The Dublin-based experiential and events business FUEL has launched a new strategic framework designed to help brands turn individual experiences and campaigns into longer-term movements.
Called Commotion, the framework sets out a five-stage approach to creating brand experiences that encourage participation, build communities and deliver measurable value beyond the initial event or activation.
The launch follows a period of international expansion for the Dublin-headquartered experience and entertainment agency, including its appointment as the exclusive Irish member of 27Names, a European network of independent live experience agencies.
The agency works with a range of international brands, including PayPal, Coca-Cola, Google and Meta. It has also received a number of international award nominations, including recognition at The Drum Awards, the European Agency Awards and the Conference and Event Awards.
The agency said Commotion had been developed in response to changes within the European experience industry and growing pressure on brands to demonstrate the commercial impact of experiential marketing.
According to the latest 27Names European Experience Index, 40% of clients are increasing their experience budgets despite inflation and wider economic uncertainty.
However, the research also found that 48% of clients either have no key performance indicators in place or are only beginning to define how the impact of their experiences should be measured.
Jamie Deasy, managing director of FUEL, said the new framework draws on the agency’s experience of creating events, festivals and communities over almost two decades.
“Attention is collapsing, culture is fragmenting and organisations need a more strategic approach to experience,” he said.
“Commotion is our response. It is built from nearly 20 years of creating experiences, communities and festivals that people do not just attend, but return to.”
FUEL works with a range of international brands, including PayPal, Coca-Cola, Google and Meta.
In addition to producing experiences for clients, the agency owns and operates a number of festivals and cultural events, including WellFest, Kaleidoscope and Beyond the Pale.
WellFest is described as Europe’s largest outdoor wellness festival, while Kaleidoscope is Ireland’s largest summer family festival.
Deasy, who was recently included in a list of Europe’s top 50 event agency leaders, said the agency’s festival portfolio had helped it understand how individual experiences could develop into lasting communities.
“At FUEL, we understand that experiences people feel will always outperform experiences they simply see,” he said.
“We created our festivals because moving people is not something you can theorise; you have to live it. Every piece of work we make is built around one core ambition: work that stays with you and moves you long after the moment has passed.”
FUEL said Commotion is grounded in the principle of “community plus motion” and is intended to help brands create experiences that audiences actively participate in, return to and help to develop.
Jonny Boyle, executive creative director at FUEL, said changing media habits meant brands could no longer depend solely on attracting audience attention.
“Modern audiences have learned to skip, scroll past and mute predictable content,” he said. People do not want to be audiences anymore. They want to be participants. They want to shape the things they are part of. The industry is shifting from attention to participation and Commotion is built for that shift.”
The agency said the framework would be used to help clients develop experiences capable of generating sustained engagement and building communities around brands, rather than delivering only short-term awareness.
FUEL’s appointment to 27Names gives the agency access to a network of independent experience specialists operating across European markets.
The agency also said its membership of the network, together with the launch of Commotion, would support its plans for further international growth.
