AVANTGARDE Group

You’ll remember Goodwood. But will you remember the brands that paid to be there? At a festival that already owns the spectacle, simply showing up can become an expensive way to disappear. Rachel Lewandowska, Managing Director of AVANTGARDE Group London, explores the tension in her latest piece for Campaign UK. Read the full article via the link in the comments. #GoodwoodFestivalOfSpeed #BrandExperience #AutomotiveMarketing #AVANTGARDE

Some of the most memorable brand experiences are the ones you were never invited to. While the industry continues to chase bigger audiences and louder moments, another trend is quietly emerging: intimate gatherings designed for the few, not the many. From Burberry’s Norman’s Café takeover to Miele’s Menorca launch, our Strategy Director Sandra Perriot explores why brands are rethinking scale, and why the future of brand experience might feel a little more personal. Read the full article in Micebook. Link in the comments. #ExperientialMarketing #BrandExperience #CulturalRelevance #AVANTGARDE

We are pleased to announce that James Wallingford is stepping into the role of Managing Director, AVANTGARDE Switzerland. Since joining AVANTGARDE London two and a half years ago, James has been the driving force behind our innovation work with clients including Audi Revolut F1 Team, Renault and eBay, and this promotion reflects both his strategic and leadership capabilities and the trust he’s built across the agency. We’re excited to see him bring that same energy to leading the Swiss team in its next phase of growth, as we focus on winning work on a global scale with Swiss precision and flawless delivery. Stuart Bradbury, Global CEO, said: "James brings real international brand experience expertise and a strong track record of delivering innovation at a global level. With him leading in Zurich, AVANTGARDE Switzerland is positioned to play a pivotal role in the European market and create the kind of bold, intelligent experiences AVANTGARDE is known for." James added: "I’m excited to be leading such a talented team and ambitious clients. From Zurich, we’ll combine Swiss precision with global creative ambition, using AI in the moments where it genuinely improves the work, helping us think sharper and move faster. It’s going to be an epic adventure." #brandexperience #craftingstories #shapingspaces #creatingfans #AVANTGARDE

"Diversity isn't a nice to have, it's critical to building strong, future-facing businesses." We're proud to see our Managing Director for AVANTGARDE Group London, Rachel Lewandowska, featured in Conference News' The 70% series, spotlighting the women shaping the future of the events industry. In the interview, Rachel shares her journey through more than two decades in the industry, reflects on balancing a demanding leadership role with family life, and discusses why flexibility, diverse teams and accessible career options are essential if we want to build a stronger industry for everyone. "Inclusion isn’t just about getting people through the door", she says, "it’s about creating environments where they have the opportunity to grow, thrive and lead." Thank you to Conference News for shining a light on these important conversations and the people driving change across our industry. Read Rachel’s interview below. #BrandExperience #Leadership #WomenInEvents #EventProfs #AVANTGARDE

The EV race has entered its second phase. Phase one was about price, speed and accessibility. Challenger brands have proven they can win on that ground. CHERY is a great example of an industry-leading EV brand that is scaling fast, expanding well beyond its core brand into building a multi-brand portfolio across the UK and Europe. But price wars don't last forever and the next battle will be over meaning: what does your brand stand for and how does it show up in people's lives? Our Head of Innovation, James Wallingford, explores this shift in the latest issue of Automotive Business Magazine, including how our recent Chery x Future Stores collaboration on London's Oxford Street showcased their electric and hybrid range not as a product demo but as an immersive, interactive experience. Timely food for thought as the AVANTGARDE Group team heads to Goodwood Festival of Speed next week, where price has never been the point. It’s about the stories and experiences brands build around the metal. Link in comments. #BrandExperience #Automotive #EV #Goodwood #CraftingStories #AVANTGARDE

As originators of live experiences, we clearly don’t believe in doing things online. We all know you can’t create true human chemistry through a webcam. So earlier this month, our global managing directors left their respective corners of the world to gather in Amsterdam, a city built on trade, connection and serious creative courage. The perfect backdrop to sharpen our collective thinking and design the future of experiential. The conversation this year felt particularly alive. The experience economy isn't just growing, it’s changing lanes. We know from the work we do with our clients that consumers are hungry for meaningful moments. They want to be part of something real, something worth showing up for. Meanwhile, marketing departments are playing a high-stakes game of balancing tighter budgets with sky-high expectations. That tension is exactly where we do our best work. Ticketed, paid brand experiences sit in the sweet spot between cultural relevance and commercial strategy. When you create an environment that’s genuinely magnetic, people don't just show up to witness it, they spend money to have their own, personal experience of it. Done right, it doesn’t just create a memory; it builds revenue streams, earned media, and die-hard fandom that far outlasts the event itself. Our MDs left Amsterdam feeling energised and ready to turn spaces into unforgettable stories for our clients’ brands worldwide. Has your brand explored the shift into the experience economy and paid experiences yet? Get in touch with one of our MDs to explore what’s possible. We’d love to chat. Stuart Bradbury Sabine Rogg Alexis Mardapittas Rachel Lewandowska Christian Stipp Denis Turkmanovic James Wallingford #BrandExperience #ExperienceEconomy #GlobalLeadership #LiveExperiences #Amsterdam #AVANTGARDE

The shop floor has moved. It's no longer just behind a window, on a website, or inside an app. It's in the hands of creators – live, social, unscripted and moving at the speed of culture. So for eBay LIVE Lab, we built a space for the people already shaping that shift. At Protein STUDIOS, AVANTGARDE Group brought together 40 of the UK’s leading live-streamers, creator-sellers and influencers for an exclusive immersive experience designed to show what happens when creator influence meets eBay marketplace scale. Not a conference. Not a product demo. A lab. A place to test, play, ask, learn, film, share and see how eBay LIVE can turn audience energy into selling momentum. And because this was built for creators, the experience refused to stay in the room. It moved through phones, feeds and communities in real time – becoming content before the day was even over. Live selling has entered the chat. And eBay LIVE is giving creators a new place to perform. #eBayLive #brandexperience #craftingstories #shapingspaces #creatingfans #AVANTGARDE

NYX Professional Makeup asked us to launch Make 'Em Wonder, the brand's first ever foundation, to influencers and media across the Middle East. The brief was to make it unmistakably NYX... so we built a world around it. The venue was kept secret until the night itself. Once inside, 150 influencers moved through a series of activations and photo moments, each one revealing a product feature through games, codes and touchpoints that felt playful and completely on-brand. From entry to exit, the Wonder Vault was a fully immersive experience. And when the night ended, the conversation was just getting started – converting one exclusive party into a regional moment for NYX's debut in the foundation category. #brandexperience #beauty #craftingstories #shapingspaces #creatingfans #AVANTGARDE

Amazing to see our work shine like this 30 years later.   In 1996, Reebok had exclusive advertising rights at the Atlanta Olympics and no other sportswear brand could appear in the stadium or on athletes. The brief to us was simple: get Puma seen anyway.   So we found the one gap nobody else thought to look for. Custom contact lenses – technically not clothing, technically not traditional branding, technically no rules broken! And it worked: every photo from that day was a Puma ad.   The fact that this iconic story is being held up as a blueprint for brand activations in 2026, during the biggest sporting occasion on the planet, is proof that the best ideas create moments that *earn* attention.   This is the kind of original thinking we’re proud of at AVANTGARDE Group. We work with the rules, not against them, but we’ll always find the gap. #brandexperience #craftingstories #shapingspaces #creatingfans #AVANTGARDE

Brand experience has moved up the funnel and the numbers back it up: this year’s IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) Bellwether data shows budgets jumping by nearly 15%.   Here's Harry McCreanor, our Global BD Director, in Performance Marketing World on what that means for brands. Disposable pop-ups are out, lasting and scalable experiences are in.   The launch of the new Global CMO Forum at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this year says it all: experience is no longer a side conversation.   More from Harry at Cannes next week! #brandexperience #craftingstories #shapingspaces #creatingfans #AVANTGARDE