Gradient Experience

What does a legacy brand do when it enters the F1 fast lane? It makes every moment count. To mark the partnership between Glenfiddich and Aston Martin F1 Team, Gradient designed an experience that matched the precision of the track with the craftsmanship of the barrel. The challenge was to merge two high-performance legacies without defaulting to nostalgia. The opportunity was found in turning brand alignment into cultural currency. So we built into a multi-sensory launch in NYC that translated values into visuals, taste into story, and partnership into a presence. Think whisky lounges, F1 design cues, elevated F&B, and live conversations on invention and identity. The result? An experience that didn’t just celebrate the alliance, but made it feel inevitable. One that captured attention across the press, influencers, and VIPs, not with spectacle, but with substance. Because in a market moving this fast, legacy alone isn’t enough. You need momentum. Featuring Glenfiddich & Aston Martin Formula One™ Team Limited Edition 16-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky. *Never Drink and Drive. Drink Responsibly. Grateful to our team behind the scenes for helping bring the vision to life. Morgan Hollowell Karina (Grossman) Smith Bianca Day Carson Lai Léa Bouffet

There’s something uniquely humbling about seeing creativity through the eyes of those shaping it. Earlier this season, our Executive Creative Director, Kyra Taurman, had the honor of serving as a judge for the CLIO Awards; one of the industry’s highest recognitions of creative excellence. It’s not every day that you get to step behind the curtain and witness the best ideas from every corner of the world. Ideas that remind us why this industry moves at the pace it does, and why craft still matters as much as innovation. For Kyra, the experience was a reminder that creativity isn’t a competition of who has the best idea, but perspective - being able to see things from multiple points of view. The deliberations brought together diverse specialties and points of view, leaving her inspired and enriched with a deeper understanding of how other leaders in the industry think and speak about creativity. For all of us at Gradient, it’s a proud moment, and a push to keep evolving the way we think, make, and move people.

This past weekend, Gradient’s Paris office brought a digital-first beauty drop to life in Milan. In partnership with KIKO MILANO, we activated a citywide Treasure Hunt. A gamified launch designed to drive in-store traffic through social storytelling, layered touchpoints, and real-world reward. The strategy? Meet beauty fans where they are; on their phones, and give them a reason to move. Every asset was designed for shareability and speed: snap it, tag it, race your friends to the prize. Physical stores became part of the game, not just a destination. From tap-to-play IG stories to flyers on the street, the experience unfolded across Milan; bold, bright, and built for discovery. It resonated across generations, drawing in beauty fans of all ages. The result? A weekend of movement, momentum, and real-life beauty fandom. All brought to life by teams who know how to make it local, and make it land. The first of many activations rolling out across Italy.

New York, Bahamas, Paris, and Scotland. Four global locations, one week. Proof that great work travels. It’s easy to focus on the finished spaces, but the real craft lives in the coordination behind the design, production, and storytelling that make it all feel effortless. Huge props to the teams pulling it off. More to come soon.

Huge thanks to our 2025 Clio Entertainment Experiential jury for lending their expertise and taste to this year’s awards! Monica Herman, Giant Spoon Adam Gloo, Barbarian Craig Waldman, 15|40 Emily Woodall, Redrock Entertainment Katani Ostine-Franklin, Wild Card Creative Group Kyra Taurman, Gradient Experience Mark D'Anna, Once Upon A Time Marti Romances, Territory Studio Mike Caguin, Betty Rosalind Pressman, Pluto TV Shelley Elkins, NVE Experience Agency Yadira Harrison, VERB It takes passion, insight, and a serious love for entertainment marketing to judge the best in the business. 💫

From Walk-In to Share-Out: How Guest Perspective Drives Experience When you’re new to experiential marketing, it’s easy to focus on brand goals: reach, buzz, KPIs… But ask any seasoned ops lead what really drives success, and they’ll tell you: it’s about the guest. At Gradient, we start every activation with one core habit: walking through the experience from the guest’s POV. Vita Coco’s Y2K-inspired Nostalgia Mall is a great example of how that approach brings strategy to life; not just visually, but emotionally and measurably. Before we ever thought about signage or scripting, our ops team asked: How do guests enter? The entrance sets the emotional tone. This one transported guests straight into early-2000s mall culture; glossy surfaces, fuzzy walls, retro signs. It wasn’t just an intro. It was a feeling: hanging out, not rushing through. What do they see first? We built sightlines that teased interaction without overwhelming. Claw machines buzzed in the distance, snacks lined nostalgic display shelves, and immersive zones pulled people forward. Each zone invited exploration like a classic mall crawl. Where does the line form? We treated queue time as experience time. Entertainment and branded moments were built into the flow, making even waiting feel intentional. Where’s the photo moment? Not one. Many. We placed multiple photo ops like a fisheye booth, a fit-check cam, and a live-feed security cam across the space. Each one lived in a high-traffic but distanced pocket, away from key touchpoints, keeping content creation fluid and avoiding bottlenecks. The takeaway? Strategy lives in the details. Before you design what the brand wants to say, design what the guest wants to feel. Because when the experience is intuitive, shareable, and emotionally resonant, the metrics follow. That’s how you turn foot traffic into fandom and engagement into measurable impact.

If you’re a master of turning vision into reality, thrive in the luxury and lifestyle space, and know how to lead teams, budgets, and clients through seamless productions, this one’s for you. Our production team is #HIRING for a Senior Experiential Producer. Think you’re the perfect fit? Apply here: Senior Experiential Producer → https://lnkd.in/esvygxEq

True differentiation happens when every guest can connect with a brand in their own way. That idea stood out at last week’s Bold Predictions Live: What’s Next for Events panel, organized by BizBash at the unveiling of 2 Park Avenue. But here’s the challenge: what does “personal” look like when you’re not designing for a hundred guests in a ballroom, but for thousands cycling through a festival? At Gov Ball 2025, Gradient partnered with Kiehl's to answer that question. The activation was built to keep pace with the energy of one of Gen Z’s biggest weekends, while still creating moments that felt individual. We thought about guest flow first: intuitive pathways, open layouts, and seamless transitions that let people move without bottlenecks. From there, every touchpoint invited guests to connect in their own way: One-on-one skin consultations with Kiehl’s experts Interactive scans and skincare bar experiences Playful festival-ready touches (yes, including glitter freckles) Games and giveaways designed for discovery The result? A guest-first experience that stood out not because it was the loudest, but because it worked; earning Kiehl’s the #2 most talked-about sponsor at the festival. Large-scale events don’t have to sacrifice personalization. With the right design choices, they can deliver both momentum and meaning. Kiehl's Since 1851 #PersonalizedExperience #EventDesign #ExperientialMarketing #BrandConnection

If you thrive in the details, love the buzz of live events, and can keep projects running seamlessly from brainstorm to breakdown, this one’s for you. Our production team is #HIRING. Think you’re the perfect fit? Apply here: Production Coordinator → https://lnkd.in/eD8p6eH9