he said.
"We've seen so many attractions that just get it wrong. They don't understand that they have to market early and put that investment in well ahead of when they're opening the attraction.”
“We've seen projects that were fantastic that just failed right out of the gate because of the marketing.”
He added: “The other piece of it is the reinvestment. You've got to put the money back into these projects; set aside the right amount to reinvest.
“We want to create successful projects because then everyone wins. We're here for the long run as an industry. We've been here for a long time, and we believe in the power of experiences, especially now, to create places that truly make a difference in the world.”
Clearer industry standards
As it continues to grow, the immersive experience industry could establish clearer standards, Norman said.
BRC Imagination Arts will lead the creative design and development of the USA Pavilion at Expo 2031 MinnesotaBRC
“Because this is still exploding as an industry, we’re trying to offer that benchmark of quality at Immerse LDN, so that people know it's a safe haven when they walk in the door.
"The production values are going to be there, and it's been built and put together with love and care, and we care about whether guests have a great time or not.
“Every time something has just been put up in a warehouse that doesn't have any heating, by someone trying to make a quick buck, it can erode that.”
“That's the challenge – the levelling up of the industry to make sure that there are certain production standards and welfare for actors. I think there are certain rules that need to be adhered to, to be able to make sure that we maintain a level of quality.
"That will build consumer confidence in going to more attractions.”
