Leaders from Sparks reveal the experiences that land well with modern buyers – and why live events aren’t just about brand theatre anymore; they’re where trust is built, value is understood and where the buyer journey now begins.
Electrobit brings automotive UX to life at CES with an immersive simulator demo.
CES may be the world’s biggest technology showcase, but the most important innovation on the show floor isn’t silicon, software or screens. It’s human. Again and again, a consistent theme emerges: trust, credibility and commercial momentum are built through the connections that happen around the technology.
The best experiences are designed for every kind of buyer – the “paddlers” who are simply curious, the “swimmers” who start asking questions and the “divers” who are ready to commit, says Adam Charles, chief growth officer at Sparks. Speaking in a new video series with The Drum, he explains how physical experiences increasingly shape buyer confidence, build trust and drive long-term commercial impact.
The first two episodes of Experiences Built to Convert, set to be filmed at major global industry events throughout 2026, underline a key lesson from CES: today’s most effective brand experiences are layered environments that let buyers choose their own depth and move forward on their own terms.
That shift matters because live experience is no longer just a moment of awareness. As Lisa Lundeen, executive vice-president, account direction, at Sparks explains: “We’re seeing physical experience being a starting point of a journey, a content journey right out of that interaction… brands are using this physical manifestation to continue that connection with their customers and their buyers throughout the year.”
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And the brands doing it well aren’t just building spectacles, adds Lundeen: “[They’re] connecting what they create to true business outcomes- measuring what impact it has on the pipeline and tracking lifetime value.”
Trust is the engine behind all of it. In an era of screen fatigue and AI-saturated content, buyers are actively searching for what feels real. Now, “no one trusts everything they see on the screen,” says Mike Ellery, chief creative officer, Sparks, explaining how trust is especially important for Gen Z buyers who want to understand not just what a brand sells, but how it behaves, how it uses data and where responsibility sits.
That’s why getting up close and personal with buyers, with touch, feel and conversation, matter more than ever, Charles says: it creates confidence in ways no website, demo video or sales deck ever could.
Watch episode 1 and episode 2 of Experiences Built to Convert now. And stay tuned for more of this roaming global conference series which captures leaders’ insights on how experience has become a key performance channel in 2026.