Experiential Marketing Trend of the Week: Themed Learning -

Gone are the days of one-way conversations. In the post-COVID, value-for-time world that event marketers are building experiences in, themed learning is improving engagement and retention. And the bolder, more playful the theme, the better. Let’s take a look at themed learning in action.

Cinema

Morgan Stanley at Work caught our attention with an activation at Thrive 2025 in Los Angeles featuring Hollywood-inspired interactive stations that invited attendees to “Be a Star” while learning about traditional financial services. The six stations were themed around fictional movies connected to Morgan Stanley’s service offerings as “conversation starters,” including “Chasing Dreams” (investing and advice) and “The Vesting” (equity award analysis). Movie posters generated with AI and movie tickets added to the vibe.

Sports

IBM at SXSW created an AI Sports Club experience that helped the brand stand out and demonstrate its subject-matter expertise and how its AI tech supports top sports tournaments. Inside the IBM AI Sports Club, attendees could participate in a “Calling the Shots” shot-tracking table tennis experience that featured custom paddles embedded with motion-tracking sensors, which broadcast real-time gameplay data for players and onlookers alike.

History

For its NXT annual internal sales kickoff, software brand Quest leveraged its surroundings in Boston at the historic Park Plaza Hotel venue in branding that honored its legacy while celebrating the future. The brand incorporated classical artworks into the event’s design, reimagining statues from Boston Commons (right across the street) and presenting them in print and digital art across breakouts, general sessions and throughout the hotel’s public spaces.

During an off-site food hall event, Quest enlisted a Revolutionary War-style drum and fife band, dressed in “full era-appropriate garb,” to greet attendees with live music as they walked in. And at the opening “Welcome pARTy” (see what they did there?), the team blended renowned artworks with contemporary design through projection-mapped canvases and framed artworks animated to create moving portraits, our team reported.

Mystery

The escape-room trend has morphed into active-learning exercises brands are creating that are encouraging the audience to “become problem-solvers” through vault-themed installations and experiences (read more on the vault trend here).

One example is from Fintech company Chime, which educated consumers about its new MyPay service that allows members to access up to $500 of their paycheck before payday, through the national brand campaign, “Unlocking America’s Pay.” It all came to life on the America’s Big Unlock mobile tour anchored by an oversized vault the size of a semi-trailer truck. Anyone who spotted the mobile vault while it was on tour could scan a QR code on the side of the vehicle to enter for a chance to win a $500 payday.

It pays to learn.