Thought Leader: How experience breeds experience

Jack Lamacraft, Global MD, explains the approach that The Park is taking in order to have an experience-focused culture within their agency.

With a growing number of brands embracing the power of experiential marketing, it’s
increasingly important for our teams to be one step ahead if they want to deliver the best
work.

But this can’t just be about the academic side of things. Yes, training has an important role to play, but to truly understand and create powerful experiences our teams need to live and breathe them.

When looking at your perks, benefits and social activities, how would anyone know that experience is your focus, or does the list read like any other agency’s? And how do your team members remain curious as well as creative?

Experience isn’t just what we deliver, it is embedded into culture. This is the mentality we’ve fully embraced at The Park. Whether it’s through staff incentives or our approach to team socials, being experience-focused is the priority.

Our creative director’s monthly Art Club allows all team members to try their hand at a new artistic discipline, no matter which department they are in. We’ve embraced everything from graffiti to tie dye, with mixed success but great return.

To encourage all our team to get out and about and connect to culture The Park Life Grant gives them the chance to buy a ticket to an event every month. A gig, exhibition or even a theatre show, they get out and experience something new.

We’ve also challenged everyone to give a Passion Talk, a ten minute presentation on a topic
they love. Fire engines, Glastonbury festival, we’ve heard it all. But this isn’t just about
novelty. It’s about curiosity. Digging that little bit deeper into the world around us.

Agencies can be guilty of relying on trips to the pub for socials, but turning this on its head
can be another way to have an experience-focused culture. Just last month we attended the
immersive Feel the Sound exhibition at the Barbican and we’ve got some more exciting
cultural outings lined up over the next few months.

Embedding experience into our culture doesn’t just make us more inclusive, it encourages
creative thinking. Teams become stronger, having a better understanding of each other as
colleagues and individuals. Wellbeing improves because people are encouraged to close
their laptops and open their eyes. All of these things ultimately make for better work.
Why? Because their minds are always open to new ideas. They are constantly seeing the
world through different perspectives. They are absorbing trends and newness in the day-to-
day rather than under the pressure of a brief. All of this encourages stronger ideas and new
ways of thinking.

Experiential might be work, but it can also be a part of work life.