Insights from the Brand Experience Committee

Leaders from the NBA, Penguin Random House, and FourLeaf Federal Credit Union reveal how fan-first strategy, grassroots influence, and purposeful rebranding are reshaping brand experience. Their approaches may offer marketers a new framework for building trust at scale across vastly different industries.

As AI reshapes customer experience, empathy remains essential. Insights from the ANA Brand Experience Committee show how human-centered AI and emotional intelligence drive trust, loyalty, and stronger brand relationships.

With its Underwater Vending Machine campaign, Airheads tapped into emotional insights, took creative risks, and built a full-funnel campaign to drive sales and make Airheads a top candy choice for the pool.

Hilton, in collaboration with Phaedon, shared how it redesigned the Hilton Honors Champion program by empowering frontline workers to become brand advocates, enhancing both career satisfaction and the guest experience across its global portfolio.

During a session at a July 2025 ANA Relationship Marketing Committee meeting, Prudential Financial discussed using neuroscience to understand best marketing strategies.

During a session at a July 2025 ANA Relationship Marketing Committee meeting, Edelman Advisory Services discussed the available AI tools that companies, whether they already have them or not, must start implementing.

Stagwell's Sport Beach transformed the experiential marketing landscape at Cannes Lions, creating an innovative blend of business and recreation that attracted thousands of attendees and generated billions in earned media impressions.

Tyler Hargrove of the Atlanta Falcons gave a rundown of how his organization and Crocs were able to make the most of the footwear brand’s first-ever sports sponsorship, despite a few obstacles.

When Dead & Company set up shop at the Sphere for its Dead Forever Las Vegas residency, Hatch.im was tasked with envisioning and creating the Dead Forever Experience. Learn how they successfully explored and elevated the Dead & Co.’s unparalleled legacy.

AI technology can automate the conversion of live event content into multiple digital assets, removing friction between live events and follow-up content while enabling organizations to "flood the channels" with thought leadership content efficiently and effectively.

Representatives from Roku shared research and a case study elucidating how brands can create campaigns that leverage both streaming and social media to ensure the highest ROI from both.

During a July 2024 meeting of the ANA’s Relationship Marketing Committee, Bank of Montreal described how it capitalized on interactive emails and a willingness to explore the sources of customer dissatisfaction to improve retention among its credit card users.

Jeff Snyder, director of loyalty and email marketing at The Fresh Market, provided an overview of the brand’s loyalty program, including its background and how the brand is leveraging customer data.

Shannon Lewis, senior manager of CRM and loyalty at e.l.f. Beauty, provided an overview of her brand’s highly successful loyalty program, covering the four main principles that power the program and activations e.l.f. has launched to support those principles.

To celebrate its 125th birthday, Pepsi launched The Pepsi 125 Diner, a unique and immersive restaurant experience designed to deepen the brand’s connection with its biggest fans.

Catherine Thacker, senior director of customer engagement at Panera Bread, shared how she and her team have leveraged AI-powered personalization to drive higher frequency and improved retention among members of the brand’s loyalty program.

At an August meeting of the ANA’s Brand Management Committee, Citizens Bank detailed its REGGIE award-winning experiential activation, “The Living Portrait of New York.”

Absolut discussed its work with Web3 and the unlimited creative experimentation in the metaverse.

Allstate shared the test it performed that confirms that enhancing their direct mail creative solutions via tactile designs makes their brand more recognizable and better resonates with the consumer, which in turn creates lift in results.

Coca-Cola explained how it developed the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour to obtain additional value from its soccer sponsorship.