What Makes an Experience Feel Worth It
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[00:00:00] Why Experiences Matter More Than Marketing
Dr. JJ Peterson: A lot of brands are really good at creating something incredible in the moment and really bad at building connection that lasts. So this conversation isn't just about conference booths or big brand campaigns. It's about something deeper. It's about creating a moment, creating meaning through an experience that builds connection.
Welcome to Badass Softie, a podcast for leaders who are unapologetically ambitious and want to lead with heart because you're allowed to chase big goals without losing what makes you human.
I'm your host, Dr. JJ Peterson, and on today's podcast, we are going to be talking about what it really takes to create an experience people remember and actually come back to. Like if you're putting on a conference or a meeting or a retreat or showing up at a huge event.
I'm so excited about my guest today, Matt Ford. He is the creator of the agency called Collab and has spent nearly. Two decades designing experiential marketing for brands like ESPN, Adidas, NBC, Hulu, Harley Davidson.
And he's created the kind of moments that win awards and draw crowds.
But he really then started thinking and asking questions around what happens after people leave? You know, after they have that experience, how do you stay connected with them?
So if you've ever wondered about how to create an experience for your customers or your team that actually lasts beyond the moment, this episode is for you.
I'm so excited for you to hear my conversation today with Matt Ford.
Matt, I am so excited to have you here and I wanted to have you on because there's a couple different things is I first encountered you and you didn't know me. I didn't know you, but I used to go to ComicCon every year.
And every year that I went to ComicCon, there were these displays and experiences that I had, that I have pictures from, that I have memories from that I will never forget. And I met you years later and found out you created those.
Matt Ford: Well.
Dr. JJ Peterson: Your team and everybody. Yes. Your team, your company created those.
But what was even more amazing is that before I even knew that, I knew you as a human being, and you married one of my good friends and we all fell in love with you because of your kindness, the way that you invited people in to be a part of your life. And you were just an incredible human being.
And so first I knew you as a human, and then I knew you as this genius who, changes the world when it comes to experiential marketing. And so you truly are a badass softie, which is why I wanted to have you on this podcast.
Matt Ford: Thank you
Dr. JJ Peterson: Thank you so much for being here.
Matt Ford: Thank you. And I'm fine to be referred to as Ally's husband as No problem.
Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah, I'm Ally's friend, so I'm totally fine with that too. And Ali is coming on the podcast soon. The reason I brought you on specifically today, 'cause we could talk about a million things, but really is to talk about what you call experiential marketing.
Matt Ford: Yes.
[00:03:14] What Experiential Marketing Actually Means
Dr. JJ Peterson: Describe for me what is experiential marketing.
Matt Ford: Brands have moved away from traditional advertising, so they still do out of home and big billboards and things like that. But really what they wanna do is create experiences for their consumers. That's where we come in. They would call us as an agency and say, Hey, can you come up with some ideas for us of how to engage our consumers?
And usually they do them at cultural events like Coachella, Comic-Con, South by Southwest is huge. Outside of sporting events or the Super Bowl is another massive one. So that's usually where we come alongside a brand and help them actually create those experiences.
Dr. JJ Peterson: Like brands like say the Cartoon Network like they wanna promote their new line of shows at Comic-Con. So you create a whole like, world in, outside of Comic-Con or a field outside of Comic-Con that people can walk through and experience these shows.
Matt Ford: Correct. I mean . Most big brands are spending money and experiential now because people wanna move away from screens.
They want to be in real life, they wanna be together, they wanna have community, and it's a real valuable way to build. Brand affinity.
Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah.
Matt Ford: Yeah.
Dr. JJ Peterson: And I think it, it not just for these huge brands, because that, like obviously we all have been to those kind of things like big conferences where we walk through, you know, the convention floor and go to these amazing booths and get that cool experience.
But I also think that it’s for people who have small businesses. Like if I am doing a mastermind where people are showing up to experience my coaching and community like they would at a conference.
Matt Ford: Yep.
Dr. JJ Peterson: I want them to have this experience that sticks with them after they leave. That's more than just like, Hey, welcome, sit down at your table and then go away.
Because for multiple reasons. One, I wanna care for them like it's me wanting to care for them. But two, I want to help them stay connected beyond that moment. I wanna be different in the market. And when people just show up to a conference or an office or a mastermind and they're not experience or a classroom right then, then they're not experiencing something beyond this.
They come in, they experience it, they walk away, the experience is over, and sometimes the relationship is too,
[00:05:32] The Difference Between a Moment and a Memory
Matt Ford: you know, the experience has to be not only memorable, but they need to also feel that they were seen, taken care of, heard, in order for that to translate, to linger into, Oh yeah, I remember that.
It was a real, almost like creating a core memory for these people. Yes.
Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah.
Matt Ford: And allowing them to go, man, I wanna come back. That was incredible.
Dr. JJ Peterson: I mean, you know, ComicCon, the panels are great. Like, you know, being able to see the movies, but the funniest time we had, the core memories that I have are going through like a gauntlet of like, you know, AMC is promoting Walking Dead, and you get to walk through fences.
Where people are reaching out and trying to grab you. You know, and they're all in zombie you office, everything. And, you've been a part of even like AMCs, those kind of things. Yeah,
Matt Ford: we did some, we did a couple of Walking Dead experiences. Well, yeah, we did a bunch of them actually.
Dr. JJ Peterson: Just to kind of give people a bigger picture. What are some of the, like the fun ones that you remember? What are some big things that you did that you noticed?
Matt Ford: My favorite was Cartoon Network at Atlantis and HGTV Lodge.
So Cartoon Network at Atlantis. We took over all of Atlantis in The Bahamas, for the entire summer.
We kicked it off with the concert. We had a inflatable obstacle course on the water in their lagoon. We had movie nights, we had kids programming all throughout the day, parades. It was just a blast. And you know, that's the kind of stuff. Those are the type of experiences to me that are super impactful because it happened five years in a row.
People started to plan their summers around, oh, we wanna go back. This was so much fun.
HGTV Lodge we built, you know, it's fine for me to say this now, but it was $2 million to build a lodge. But, it was a beautiful cedar structure and it was modular, so it would go up in about 24 hours and we took it all over the country.
I mean, it went to the Super Bowl at CMA Fest. It became this kind of staple for HGTV and we had every single a-list country artist that you could think of playing inside that space. And we had all the HGTV talent and it became this kind of recurring thing where people were like, oh man, I gotta get back to.
The HGTV lodge, those are the things that really stick out to me.
Dr. JJ Peterson: And you've also worked with like conferences, right? Like not just brands themselves, but people who are putting on events
Matt Ford: Yep.
Dr. JJ Peterson: Concerts, you know, even Coachella stuff. So what are some things even like with those with conferences or things like that?
Matt Ford: We produce a conference for a, a tech company called Tricentis recently. And it was a three day immersive type of experience for, not only their clients, but also their staff.
So we did a fun popup experience for Adidas. It was during the World Series and we had a vending machine in Boston and a vending machine in LA and it was triggered by tweets.
So whenever a certain athlete did something phenomenal, that was an Adidas sponsored athlete, you could send a tweet and it would unlock something on the, vending machine.
And so there was like this competition happening between Boston and LA and, the lines were literally around the block all night long just to get this free swag.
And Adidas went all out and had like, I think it was a pair of cleats that were like one out of 20 that were made.
So people were losing their mind.
Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah. To do this. Why? I mean, okay, so obviously some of these ones you're talking about like huge, right? Yeah. Like $2 million to build a home, and we will talk a little bit about how it doesn't quite have to be that way all the time,
[00:09:20] Why Brands Spend Millions on Experience
Dr. JJ Peterson: but why, why is it so important for brands?
Like, why are they willing to spend. $2 million on a home that then is moved around the country that, you know, that's like a really cool experience. Sure. But obviously like everybody looking at that would be like, oh, that's cool. Yeah. But what is the value for creating these kind of experiences and connections and what happens when you don't do this?
Matt Ford: Well, I think for most people, if they're honest, you know, take away, take away the brand thing. If it's just you and your family, what do you like to do? You like to create experiences. You like to go places, you like to travel. Those are the things that you remember, not the stuff that you buy. And so I think brands have caught onto this and thought, well, why would we not create a world for our fans and our consumers to live within, even if it's for four days?
And what that does is it creates these core memories. It creates these experiences that people will always talk about, will always remember, and they'll associate it with that brand. And so you have now created this connection with your fan and your consumer that is far greater than any product could ever provide.
Yeah. Or any out of, out-of-home, you know, billboard, you know, you look at a billboard, that's great. Okay. You remember something, but did you experience something? Did you feel something? That's what they're trying to create. And it works.
Dr. JJ Peterson: And it does. 'cause even when I have like, you know, I just mentioned AMC Walking Dead, I still tell people about that experience. Or you know, it's same thing with like theme parks. It's why Disney is different than other companies, right? Disney is a place where you go and you're surrounded in it. It's an experience. I don't even have to ride all the rides there. I can just walk down Main Street and there is a nostalgia.
And I wanna spend money. Because they're piping, you know, smells through the air as I'm walking down the street. All these things.
Matt Ford: Everything.
Dr. JJ Peterson: I am more connected with Disney. I've been to both Disney and I've been to Universal. Universal to me has been historically, it's changing now, I think.
But historically, universal was about the product, the experience of the rides. Disney was about the immersion. And about the, the experience. And I was more of a Disney Fanatic. And I was more connected with Disney.
Matt Ford: Yeah.
Dr. JJ Peterson: And so I think that those kind of things And, and you know, one of the things I've heard you talk about is a lot of people build products so that people show up.
Yeah. They buy. And they attend and they are there. But when you build experience, it's to stay connected. It's so that they stay. So you build the product or the location or something so people will come.
Matt Ford: Yeah.
Dr. JJ Peterson: But you build the experience so that they stay.
[00:12:07] Why Great Experiences Don’t End When the Event Does
Matt Ford: Yeah. And I, you know, I have been a bit of a critic of our industry for the last little while.
I think. Something that experiential does really well is beautiful big design and creating these experiences that you are like, holy cow, look at that. It's incredible. But I think what ends up happening is if we're not careful, as an industry, people show up for four days and then everything that you just went through goes in the trash never gets used again.
And most of the time it's like a Super Bowl commercial. You laugh, you're entertained for 30 seconds and a $6 million spend, and then you forget about the product completely. And I'm really trying to say to our industry, why are we not stepping up to the plate here?
Like let's just say hypothetically you've got two and a half million dollars to spend.
I know that's a big number, but let's say you've got two and a half million dollars to spend, which is not crazy in our world. You take 2 million and you put it into the experience and you say, well, let's take $500,000 of that and let's invest in the community through local.
Like let's just say for example, you have a running company. Nike would be a great example. And I think Nike's actually doing some of this.
Instead of spending two and a half million dollars on an experience, spend $2 million in the experience and take $500,000 and invest it in local run clubs in that community. Every single time they show up and you start building community locally around these people.
And Nike's now showing up at these small little run clubs and they're going, oh man, Nike cares about us, right?
And so I'm saying, why not? Let's just keep the conversation going because what ends up happening in our industry is you spend $2 million on that event and then you start over from zero again next year, stop starting over from zero.
Let's continue the conversation so that you're building momentum. And to me, that's a great way to continue and that translates. In a million different ways into business. Yeah, absolutely. How do you engage? How are you engaging folks regularly keeping them engaged in the conversation? How can you do that without spending all of your money on one thing instead of finding ways to, to strategically allocate those dollars? To keep them coming back.
Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah. And I think that it's gonna be so important moving forward because, you know, obviously in an AI world, in a disconnected world, the brands and leaders who can actually lean into experiential moments and connection, human connection, real connection, building memories and relationship with their customers.
Those are the people who are gonna win. Yeah. If you ignore that, yeah, they're gonna buy your product and you may have this incredible product, but you're gonna have to work twice as hard. The next time to get 'em to come back.
Matt Ford: Yeah.
[00:14:48] How to Create Meaningful Experiences Without a Huge Budget
Dr. JJ Peterson: So for people listening, you know, some people on here may have 2 million that they can spend.
But for a lot of people they don't. But they're doing like, I'm a leader who's gonna do a retreat with my team. Or I am a leader who's doing a mastermind where people are gonna show up, or I'm putting on a workshop or a conference or just any of those spaces where people are showing up as an experience in general.
What is the lens that you put on to start thinking about, okay, what are things I need to think about as I'm preparing for an experience for people?.
Matt Ford: You have to create value for the people who are coming. So, most of the time you are, you know, unless it's a pure marketing play and everything is free for people.That's a different conversation.
But if you are actually charging and you're wanting to create, it's a ticket price, there's gotta be value for that ticket price. And so to me, I'm thinking about, you know, realistically, most people don't wake up excited about a brand. They wake up excited about their kids, their family, running their extracurriculars, find a way to host that conversation within your experience.
So obviously not everything can have a run club, but maybe you do have a run club. Maybe that's part of the programming, right? Or maybe there's a way for you to engage with your kids in a certain way. Like if you, are hosting a conference and, there's no childcare, maybe that's something you think about.
That's a ton of perceived value for people. Oh wait, I get to come to a conference and I can have my kids dropped off and watch the whole time. I literally just made that up on the spot. I don't know where that came from, but I'm just, if you can find ways to bring value for that ticket price.
Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah,
Matt Ford: that's,
Dr. JJ Peterson: it's a huge battles, so huge. And you know, I find this in a lot of spaces, like if I'm going out to dinner. I can get a ton of value, quote unquote, from Sonic. Sure I'm spending 10 bucks there, but I'm looking at it and going, did I get value for $10?
I can also go to a hundred dollars Steakhouse or higher. And I can go, am I getting value at a hundred dollars?
And my experience can be better at Sonic because I perceive the value to be higher through the experience than a hundred dollars at a steakhouse. It's not about the money, it's about in what you're providing are, do people feel like what they paid, it's worth it.
And that can be because they just got a kind welcome at the door.
And so it doesn't have to be that you have these huge displays when they walk in. But what does it look like when they come in? How do they feel? Is it feel like, oh, I got value out of this. I think that's so important.
So it can be a $10 thing or it can. $2 million thing and people are gonna be going, did I get value from this? I think that's so key.
What else do you think about when you're preparing for these kind of experiences?
Matt Ford: A lot of the stuff. We try to be as immersive as possible. So every little detail, we were talking earlier, like you've been to a conference where you walk in and there's a table with a black tablecloth and someone who's very grumpy with a thousand name tags looking for your name and.
Imagine that versus you walk in, there's people who are welcoming you, greeting you. There's beautiful signage that's clear, telling you where to go, how to check in. There's maybe even some media playing to kind of welcome you. Music, the whole thing. Even the scent. You talk about Disney like. Just thinking through all those little things when you walk in, what are people going to experience when they experience your brand for the very first time?
Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah. It's so important.
When we did workshops in Nashville with StoryBrand, we realized a lot of people were coming. They'd never been to Nashville before.
Matt Ford: Yeah.
Dr. JJ Peterson: And what do you think about when you think about Nashville is country music? And so when people would come into just register for the morning workshop, we had a bluegrass band that would be playing.
And people would comment about that years later, they'd say, oh, I came to the StoryBrand. You guys had a bluegrass band. And that may be the only country music they experience while they're there, but we gave it to them in that moment.
Recently, one of the things that we did was we know that when people go home that they they wanna bring a gift to their kids. And they may not have time. Well, we got these little bears that says, I love Nashville. So they didn't have to go to a store to get it.
That's so they could do everything kind of immersive. In the space, but also add value to it. Yeah. And I think when you do that, it creates, like you said, it's that core memory and that connection. Yes. It's deeper than just like being cool.
Matt Ford: Yeah.
Dr. JJ Peterson: That, you know, anybody can be cool, but when people feel like you've been thoughtful and you've thought about them. Like I said, I still have memories of even of all the things at Comic-Con because. It was the booths that I loved, you know?
I got to see, when they announced the Avengers cast, I was there for that.
That's impressive. Yeah, it was. You got a seat, huh? Yeah, I did. We spent the night overnight in the line to go see it.
Matt Ford: That's impressive.
Dr. JJ Peterson: I know. So, yeah, I'm a big deal. But, but it was, so there was that piece of it, which that's a core memory. But they also, the way they did that, like they, you know, Robert Downey Jr. comes down the aisle. With and went right by me. He high-fived me with, oh man, you know, with, light on his hand. And then, I mean, and then they pulled back the curtains and the whole room. Like they, they put movie, across the whole, so cool. I mean, it was wild. That's a huge memory. A core memory. I was bawling my eyes out, you know, like you do core memory.
Yeah. But it was so immersive and so cool. I was there when they. promoted, the Hobbit. Okay. And same thing, they turned down the lights and all of a sudden you heard the dwarfs start singing the dwarf. And again, I just like started weeping. Yeah. And those moments are core memories and I'm forever connected to those movies.
Yeah. To that, to even ComicCon itself. Mm-hmm. Because of those immersive experiences. Is there anything else, again, just for people as they're thinking through, like creating events, what, what else do you, do you bring to the table or you be just thinking through
Matt Ford: Yeah. I mean, hospitality.
Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah.
Matt Ford: You know, I think, we've both been there Canlis in Seattle.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, every single second of that thing is like this perfectly choreographed experience and it's just, I don't remember what I ate at Canlis. I remember it was good. Yeah. But I just, I'm like, I love that place. Yeah. And I've been twice.
Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah.
Matt Ford: And I'm like, I can't wait to go back again. You know, it's like, and they're just thinking through every little detail.
And the same with, and I, you know, going back to hospitality, like. Gramercy Tavern in New York. It's a Danny Meyer restaurant, which it, it's like an international destination, but it feels like your corner bar. And it's just like, that's intentional. And so it's like thinking through how are you taking care of your people?
What's the story you want to tell? Who, who are you representing as a, as a brand and as a company? And how are you communicating that to the, the people who are. Your fans or your consumers, whatever that may be.
Dr. JJ Peterson: Yeah. And all of those things in reality, like yes, you can spend $2 million on, but. Also, you don't have to, you know, like for everybody in the sense of, if your, if your Adidas are Nike, you, you are gonna do that, and, you know, do those like big things.
But for everybody to be able to say, all right, when somebody shows up, am I providing value when they walk through that door? Also, am I making it immersive? Is it not just about a table and a cloth, but actually about the full experience of them being there? Yes. And then ultimately are people. Do they feel seen and thought of and the little details that just, you know, will Guera talks about it, that unreasonable hospitality.
Yeah, that surprise and delight 'cause Yes. Canlis, the restaurant in Seattle I've been to twice as well, and the last time I went for my 50th birthday, I brought two of my childhood friends and their spouses in Jamie with me. Yeah. And it was probably the most expensive meal I've ever bought.
Yeah.
Dr. JJ Peterson: And I would argue.
I feel like I'm probably got the most value out of it. And it wasn't just the food, it was the experience and how we were treated and what they did for us. That was just thoughtful. It wasn't even huge. Yeah. but they knew us. They actually knew me before I came in the room. Yeah. And they did things special for us.
That was just, it blew my mind. Yeah. And I think everybody can take away those small. Things. And then the biggest thing I think out of all of it, like you said, is finding a way that stays connected beyond it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Think if you just do this huge blowout, sure it's great. It's gonna be impressive, but it's gonna be connected.
And finding ways to stay connected with people beyond that, I think is so important. So. Matt, I, I love this. I, I'm a big fan of you and I'm a big fan of what you do for people and you know, you've made me a fan of many of your clients because of it, you know, through the I love it. Who knew that? I love Cartoon Network until I went to Comic-Con.
Yeah. But it was just, I still have trinkets and swag from that day. I love it. Um. So if anybody is interested, you know, that does have kind of these big dreams for a conference or an event or an experience, a brand that they want to take around, you know, different things, how can they reach out to you? How can they find you?
Matt Ford: Sure. My company is called Collab with two Ls experiential, so Collabexperiential.com. We consult, we produce, we design, we do all of it.
Dr. JJ Peterson: So reach out to Matt. thank you so much for being here. Thank you for, helping brands really connect with our customers in whole new ways. And, thank you for being a badass softie.
Matt Ford: My pleasure. Thank you,
Dr. JJ Peterson: Matt. Thank you so much for coming on and having that conversation. I mean, I remember, I remember going to Comic-Con multiple years and having these unbelievable experiences, you know, where I was, like I said, I, I'd go outside of the Comic-Con Convention and you would go through this obstacle course, that had to do with the Cartoon Network shows, and you would get a sword or you would get a, a shield or you would get a hat, and I still have pictures.
All of my friends who went to me with went with me to that. We all still have those things because they created a core memory and that it was so fun. And as I was listening to Matt talk today, he had some incredible, just really practical examples about how to help people, you know, how to offer value and be immersive and all of those things.
[00:25:37] The Leadership Challenge: Thinking Bigger About Connection
Dr. JJ Peterson: But I guess the thing that I'm really walking away from with all of this is the idea that. I'm gonna dream a little bit bigger than I have when it comes to providing experiences for my clients and my customers. You know, I think a lot of times we're afraid to take these big swings 'cause we're like, well, maybe that won't go off the way we want.
We'll spend a lot of money and time and energy, and the reality is. Those moments where I have had those kind of wild, immersive, big experiences where I felt seen and taken care of and value showed up. Those are the moments I remember. Those are the events I want to go back to again and again. Those are the retreats I wanna be a part of.
The Masterminds I wanna be a part of. And I think it was because in those moments, the leaders and the people who were putting them on were audacious enough to swing big. I wanna swing a little bit more bigger. Is that the right way to say it? I don't know. I want us be swing bigger. That's really what it comes down to when it comes to how I serve people, how they show up to my events, and how even they show up at my house.
I really want to swing. A bit bigger and I, I wanna challenge you to think a little bit bigger yourself. What are some areas of your life and your business and your teams that you can think a little bit more about being immersive with the experience, offering more value? Um. Creating a space for hospitality where people feel seen, heard, and understood.
Because I think when we do that, not only do our customers and our team and our clients win in those situations, but we as leaders and as brands win as well. So to close things out, let's, let me leave you with this. May you, in all the things that you do offer real value, the kind that meets people where they are and leaves them better than they found you.
May you create experiences that pull people in where, where they don't just observe, but feel something worth remembering. May you practice the kind of hospitality that makes people feel seen, welcomed, and like they belong in the story you're telling. And may you be brave enough to go big, not just to impress, but to build connection and memories that will last a lifetime.
Because we believe you can be both ambitious and kind, fun, and driven, powerful and deeply human. Your leadership can inspire your success, can have soul, and your ambition can make space for everyone. That's why you're a badass softie. We'll see you next week. Thanks for listening. Follow and subscribe so you don't miss an episode.
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