“There’s an appetite there from both brand owners and retailers”: Jason Knights on growing Blue Kangaroo’s experiential offering

Jason, it’s always great to catch up. You recently detailed how Blue Kangaroo is bolstering the experiences side of the business. Before we dive into that, how did you first add that string to the company’s bow?
It all came about when we were doing a project with Mattel and they asked us to design this experiential travelling roadshow. We did all the creative for it, which we’d done in the past, and then they came back and said: “Could you also manufacture all the stuff that we’d need for it?” We said yes, because we’ve got a lot of experience in print and production… The conversation carried on until eventually they asked: “Can you actually manage the whole process?” We took some time to think about it, but we came to the conclusion that yes, actually we can – and it gave us a great opportunity to expand the business. So we took on the Hot Wheels and Barbie tours from Mattel and that was the catalyst to how we got into it.

Amazing. Did you find it’s complementary to your other services?
It really is. Years ago, we looked at bolting website design onto our offering and it never worked. It wasn’t a neat fit alongside everything else we do. Whereas with this, it aligns very much with the creative offering of the studio – alongside our work on style guides, illustration, and now, designing experiential offerings. It felt natural.

And now we’ve taken on people to compliment this side of the business. To start with, we used external suppliers and partnered with people, but in the past couple of years we’ve brought all those services in-house. It means we can now manage the whole process ourselves. So, we’ve always designed retail experiences, but now we build and install them too. It’s grown organically.

When you look at the wider industry, are you seeing an appetite growing for these experiential activations?
Definitely. There’s an appetite there from the brand owners, but also from the retailers too. They want to get people in the store and give them an experience. For example, we recently did the LEGO Truck that toured several Smyths stores. That’s exactly the kind of creative, experiential activation that can bring people into stores.

What’s the key to successfully translating brands into real life experiences?
You’ve got to listen to what the client wants – and understand the brand. We do some experiential stuff for PAW Patrol and it can’t look naff – people need to turn up and immediately know exactly what the brand is, and that it feels authentic. Whether that be how the costume character acts or the branding on the vehicles. It all has to be done to the highest standard.

And I imagine bringing animated worlds into the real world poses different challenges to other types of IP?
You’re right. If you’re doing a Formula One experience, having a Formula One car there will go a long way because that version is what people recognize. Whereas we’ve created a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle van for Paramount. That had to look as close to the original van from the original TV show – the animated show. From how we built it to the graphics – and actually, we didn’t use ‘graphics’, we spray painted it so it really looked like it does in the show. That’s what I’m talking about.

“We’ve always designed retail experiences, but now we build and install them too.”

It presents challenges, but it’s why I love this part of the industry so much – because it’s a challenge. Our clients come to us because we’re prepared to take on that kind of challenge – and I hope they feel we’re good at what we do.

We’ve mentioned brands like PAW Patrol, Barbie and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but do you also see opportunities for non-character brands to thrive in this area?
Absolutely. You’ve only got to look at what brands like Barbour do, and their campaigns with the old Land Rovers. Or adidas, with their pop-up stores that look like adidas shoe boxes. Creatively, there’s no limited to what you can do, regardless of the type of brand you have. But it all relies on strong ties and shared vision between the creative team, the project managers and the builders. That’s where we’ve been successful – executing shared visions and designing experiences we know we can manufacture.

If you were to reflect on the growth of Blue Kangaroo over the years, what do you put it down to.
The people that we have at Blue Kangaroo – and the people we’ve had at Blue Kangaroo. Everybody’s made an impact and everyone has helped build that business. There’s a few other things – like we’re prepared to travel to the side of the world to get work. 99% of our clients aren’t based solely in the UK. But overall, it’s been down to the team.

Last question! Is there a brand out there you’d love to collaborate with on an experiential project?
There is one – and we’ve worked a little bit with them both directly and indirectly – and that’s LEGO. I’d love us to get more involved with LEGO, both on the experiential side and the retail side. They’re sort of the pinnacle when it comes to design-led brands, so I’d love to work closer with them.

Good answer! Huge thanks again Jason.