Why brands aren't just hosting experiences anymore. They're charging for them.

In this episode of the Growth Department podcast, Chelsey sits down with Tom Gray, Chief Strategy Officer at Imagination Group, the global experience design consultancy that helps brands build game-changing strategies and experiences for customers, employees, and stakeholders. Tom has spent his career designing the kind of brand experiences people willingly show up for, talk about, and increasingly, pay to attend.

Tom unpacks the shift from the attention economy to the connection economy, why 93% of what we see on social media is now algorithmically fed to us, and what that means for marketers trying to break through with real human moments. He breaks down the neuroscience of how experiential memories get tagged in the brain, why brand salience is being rewritten, and how brands like Ford, Visa, and Harley-Davidson are turning experiences into product, not just promotion.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• The shift from attention economy to connection economy and what it means for your 2026 strategy
• How experiential marketing creates stronger brand salience than digital advertising
• The neuroscience of memory tagging and why emotional experiences stick
• Why charging for brand experiences increases engagement, attendance, and word of mouth
• The IKEA effect and how investment shifts perceived brand value
• How Ford turned a test drive into a paid stunt driver experience that audiences shared organically
• Why experiential is moving from the promotion P to the product P in the marketing mix
• How Visa Live, Harley-Davidson festivals, and Hershey's theme parks built brand IP through experience
• How to identify your brand's unfair advantage in audience passion points like music, sport, and wellness
• Why the best marketers stop talking to themselves in offices and get curious about real customers

If you're a CMO, brand marketer, or experiential strategist trying to figure out where in-person fits in your 2026 marketing mix, or whether your brand has earned the right to charge for it, this episode delivers the framework.

Connect with Tom Gray and Imagination Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomoppad/

Check out Tom's articles and past projects: https://imagination.com/

Book he recommends: Playground by Richard Powers
Podcast he recommends: Conversations with Tyler (hosted by economist Tyler Cowen)

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