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Producing a Landmark Live Performance Beneath the Colosseum

Redefining Global Collaboration for Taylor Wessing's International Partner Conference

Game, Set, Match: Bringing the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic to Life

Uniting the UK’s Fastest-Growing Companies for Business Leader

Creating Lancôme Idole House

Championing Youth Culture and Community for JD Sports

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Marble is an award-winning creative agency specialising in experiential marketing and live events. For over 12 years, we’ve delivered memorable moments for some of the world’s most influential brands and organisations including Nike, Red Bull, Mastercard, and Expedia.
We call London home, but deliver projects across the globe for a wide range of sectors from retail, fashion, and FMCG to finance, tech, and professional services.
We believe in the power of showing up &#8211; for our clients, for each other, and for the planet. Marble is a certified B Corp.

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I’ve always been a little obsessed with this topic when we talk about conferences and networking with our clients. It began back in the day when we had the pleasure of producing the formidable Founders Forum events. In between the inspiring keynotes and thought-provoking panels, it dawned on me that business actually takes place in the liminal spaces surrounding these sessions. I experienced first hand the art and consideration that goes into bringing those spaces to life, and that the true magic of any conference or summit doesn&#8217;t just happen on the main stage; it sparks in the spaces in between.
I&#8217;m talking about those unscripted ‘water cooler’ moments: the unplanned chats by a coffee machine, the unexpected collision in the hallway, the one-to-one conversations that stick with you long after the slides are put away. This is where meaningful networking truly thrives.

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In our increasingly multicultural and diverse professional world, we know that connection can&#8217;t be one-size-fits-all. Some guests crave energy; others need a moment to breathe. Our experience in designing networking environments has proved that success lies not in gimmicks, but in intentional, inclusive, and well-crafted spaces.
It&#8217;s not an either/or; it’s about designing for both the individual and the collective, recognising that effective networking takes many forms:
<ul>
<li>For the Buzz Seekers: We need high-energy hubs where ideas move fast. Spaces made for spontaneity, group energy, and the kind of unexpected encounters that remind you just how brilliant this community is. Think high tables for standing and mingling, and food stations designed to gather around, not queue behind. With the fabulous HAYFIN for example, their prestigious event aimed to bring investors together, invigorate the advisory board, and celebrate the firm’s achievements over the past year. It was a balance of combining elegance, insight, and connection. Kicking off with dining at Spring Restaurant in Somerset House for a welcome dinner, the setting offered a perfect balance of sophistication and intimacy. Guests enjoyed a bespoke dining experience accompanied by live music from S.O.L., an instrumental trio influenced by Latin American, Blues, Soul, and Hip-Hop genres. And that was just day 1.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>For the Deep Connectors: With the pace of a major event, it’s equally important to carve out calm. We must cater to those who value a chance to step back, recharge, and re-engage on their own terms. This means building in quiet lounges or cosy corners &#8211; soft landings for deeper, one-to-one discussions.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>For TAYLOR WESSING, we brought together 400 of their global partners for a carefully curated offbeat tour of Amsterdam. Enabling attendees to encounter new perspectives, these moments in between the conference created the space for barriers to break down, for people to break bread, listen to music, watch football and for human connection to truly unfold beyond the transaction.</li>
</ul>

One-Size-Fits-One: Designing for Diverse Connection

The best networking doesn’t feel forced. It happens naturally when the space does the hard work. When the vibe is right, connection flows without effort.
We achieve this by focusing on catalysts for genuine interaction:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Low-Stakes Icebreakers: I know it might sound gimmicky but take out tech and go back to basics. Simple games like Jenga, Chess, or Backgammon offer an immediate, non-work topic to connect over, fostering high-reward camaraderie.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Deep Conversation &amp; Reflection: Spaces with soft seating clusters and quiet corners that breathe provide a private, comfortable environment to step back and truly connect, enabling those crucial, deeper chats.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Physical and Mental Reset: Introducing elements like indoor nature (plants, wood), &#8216;Tech-Off&#8217; zones (books, newspapers), and built-in pause moments allows attendees to recharge and re-engage on their own terms. This makes the event feel welcoming and inclusive for all.</li>
</ol>
By prioritizing these well-crafted spaces, we stop chasing forced introductions and instead foster human connection on a fundamental level. Because ultimately, the most valuable moments are the ones you didn&#8217;t script but will never forget.
<h4></h4>

The Secret to Effortless Networking

Read this article on LBB

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TW DAY 2 Closing and montage-images-66

Beyond the Stage: The Power of the Spaces In Between

This time last year, British heritage brand and LFW headliner Burberry caused quite a commotion with their fashion week campaign. Collaborating with another London icon, Transport for London, Bond Street station (the redesigned flagship store’s nearest tube stop) was transformed into Burberry Street. Throughout the station, the signage was transformed to match one of the brand’s new colours, Knight Blue and emblazoned with its updated name. Created alongside a partnership with North London’s Norman’s, a modern and playful take on the traditional greasy spoon, the campaign playfully tapped into its core DNA: a London brand through and through. The tube stop element may have received criticism for confusing tourists and commercialising public space, but the activation succeeded on its main aim: getting people talking. Google searches were up, it made a splash on TikTok and spawned a whole conversation online. While making over a whole tube station might be out of reach for most brands, Burberry’s tongue-in-cheek approach can provide inspiration across the board. Leaning into the playful and pushing boundaries often pays off.

Burberry’s Burberry Street

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Copy of MP-NYT_0461

Anya Hindmarch’s playful approach can be seen across her accessory and lifestyle products and she is known for her innovative marketing strategies. We all remember her chubby hearts campaign across London back in 2019. In recent years, Hindmarch’s retail concept, The Village, has been the centre of the brand’s events. The collection of five stores all sit under the Anya Hindmarch umbrella but span beyond the core product offering and include add ons like the Anya Cafe. Naturally, Hindmarch’s Love and Antioxidants collection demanded a new store, Anya’s Fruit &amp; Veg. Promoting the new collection and village in one, the pop-up shop functioned as a greengrocer but with a Hindmarch twist. Stickers on the fruit were collectable, there was limited-edition merchandise bearing the Fruit &amp; Veg logo and the stores hosted fruit carving classes for children and adults. An excellent example of engaging with new and existing customers in an accessible way and something that could be easily replicated on a smaller scale and without an entire pop-up shop. Running with a collection theme and creating affordable adjacent merchandise that is both covetable and collectable is a great way to build brand loyalty.

Anya Hindmarch’s Greengrocers

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Absolut_Trash-17

When Covid lockdowns put a stop to the normal proceedings of the LFW men’s shows in June 2020, designers had to think outside the box about how to approach the event in a digital only way. LFW created a Netflix style platform for designers to share virtual content of their new collections but some, like London-based menswear design Nicholas Daley, used this as a moment to do something a little different. Daley, who was already known for his use of music in his catwalk shows, produced a playlist instead of his clothing collection. Showcased on the platform alongside sketches and fabric samples from the collection, Daley described it as an “interactive moodboard” in a New York Times interview. A great example of how to create a buzz and keep the conversation going without having to participate in a traditional way that at the time wasn’t feasible.

Nicholas Daley’s What Does Fashion Sound Like Playlist

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The iconic London department street is synonymous with yellow and plays heavily on the colour through all marketing activity. Naturally, partnering with Yell.com to give the classic directory, the Yellow Pages, a fresh new look was a smart move and the two partnered to produce <a href="https://online.flippingbook.com/view/122135748/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘Yellow Pages, Directory of Now’</a>. The 72 page magazine was available in all stores for a three month period kicking off with fashion week and contained culture focused articles, fashion tips and recommendations of where to visit in London, Manchester, and Birmingham. Creating editorial content that is both practical and useful is always a smart way to engage with consumers whether you invest in a print magazine or go for a more stripped back approach on social media platforms. The directory was a great springboard to partner with Vogue World who created a pop-up in Selfridges. The in store kiosks &#8211; which were similar to newsstands in New York &#8211; offered both the directory and copies of the latest Vogue alongside coffee to create a nostalgic and fun collaborative partnership.

Selfridges’ Yellow Pages Vogue Kiosk

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090_CM408186_ELLE & TU Marble

Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do here at Marble so we always have our eye on environmentally-led event ideas. Naturally, we were excited when Fenwick’s former Bond Street department store was transformed into a preloved fashion emporium for two weeks over the February fashion period. The Charity Super.Mkt brought together five charities including Shelter, Traid, Shaw Trust and Havens Hospices to sell second-hand items alongside in-store events and live DJs. As awareness of the positive impact of buying second hand grows, it was the perfect moment to create a positive event on London’s most prestigious shopping street and amidst the excitement of fashion week itself. Hot on the heels of this, resale giant eBay recently announced the launch of a Pre-Loved Fashion Week. In partnership with both LFW and NYFW, they will present live shoppable catwalks made up of pre-owned designer looks &#8211; we can’t wait to see what they come up with.

Fenwick’s The Charity Super.Mkt

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P1000260

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Copy of MP-NYT_0490

Looking back at LFW: The most memorable recent brand activations

TikTok has become an obvious tool in promoting events for a number of reasons. Firstly, TikTok’s video format showcases events in a captivating and convincing style. Whether it’s teaser videos, behind-the-scenes action or IRL audience reactions, TikTok is arguably the best app for showing this content in a dynamic way. TikTok is often seen as the more ‘real’ social media platform, especially in comparison to the shiny highlights reel of Instagram, which provides a platform to promote events more authentically, whether answering follower questions or providing real-time updates. By building audiences more organically, brands can foster closer connections which can lead to more engagement and subsequently event attendance and sales.
Secondly, TikTok can be used by brands big and small to promote their events successfully. With TikTok’s algorithm based on the success of individual posts not overall follower count, any content that resonates can go far. This sentiment feels even more pressing with discussions around engagement on Instagram dropping amidst claims more than half of content viewed is recommended by AI. Thirdly, the other big factor is TikTok’s audience, which is largely a youthful user base who are often the ones that event organisers are looking to target.

Capturing Authenticity

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When it comes to <a href="https://marblecreative.co.uk/marketing-content" target="_blank" rel="noopener">event promotion</a>, for any brand wanting to target younger millennials or Gen Z, TikTok can’t be skipped. By using TikTok as a promotion tool for events, brands can tap into ready made communities such as #booktok #mentalhealthtok or #sustainabilitytok. While it may sometimes seem counterintuitive to sing the praises of the offline world in an online space, TikTok helps brands reach digital native audiences who are keen for opportunities to form community IRL born out of connections formed online.
TikTok’s role as a sales platform for events was given a boost earlier this summer when global self-service ticketing platform Eventbrite announced a new partnership. The collaboration makes the process of promoting Eventbrite events on TikTok a seamless one with TikTok users able to add event links to posts. For users, it’s easier than ever to buy tickets without leaving the app. This new function comes shortly after the introduction of Eventbrite’s Share on Social feature, where creators can post directly to TikTok from Eventbrite. As these platforms become increasingly integrated, we are likely to see more cross-promotion and TikTok becoming even more popular for event hosts as a means of marketing successfully.

Transforming Communities & Event Accessibility

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043_CM308973_ELLE & TU Marble

Beyond the ticket sales themselves, businesses are also increasingly using TikTok in an ongoing way to showcase their events amidst a wider brand-building strategy. This was most evident at the Paris Olympics this summer which was dubbed the first TikTok Olympics. While the games have long relied on being seen on TV, this time around both the Olympic organising committee itself and brands targeting Olympic viewers had to think about how to market on TikTok. Across the board, many adopted this strategy reaffirming TikTok’s importance. For example, Team Great Britain appointed TikTok as an official partner to help their athletes to connect with new audiences and grow their fanbase while Team Canada and brand partner Lululemon chose to first drop their Paris 2024 kits on the platform.
The design of events themselves is also shifting to take into consideration how it will end up on TikTok. We all remember when in the early days of Instagram, brands started creating &#8216;grammable&#8217; backdrops to snap a photo in front or photogenic cakes to document for upcoming posts. It’s a trend that has never really died but one that has evolved with the changing demands of social media. With video-led TikTok, brands have to always think about how their events will translate into video and with that, create enticing video-ready opportunities that TikTok users will want to capture.

Showcasing the Extraordinary

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005_CM407968_ELLE & TU Marble

How TikTok is Changing the Event Space

We are a global
creative agency built
on experience.

We’re a global
creative agency
built
on experience.

Insights.

The latest opinion, thinking, and more from the Marble team

Beyond the Stage: The Power of the Spaces In Between

Looking back at LFW: The most memorable recent brand activations

How TikTok is Changing the Event Space

We are a global creative agency builton experience.

We’re a global creative agencybuilton experience.

Insights.

The latest opinion, thinking, and more from the Marble team

Beyond the Stage: The Power of the Spaces In Between

Looking back at LFW: The most memorable recent brand activations

How TikTok is Changing the Event Space

We are a global
creative agency built
on experience.

We’re a global
creative agency
built
on experience.