Despite our assumptions in our always-on culture, audiences have not lost the ability to pay attention. The experience economy has arrived, and this new frontier is where we need to meet them. According to EY, “innovations that blend live events with digital engagement are redefining participation, from creator-led watch parties to personalized real-time offers powered by AI.” AR/VR formats are already delivering up to 94% higher conversion rates than traditional media, alongside measurable gains in emotional engagement and recall.
For marketers, this shift requires a genuinely different philosophy. You’re no longer just shaping a message, but rather designing conditions and inviting your audience to help determine what happens within them. That means giving up some control, which can feel uncomfortable. But the increased impact can be well worth it.
I sensed a shift in audiences, and in my own thinking, as I observed different experiences over the course of my career. The most successful and impactful ones were less about passive absorption and more about active participation. In the best cases, you could come away feeling like the experience somehow knew you. Johnnie Walker Princes Street in Edinburgh is an example of what that can look like in practice. Before you’ve tasted a drop of whisky, an AI-powered questionnaire builds a profile of your palate. Then the experience unfolds around you with this profile in mind, tailoring your flavor options to your preferences. As a result, you leave knowing your whisky, not just a whisky. More importantly, you leave knowing something about yourself that you didn’t know before you walked in.
Spacewalk from the ISS, a VR project that the Future of StoryTelling produced for Meta with Felix & Paul Studios, is another example. You’re not watching an astronaut outside the International Space Station—you are the astronaut. You can look down at Earth from far above, and something extraordinary happens: It’s a version of the Overview Effect, that sense of fragility and connection that astronauts describe. You aren’t just an outside observer; rather, the experience that you have is your own.
The convergence of several developing technologies at once is making this possible. AI, spatial computing and real-time personalization have collapsed the distance between a brand and their audience in ways that weren’t available just five years ago. It leads to a type of discovery – one that occurs on a personal level within new and exciting experiences – that has a tendency to stick with people.
The experiences that once required a Hollywood budget to create are becoming accessible to any marketer willing to think differently about what storytelling can be. The most memorable brand experiences today share a singular trait: They let the audience be the author of their role in the story, which allows them to inhabit it. And what you inhabit, you don’t forget.
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Charles Melcher is a creator, curator, and thought leader in the storytelling and technology space. He is the author of The Future of Storytelling: How Immersive Experiences Are Transforming Our World, and Founder and CEO of Future of StoryTelling, an award-winning multidisciplinary story studio that is focused on how storytelling and technology are developing in the twenty-first century.
The convergence of tech and brands 