I’ll never forget the first time I saw the power of a group gasp. Years ago, during a Baltimore Ravens game, a film I helped create played on the stadium’s newly installed LED screens. At the climactic moment (a close-up of the kicker’s foot hitting the ball), the entire crowd seemed to freeze, holding their breath, before erupting in a wave of energy that swept across the stands. That’s because the shot was perfectly timed with the real kickoff that started the game. Imagine 70,000 people standing up at the same time, their collective sigh creating a moment of pure electricity.
That was no coincidence. It was the result of designing an experience where story, environment and audience came together to provoke a visceral, shared response.
This “group sigh,” that moment of collective, visceral awe, has become the holy grail of the modern brand experience. In a fragmented world where people crave connection, brands aren’t just competing for attention. They compete to orchestrate shared emotional resonance.
From spectacle to lasting impact
The roots of immersive brand experiences run deep. In the late 1990s, as the Internet boomed and new competitors quickly emerged, we worked with IBM to use adaptive technology (think infrared sensor projections, interactive exhibits, and flexible architecture) to shift brand perception from staid to innovative. It wasn’t about showing off gadgets; it was about shifting from a one-way monologue to the customer to a democratic conversation with the customer, completely reimagining the relationship between people and brand.
Today, environments like Sphere in Las Vegas or the Oculus Transit Hub in New York combine architecture, storytelling and cutting-edge technology to create collective awe. Beyond these locations, brands are playing with physical space to appear in increasingly seamless, smart and impactful ways. HBO and Giant Spoon’s Westworld activation at SXSW set a new standard in experience, inviting people into the show by recreating the Sweetwater location deep in the Austin desert.
But here’s the real change: experiences no longer end when the audience walks away. Social media amplifies a single moment of wonder into a global phenomenon, meaning the impact can last weeks or months. The sigh becomes evergreen content.
Designing for shared emotion
Technology can set the tone, but it does not guarantee resonance. The magic lies in emotional choreography; guiding the audience through intimacy, tension and relaxation. Like a great film score, the best experience ebbs and flows rather than hammering at maximum volume.
Different brands require different emotional tones. First, it can be joy and togetherness; for another: reverence and hope. There is no universal formula. . . what matters is the intention.
The most successful moments also feel effortless. They don’t overwhelm with every technical trick, but use restraint so that every detail serves the story. Shareability is not accidental, it is built into the experience. Still, it works best when it feels authentic and undeveloped.
The new marketing imperative
A broader cultural shift in consumer spending, known as the experience economy, is nothing new. Since the 1990s, we have witnessed more and more people valuing experiences over material possessions. It’s taken a while for marketing spend to catch up, but with 74% of Fortune 1000 marketers planning to increase their spend on experiential marketing this year, ad spend is now clearly shifting. Executives are increasingly realizing that these moments create emotional bonds that traditional campaigns can’t match.
When people share a common, personal experience, the emotional response is heightened. The brand becomes embedded not only in the individual memory, but also in the collective memory. In an age of fleeting attention, belonging is rare and therefore valuable.
But as the number of pop-ups and activations increases, not every “immersive” event makes the cut. The brands that win will resist spectacle for spectacle’s sake and focus instead on fueling true collective emotion.
Surprise: the spark behind the sob
At the heart of every group snap is surprise, moments that subvert expectation. Sometimes that’s high-production spectacle, but just as often it’s a small, human detail: a perfectly timed music cue, a flash of humor in a serious setting, or unexpected use of lighting.
Memorable moments don’t require large budgets. They require empathy, timing and the courage to be unpredictable. Commuters weren’t prepared to stumble into the surreal world of Severance at Grand Central Station, and adding the show’s cast to the severed floor made the Apple TV experience even more unforgettable.
The thought, “I didn’t expect that,” is the beginning of brand magic, and when people feel compelled to share it, the impact becomes greater.
The way forward for compelling storytelling
We no longer just create content; we design experiences. Content is contained within a frame, while experiences unfold in space and time. This requires thinking like architects or choreographers, not just advertisers, who design for attention in motion at multiple tempos and entry points. Most importantly, it means anchoring every decision in emotion.
AI is already transforming the way brands design for emotion, from predictive analytics that anticipate audience responses to generative tools that create hyper-personalized experiences. But the real power lies in combining these tools with human empathy to create moments that feel both innovative and deeply personal. At a time when trust is fragile, immersive experiences offer brands something rare: the chance to build emotional connections that draw people back in again and again.
So the real question for brands is simple: are you willing to design for the sake of it? In an age of distraction, the ability to spark shared wonder is perhaps the most valuable strategy of all.
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