Last year, we made four bold predictions about the direction experiential marketing was heading. These weren’t hunches or hype, mind you, but genuine predictions grounded in the very best behavioural science, cultural signals, and industry insights we had to hand about what the public was really starting to crave from brands.
At We Are Collider, we pride ourselves not just on our ability to track trends but also on our power to shape them. Using our proprietary MARVELS™ framework and national consumer research, we’ve spent the last year decoding how people behave inside brand experiences, not just how they talk about them, but what they really feel when they’re there.
Now, as 2025 draws to a close, it’s time to look back and ask: did reality keep up?
PART 1. DID WE GET IT RIGHT?
Mixed bag, if we’re honest! Some of our predictions landed bang-on, while others evolved in ways even we couldn’t fully anticipate. But what we didn’t learn was exciting and incredibly illuminating. As we’ve said before, our 2025 predictions weren’t crystal-ball gazing. They were built on observable shifts in attention, trust, and motivation, and across culture, tech, and retail, those shifts showed up loud and clear.
So, what did we predict, and what did we see:
1. IMMERSIVE IN-PERSON EXPERIENCES RETURNED
After years of digital overload, people landed back in the physical world with a bang. One standout moment was at SXSW, where FX’s Alien: Earth activation didn’t just promote a show, it dropped attendees into it. There were live actors, cinematic sound design, and high-pressure decision-making, all of which meant the line between audience and participant disappeared.
2. PERSONALISATION AND AI-DRIVEN JOURNEYS EMERGED
We also predicted that personalisation would move from nice-to-have to non-negotiable. That prediction aged very well indeed. At the Silverstone Grand Prix, for example, Lenovo’s AI-powered photo booth used generative AI and QR codes to create bespoke F1-themed selfies in seconds. Each output felt tailored and each moment owned, which brought personalisation and AI-driven journeys to the forefront.
3. AI-POWERED IMMERSIVE CONTENT GOT BIG
Well, this one was inevitable. If 2024 was about testing AI in experiences, 2025 was about committing to it. PhotoRoom’s AI-powered photobooth at Outernet London showed how quickly this space has matured. Visitors generated hyper-realistic, personalised images instantly. The payoff was immediate: queues, shares, social amplification. This validated another key prediction, that the brands that won weren’t those shouting about AI. They were the ones letting people play with it.
4. RETAIL BECAME COMMUNITY HUBS
Finally, we said retail would stop behaving like retail. Tesco’s Clubcard Nightclub pop-up proved that point. To mark 30 years of Clubcard, Tesco transformed a London venue into a nostalgic, culture-led experience. Music. Memory. Membership. The physical and digital worlds are intertwined. Retail brands that treated space as a social platform, not a sales floor, built deeper loyalty. Phygital wasn’t a buzzword. It was behaviourally sound.
PART 2: WHAT WE LEARNED FROM 2025
Alongside the insights we gained by looking at experiences in the wild, we were also contributing our own academic efforts. In 2025, we launched The Experience Index , a research report based on a nationwide survey of over 2,000 UK consumers. The goal was simple: understand how people actually experienced experiential marketing this year, and five key trends emerged, trends we now believe will act as a bridge between what happened in 2025 and what’s coming next.
- Duality: Audiences attend for entertainment but value intellectual stimulation and usefulness once engaged. Experiences must balance spectacle with substance.
- Culture Over Campaigns: Consumers reject overt marketing. They crave cultural relevance and authentic participation, and brands must act as citizens of culture, not advertisers.
- Blended Realities: Hybrid is the default. Tech should enhance storytelling and emotional connection, not overshadow it.
- Earn Trust, Not Attention: In an era of eroding trust, experiences offer tangible proof of purpose and values. Authenticity beats gimmicks.
- Turning Moments Into Momentum: Success isn’t just footfall; it’s sustained advocacy and loyalty through emotional connection and measurable outcomes.
PART 3. WHAT NEXT? OUR TOP 3 PREDICTIONS FOR 2026
Building on these insights, here’s what we believe will define experiential marketing in the year ahead.
PREDICTION 1: GAMING MECHANICS WILL POWER EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING
Gaming has become the world’s most powerful engagement engine, and by 2026, an estimated 3.5 billion people will identify as gamers. But this shift isn’t really about consoles or screens: It’s about psychology. Games work because they are brilliantly designed systems of motivation, built around progression, reward, mastery, and social status.
As we move into 2026, more brands will start borrowing these mechanics to design experiential marketing that feels genuinely interactive and emotionally rewarding. That means that unlockable content, leaderboards, quests, and community challenges won’t appear as surface-level gimmicks, but as thoughtful structures that invite participation and sustain involvement. This approach mirrors what we saw emerging in 2025 through our Blended Realities and Turning Moments Into Momentum trends: when people are given a sense of progress and purpose, they stay engaged for longer. Gamification delivers emotional ROI, and emotional ROI is what drives lasting brand impact.
PREDICTION 2: CONVERGED CREATIVITY WILL BECOME STANDARD
By 2026, the idea of a “hybrid” experience will quietly disappear. Not because it failed, but because it succeeded. Physical, digital, and virtual layers will blend so seamlessly that audiences no longer notice the joins. Augmented reality will add depth to physical spaces, AI will guide and personalise journeys in real time, and gamified digital twins will extend live moments far beyond the event itself.
Crucially, technology won’t lead the creative process: human need will. Using frameworks like our innovation lab Arq’s STAGE, brands will design experiences around self-expression, transformation, accessibility, play, and the extraordinary, allowing technology to serve the story rather than dominate it. We’ll see more IRL-to-URL loops, where attending in person unlocks digital rewards, and digital participation pulls people back into the physical world. Creativity will converge because audiences already live that way.
PREDICTION 3: EXPERIENCES WILL FORGE COMMUNITIES
This is the most significant shift of all. In 2026, the most potent experiences won’t be remembered for how spectacular they looked but for how connected they felt. People no longer want to attend brand experiences; they want to belong within them.
The strongest activations will move beyond one-way spectacle and instead create shared spaces built on participation, warmth, and human connection. Innovation will still matter, but it will be paired with intimacy through live hosts, community zones, and sensory design that encourages interaction rather than isolation. Technology will play a supporting role, enabling connection without overshadowing it. When experiences are designed to bring people together, they transform audiences into communities, and communities are where trust is built, advocacy grows, and loyalty endures long after the experience ends.
WHAT NOW…?
Ready to shape the future of brand experiences in 2026? At We Are Collider, we decode the science of human behaviour to craft experiences that capture attention and create lasting emotional connections. Using our proprietary MARVELS™ framework, we help brands stay ahead of cultural shifts and design experiences that resonate in a world where relevance is everything. If you’re ready to shape the future of brand experiences in 2026, let’s talk!
Image source: Christian Wiediger via Unsplash
