Designing experiences for every type of guest
In his newest article, creative director, Jon Buckels, discusses the role psychographics play in a guest’ experience at an event and how he’s helping to create multidimensional events that cater to all types of guests.
by Jon Buckels
When viewing event attendees, my focus has been treating them as collaborators rather than guests, giving them autonomy to choose how far they want to engage and at what pace, while still forging a collective experience. My goal was to create a flexible path where guests can explore and participate on their own terms, while still contributing to the bigger narrative.
Psychographics: the key drivers of human behaviors
While keeping updated on enhancing guest experiences at events, I discovered the term psychographics, which helps us get to the core of how people engage.
Psychographics goes beyond the surface-level demographics of age, gender, or income and instead, seeks to understand people’s values, attitudes, and behaviours, the deeper reasons why they make the choices they do. When we apply this lens to event design, we start to see why guests gravitate toward different levels of participation. It’s about more than just who they are; it’s about what drives them.
Applying psychographics to our events
In our immersive events, we’ve organically been designing for these different engagement levels. From my first major event, we recognised that not everyone wants to jump into action in the same way. We created experiences that catered to what I have now called the Waders, Swimmers, and Mermaids, three psychographic profiles that reflect how deeply someone wants to dive in. The Waders prefer to watch from the edges, the Swimmers will engage but keep a sense of distance, and the Mermaids are fully immersed, front and centre, embracing every moment.
With psychographics, we can better understand why people fall into these groups, and more importantly, how we can encourage them to step out of these roles. As creators, we need to build mechanics that allow guests to fluidly move between levels of engagement, rather than locking them into one mode for the entire event. By designing events that adapt to these shifts, we can create more dynamic experiences that meet guests where they are—at any given moment.
Understanding behaviors at home
Each market has its psychographic quirks and understanding them is key to creating an experience that feels authentic to the audience.
In Berlin, people are relaxed and embrace spontaneity and individual expression but on their terms. There’s a strong sense of personal freedom in how they navigate space, and it’s our job to design events that match that free-form approach. However, they are also often “too cool for school,” and if they feel you’re pushing them too hard in any direction, they’ll push back.
Different places, different behaviors
In our latest activation in Japan, it was clear to us the psychographics in Japan are a world apart from what we’re typically used to in Berlin.
In Japan, there is clear evidence of a deeper sense of social harmony and group consciousness at every corner. Guests may be more inclined to observe first, feeling out the collective mood before making a move. The emphasis here is on respect for the group experience, which means we’ve had to rethink how we introduce elements of participation.
Colleagues who installed Blue Man Group in Tokyo said they had to restructure the interactions and their expectations, as the locals sat respectfully in silence until they were invited to participate and then, once permission was given, the gloves came off and with it nearly the roof. A clear invitation that lets them know they can express themselves is essential, and we’re fortunate to have a team of multilingual immersive actors who will help deliver that message. By the end of the night, if things go to plan, all 2000+ individuals will have woven their journeys into a shared celebration of unity.
Whether it’s encouraging Berliners to explore at their own pace or crafting not-so-subtle nudges that invite Japanese guests to engage, the goal remains the same: to create an event where everyone, no matter their engagement style, feels like an integral part of the story.
As we head into this final stretch of planning for Japan, it’s clear that while psychographics gives us a powerful tool to understand audience behaviour, every event still comes down to flexibility. We create the framework, but our guests write the story.
