Claudia Stephenson, managing director EMEA at INVNT, shares her thoughts on how to enhance the brand experience in the executive office.
You can see it on a tight budget. Limited risk appetite. When something feels a little too bold, too emotional, or human, there is an infinite need for “justification.”
But the reality is that brands that are getting through the noise are not the ones that play safely. They are what they invest in the experience of being with people, stimulating emotions, stimulating conversations, and being with people all the time after the campaign is over. And they also give financial teams a reason to smile, and the results can be directly linked to revenue and growth.
Bold creativity means bold results
In our work at Invnt, we have seen many times that creative courage is rewarded. It brings increased retention, loyalty and revenue not only in headlines and social scope, but also in actual business outcomes.
However, this disconnect is often a way of communicating this value to senior stakeholders. Marketers speak influencing, but boards speak in the margins. Bridging that gap is not about compromising the work, but about sharpening the story.
It is important to remember that executives are not anti-creative. They are fundamentally anti-enclear. To bring them in and get them on board, they must speak their language.
Reframing experience as a business growth driver
The brand’s experience is still “good to have” in some sectors. This is a hangover from a time when events were considered brand fluff. That was over. Today, the brand experience is a strategic growth lever.
According to Deloitte Digital’s Personalization Growth Report, brands that lead personalization, a key driver of emotional engagement, are 48% more likely to exceed revenue expectations and are 71% better than customer loyalty. These statistics reflect concrete commercial outcomes rooted in emotional intelligence, data-driven insights and design thinking.
In the EMEA region, this shift is causing a certain urgency. For example, McKinsey highlights that experience-driven companies are increasing revenues by more than twice their industry peers, surpassing their competitors, triple profitability. In the Middle East, brands that employ experiential, omnichannel strategies are well positioned to capture the rapidly evolving consumer demand, indicating that this is not about trends, but about meaningful transformations.
Metrics that make sense in the executive office
If you want to buy C-Suite for creative ideas, you need to show how success looks and how it connects to P&L. This means shifting from something like media impressions to metrics under the CFO’s nose.
Customer acquisition cost retention and renewal rate sales pipeline accelerates brand equity evaluation time passing
When I had a multi-layered experience for Hitachi Vantala, it was not just about hosting world-class events, but the experience was driving community engagement and brand heritage, and was always linked to strategic outcomes.
In NVIDIA GTC 2025, INVNT will partner with Hitachi Vantara to offer two connected activations. A thought leadership event in a partnership between Workstation & Café and women’s merchandises. There were impressive top-line statistics, 85k+ social perspectives, and even keynotes from Jensen fans, but CFOs are more interested in the 904 booth scans representing potential customer leads and the results representing 17 key priorities that can be directly converted into business revenue.
We have realized Hitachi’s bold vision by designing and creating a hospitality-driven cafe with local baristas, shaded seats and an interactive “clear from data chaos” game.
In parallel, we curated impactful evening events featuring Hitachi CEOs alongside global thought leaders, promoting meaningful conversations about technology equity. From hospitality-driven engagement to value-driven storytelling, this is not a brand presence and industry event, and not a strategic repositioning. Hitachi moved from vendors to visionary, and Invnt was proud to promote the experience behind that transformation.
Building an Internal Champion
Another lesson I have learned is that most successful experiential strategies often involve internal champions. This is someone from C-Suite who has gotten it and got its approval. Your job is to find that person and build a business case with them. Your role is to arm them with vision as well as data.
In many cases, their supporters are in the role of the CMO. But not always. CIOs and HR leaders are increasingly interested in how immersive brand experiences attract talent, shift internal culture and support the agenda of innovation. Experience is no longer just for the client. For employees, investors and future partners.
The time for safe thinking is over
If the past few years have taught us anything, it means stagnation is not a strategy. Playing safely is more dangerous than making bold moves.
That doesn’t mean reckless creativity. It means purposeful courage. An idea rooted in insights, performed accurately and measured by results.
Executives are under pressure to make a difference, and brand experiences can be a powerful tool for that journey.
I speak the language. Then raise the bar.
The future of brand experience belongs to those who can translate magic into metrics. It depends on the person who can prove that emotions are not just a result, but a business driver. From my career, I have learned that creative teams should not necessarily fight for the executive table seat, but should lead conversations about how we can win the future. Because when experience becomes a strategy, everyone wins.
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