Imagination

Attendance numbers and social buzz aren't enough any more.

Richard Hannah, Managing Director UK & Europe, sat down with M&IT to explore why live experiences are being judged by a new set of metrics.

Every project now starts with the outcome rather than the concept. Data comes first with formats built to feed straight into a client's CRM and prove their worth. AI is treated the same way: a powerful tool, but one that needs a talented conductor to reach its potential.

Showing up in person is becoming the more valuable act.

Read Richard's full interview here: https://mitmagazine.co.uk/Marketing/Why-live-experiences-must-deliver-business-outcomes-not-just-impressions

We're proud to share that Imagination has been named a National Nominee at the 2026 Australian Event Awards and Symposium across six categories!

Best New Event: Commonwealth Bank Accelerate AI 2026
Best Regional Event: CommBank Tour 2025
Best Exhibition, Trade or Consumer Show: Amazon Web Services Summit Sydney 2026
Best Achievement in Design: Nissan National Partner Meeting 2025
Best Technical Achievement or Innovation: Nissan National Partner Meeting 2025
Corporate Event Agency of the Year: Imagination

We've also been named a State Nominee for Best Community Event in New South Wales and Queensland, for CommBank Tour 2025.

This recognition reflects the ambition, craft, and collaboration that went into bringing these experiences to life, and is a testament to the incredible team and clients who made it possible.

We look forward to attending the Awards Ceremony on the 21st October.

For Kevin Berry, the best design work is the kind you never notice, where all the hard-won engineering and problem-solving disappears behind something beautiful.

Nowhere is that more true than at Harrods, where he spent four years as Lead Architect on the Ground Floor Accessories Rooms. The project took him from early concept sketches to century-old ceiling voids, unexpected structural surprises, and a 24-hour deadline to fix a 10mm compliance issue that threatened to unravel years of work.

It's a belief he carries into everything he makes: that real craft is felt long before it's seen, whether that's a hand-built watch, a painted canvas, or a listed room brought back to life.

He reflects on the moments that shaped his career, and the advice he'd give his 18-year-old self, in this month's Experiences That Made Me feature.

Read Kevin's story here: https://imagination.com/latest/experiences-that-made-me-kevin-berry/

Web metrics no longer prove anyone is watching.

By mid-2025, roughly a third of newly published websites were AI-generated or AI-assisted. Bots accounted for over half of all web traffic in 2025. The dead internet theory - once dismissed as internet folklore - is quietly becoming a measurable commercial fact.

Simon Levitt, Global Creative Technology Director, explores why physical experience is becoming marketing's closest thing to a CAPTCHA: proof that a real person showed up, chose to engage, and spent time with the brand.

Some things still can't be automated, showing up is one of them.

Read Simon's full piece here: https://imagination.com/latest/when-the-internet-stops-measuring-humans/

We're proud to share that Guinness: The Open Gate Experience won big at the Immersive Experience Awards, taking home the award for Brand Activation.

We set out to help bring brewing back to Covent Garden, as Guinness made its highly anticipated return to London with a visitor experience that’s part working microbrewery, part immersive brand journey.

To see that work celebrated means a great deal.

A huge thank you to our partners at Diageo, and to every member of the team who poured their energy into bringing this experience to life.

Congratulations to all of this year's winners.

https://imagination.com/work/guinness-the-open-gate-experience/

Cultural destinations used to be designed primarily for visitors. Today they’re designed for residents first. Paradoxically, that's exactly what visitors respond to.

Alserkal Avenue, JAX District and MiZa each grew the same way. Artists, entrepreneurs, and residents arrived first; culture embedded itself into daily life before tourism followed.

That sequencing turns out to matter more than budget or architectural scale.

Sarah Yates, Project Director, explores this shift from placemaking to placekeeping, tracing the same pattern through the GCC, and what it means for how the next generation of cultural destinations gets built.

Read Sarah's insights here: https://imagination.com/latest/the-best-cultural-destinations-arent-just-visited-theyre-lived-in/

The best experiences allow for friction in just the right places.

As digital life gets more optimised, organisations are investing more time and energy on real-world gatherings. All because of serendipity: the unplanned encounter, the shifting weather, the smell of coffee across a room. These are the moments an algorithm can't manufacture and a recommendation engine can't predict.

The brain is wired to seek meaning. When something has an obvious explanation, we file it way and move on. But when something surprises us and resists easy explanation, we bring our own imagination to it. That's where the strongest bonds with a place, a brand, or a moment are formed.

Christophe Castagnera, Head of Strategy & Experience Advisory, explores the difference between negative and positive friction. He unpacks why over-curating physical space is the real risk facing experience design today.

Read his full insights here: https://imagination.com/latest/return-on-serendipity/

We're delighted to share that Imagination has been shortlisted in three categories at this year's C&IT Awards:

- Conference of the Year: Visa Payments Forum CEMEA 2025
- Best New Event: Inaugural TOURISE Global Summit
- UK Agency of the Year

Being recognised across these categories reflects not just a single standout project, but the calibre and consistency of work happening across the whole team, year-round.

Huge thanks to everyone whose craft and dedication made this possible. We look forward to celebrating with all our fellow nominees at the ceremony in October.