Surf Expo kicked off its 50th anniversary with a high-energy January edition that reinforced its role as the leading global marketplace for watersports and coastal lifestyle brands. A 15% increase in retail company attendance translated into something even more meaningful for marketers: focused buyers, real conversations, and tangible deal flow driven by strong holiday and Q4 performance. 

.Brand shapes how people think, feel, and make decisions long before a transaction. In this exclusive interview, Michael Roberts, CMCO of MetLife, shares how behavioral science informs their brand strategy, how purpose and experiences drive the associations that influence behavior, and how MetLife balances legacy, relevance, and impact. Invaluable insights you won't find anywhere else. 

I remember when I recognized the impact a research entrepreneur could have. It was November 2011 at the Web 2.0 Summit at San Francisco's Palace Hotel, watching Mary Meeker present her Internet Trends Report. As she identified the coming shift from desktop to mobile, I realized she wasn't just a research pioneer, she was a research entrepreneur.

Experiential marketing is evolving fast. Leading brands in 2026 will win by combining creativity, strategy, and long-term impact—not just big budgets. Outdated tactics won’t cut it; to lead, marketers must embrace new, high-impact skills.   Success goes beyond creating a "wow" moment. It’s about building the strategic engine that drives lasting results. By mastering key skills now, you can position your brand to not just compete, but lead the market.  Here are the three must-have skills every brand marketer needs to design impactful activations and maximize ROI in 2026.    1. Turn RFPs into Strategic Tools  Most marketers see RFPs as a formality—a step to clear before the real work begins. But in 2026, the best marketers will treat the RFP as a strategic tool. A great RFP doesn’t just request services; it invites creative collaboration.  Poorly written RFPs, focused only on deliverables, result in transactional work. To inspire transformative results, your brief must focus on one clear objective—your "Single Most Important Thing" (SMIT). Be specific and results-oriented.  How to improve your RFPs:  Edit Ruthlessly: Cut your draft in half, then in half again. Keep only what clarifies the challenge or provides essential context. Delete the rest.  Share Budget Transparency: Be upfront about budgets. This helps agencies craft feasible, impactful solutions instead of unattainable ideas.  Value Problem-Solving: Choose partners based on their strategic thinking, not just past category experience. Look for teams that complement your gaps.  Inspired by Isaac Ugay, Founder of Sherpa Jacket Club, “WRITING RFPs THAT TURN AGENCIES INTO CREATIVE COLLABORATORS”.    2. Extend Event Impact with Year-Long Content Courtney Engel, VP Development and Strategy at Magnet Media, provides expertise from her article.  Events are no longer "one-and-done" moments. If you’re investing in a major activation, its impact shouldn’t end when the event does. The key skill here is "content serialization"—turning events into year-long content engines.  Forward-thinking brands treat events like content studios. They design activations to produce content that lives far beyond the event itself. From LinkedIn-friendly setups to pre-planned employee and partner-generated posts, these strategies ensure your event resonates all year.  Strategies for lasting content:  Think Like a TV Show: Treat your event as a season, capturing interviews, panels, and behind-the-scenes moments to release over time.  Empower Teams and Partners: Set up professional interview spaces for employees and partners to share expertise and success stories.  Build Anticipation Early: Use pre-event teasers like product demos or brand anthems to build excitement before launch day.  Based on insights from Courtney Engel, VP Development and Strategy at Magnet Media, “HOW SMART BRANDS TURN EVENTS INTO YEAR-LONG CONTENT ENGINES”.    3. Make Creativity a Discipline  Amar Alnemer, VP Creative at AXNT Agency, offers perspectives from his article.  Creativity is often seen as a flash of inspiration, but in 2026, top marketers will treat creativity as a discipline. This means committing to lifelong learning and structured innovation. With consumer behavior and technology evolving rapidly, relying on old methods isn’t enough.  Effective creativity is fueled by diverse inputs. Marketers need to explore new tools, embrace constraints, and focus on emotional resonance to create truly memorable experiences.  Steps to build a creative discipline:  Schedule Discovery Time: Dedicate time for research—explore new tech, study trends, and experiment with fresh ideas.  Break Siloes: Encourage collaboration between creative, strategic, and technical teams to drive both innovation and feasibility.  Prioritize Emotional Impact: Engage audiences on multiple levels—use sound, texture, and storytelling to create lasting memories.  Drawn from Amar Alnemer, VP Creative at AXNT Agency, “4 PRINCIPLES THAT TURN VISION INTO REALITY”.    Adaptability Is the Key to 2026  The future won’t be shaped by a single technology—it will be defined by how marketers adapt. By rethinking RFPs, creating year-long content strategies, and treating creativity as a discipline, you’ll build a foundation for sustainable growth.  These skills will transform marketing from a cost center into a growth engine, amplifying your brand, leveraging AI for efficiency, and delivering engagement that moves markets. 

The SIGHTLINE team spotted Hypervsn early on the CES 2026 show floor. Curious about how holographic displays work and what they bring to brand experiences? Here’s what stood out.

Sightline’s content team has been scouring the CES experiences—from the halls to the activations to the pop-ups, indoors, outdoors… everywhere in between. Here’s a quick rundown of what we saw. And we liked what we saw.  (Subscribe to Sightline and get access to the best information and insights on experiential marketing: link here)

When BRANDED Agency took on producing its first-ever live event with the American Advertising Federation (AAF) of Miami, the team knew they were entering uncharted territory. Drawing more than 80 attendees—from CPG owners to creatives—the "Game Changers: Back to the Future of Branding" event was a proving ground for BRANDED’s values and approach. Here’s what Head of Marketing Layla Zaiat and her team learned about building an event that truly resonates.

Marketing leaders face a constant challenge: cutting through the noise. With digital saturation reaching a tipping point, brands are turning to experiential marketing to create deeper, more meaningful connections. But what does a successful brand experience look like when technology moves faster than trends?

What successful brands do before the show opens  The most successful brands plan. Before the doors open, they’ve already defined what success looks like. They identify who they need to meet, which relationships they want to strengthen, and what outcomes will move the business forward long after CES is over. And they set specific, measurable goals for the event.

Canva’s Brandwagon demonstrated how effective an activation can be when every detail aligns with the product. At Advertising Week New York, the colorful truck and its open-air stations invited people to play, create, and learn without ever feeling like a demo. A small “passport” turned exploration into a guided journey, with each stop revealing a piece of Canva’s ecosystem and ending with a personalized reward. For most attendees, it was a fun creative break. For marketers, the intent was clear: Canva used participation to drive awareness, education, and potential adoption - all without heavy messaging or gimmicks. The experience stood out because it was exactly what the brand promises - intuitive, hands on, and full of creative energy.