In this series, features and series developer Heather Nicholls takes you behind the scenes of some of the most compelling brand activations and events.
In the nineteenth edition we meet, Emota the agency behind Neff’s Sensational Souls Festival by Emota.
The brief:
The brief was to design an unforgettable experience that celebrated NEFF’s top-performing MasterPartners while also fostering a unified community spirit. The event needed to balance exclusivity with inclusivity: a fine dining VIP dinner for 50 followed by a large-scale festival for 400 guests.
Emota interpreted this as a chance to break away from traditional banqueting formats and create a high energy, immersive festival that embodied NEFF’s creativity, warmth and brand loyalty.
The Execution:
The execution of this event began with the challenge of merging two formats, an intimate VIP dinner and a full-scale festival, into a seamless journey. Creative direction centered on the festival concept supported by bespoke branding, stage and site design and live content planning. A spokesperson for Emota said: “We designed distinct festival zones for food, entertainment and networking, while ensuring accessibility and inclusivity. Logistics were carefully orchestrated from a two-day build through to live show and de-rig, ensuring flawless production.”
The ‘sensational souls’ theme was developed by the Emota creative team to celebrate both sensational partnerships and the extraordinary people behind them. With NEFF’s brand rooted in a passion for people and cooking, the agency looked to the five senses, vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch, as a natural creative foundation.
The spokesperson said: “Cooking is experienced through all five senses, and so too was the festival: the sight of bold colours and lighting, the sounds of live music and surprise performances, the aromas and flavours of gourmet food trucks, and the tactile engagement of interactive activities like the live-painted piano. By weaving the senses into every detail, we created a sensory journey that reflected NEFF’s brand world while celebrating the guests themselves as truly “sensational souls.”
Emota collaborated closely with NEFF’s marketing team ensured that the brand identity was embedded in every detail. Emota worked with trusted partners on staging, lighting nad sound, as well as specialist suppliers for the food trucks, custom signage, and interactive entertainment. A bespoke registration platform captured delegate needs and preferences in advance to ensure inclusivity.
The greatest challenge that the agency faced during the planning of the event was the uncertainty of the weather and how to safeguard the outdoor festival experience. The spokesperson explains: “With no budget for a full indoor set-up, all contigency planning had to focus on the outdoor site. It was essential that all 400 guests could be under cover, so we worked closely with our ten supplier to design a layout of stretch tents across the lawns. This ensured everyone had protection without overwhelming the site or compromising NEFF’s brand-led aesthetics and the natural setting.”
The result:
The spokesperson said: “The Sensational Souls Festival surpassed expectations.” The Fairmount Windsor Park was transformed into a vibrant festival ground, filled with live music, gourmet food trucks, roaming entertainment and interactive installations.
The seamless transition from the intimate dinner to the expensive festival created a journey of connection and celebration. The spokesperson added: “Guests rated the experience five stars across the board and the event generated glowing praise from both attendees and NEFF leadership.
The event re-energised NEFF’s MasterPartner community, deepening loyalty and sparking new business conversations. Guest left feeling celebrated and connected to the brand’s values. One parner remarked it was “the best event the industry has ever seen.”
NEFF’s trade marketing manager, Ben Goldsmith, said: “Wow what a night! Huge well done to you and the team. Every single element has been praised – from the venue, to the festival, to the support staff.”
The Emota spokesperson added: “This project reinforced that a creative theme only truly lives when it is expressed through every touchpoint of the guest experience. From the initial event invitation through to guest arrivals, the welcome reception, the journey to the main festival site, and the final communications after the event, every moment was an opportunity to immerse attendees in the Sensational Souls story. Ensuring that continuity of experience made the event feel seamless and elevated.”