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 this edition we meet creative production agency, Experience, the agency behind Good Housekeeping Live with Country Living Christmas Market at the Business Design Centre.
The brief:
This was Experience’s first year delivering the Good Housekeeping Live with Country Living Christmas Market and the brief arrived in a fairly loose form. However, what was clear was that it would be a full venue takeover of the Business Design Centre, covering the gallery floor, mezzaine and auditorium.
The execution:
Experience’s interpretation of the brief was centred on coherence. With two established brands sharing one experience, the agency had to create an environment that felt festive, navigable and unmistakably theirs. Chris Rhodes, co-founder and creative director of Experience for the agency said: “Our job was to harmonise both voices, celebrate Christmas in a way that respected both editorial identities and ensure visitors always knew where they were and where to go. The brief became about clarity, consistency and atmosphere.”
The idea for Christmas Unwrapped came from the need for a concept that connected both brands whilst still feeling familiar to visitors. Rhodes said: “Christmas Unwrapped came from the universal ritual of unwrapping presents. Whether it is frenetic paper flying around a living room or a single gift opened slowly, it is something everyone recognises. It also gave us a natural vehicle to embed illustrations drawn from each publication’s values.”
Rhodes added: “This everyday Christmas moment became the narrative anchor. It allowed us to elevate simple, recognisable textures into a cohesive visual world that made sense for both Country Living and Good Housekeeping.”
Experience developed this concept collaboratively with the Hearst team, presenting multiple routes before refining Christmas Unwrapped into the final direction. From there, the agency moved into detailed spatial planning, mapping every area of the venue and documenting where graphics, structures and dressing should sit.
Then, the agency used 3D visualisation and CAD tools to ensure accuracy across all stages and the production team worked closely with the venue on the technical plannng, RAMS, health and safety, deliveries and logistics. Then the agency sourced furniture, designed and built the live kitchen stage, created floor plans and managed prints and installation schedules across hundreds of individual assets.
The build took place over several days, with streams of print, set, staging and Christmas decor arriving and being assembled in parallel. Rhodes said: “Exhibitors moved in shortly after, and we supported them with their own setups to ensure everything felt consistent before the public arrived.”
According to the agency, the biggest challenge in putting on this event was the sheer volume and pace of artwork production. Rhodes said: “The number of required graphics expanded significantly as the project evolved which meant our version control and scheduling had to work very hard.”
He continued: “We overcame this by tightening our collaborative workflow. We used shared tools more rigorously, created clearer ownership of updates and maintained more frequent check-ins with the client to ensure every asset was correct and every space accounted for. It required discipline and constant communication, but it meant we delivered a consistent and coherent takeover at the scale required.”
The result:
Rhodes said: “The events delivered exactly what the client hoped for. The space felt more festive and inviting than previous years and the new joint branding for Good Housekeeping Live with Country Living Christmas Market landed really well with visitors.”
Visitors instantly understood where they were and how the two titles sat together which was a big goal for the partnership. Rhodes added: “The whole venue felt busier, brighter and more atmospheric which helped lift the overall perception of the market.”
Exhibitors and partners fed back that guests were more engaged and stayed longer. The client alsocommented that the event felt like a fully realised Christmas moment rather than simply a market inside a venue. Rhodes said: “For us the best measure was seeing people arrive excited, drift through the space with ease and leave with bags full of goodies which is exactly what the market is meant to do.”
Speaking on what the agency learnt from the project, Rhodes explained that the project reinforced the value of structure within collaborative tools. He said: “While shared platforms like Google Slides and sheets are brilliant for visibility, large projects need clear rules, ownership and version control. When a project is fluid, without that structure it can run away from you.”
He added: “We also saw the importance of being present earlier in the chain of communication, especially where sponsors are involved. Hearing requirements first-hand prevents information loss and speeds up problem-solving. More in-person walkthroughs earlier in the timeline would also have been valuable for spotting opportunities and aligning expectations.”