As we recover from the high of the Paris Olympics and prepare for the Paralympics, let’s talk about why the love of competitive sport is so strong.

At the Olympic and Paralympic Games, extraordinary people from all over the world compete on the biggest stage of all, under the brightest spotlights and in front of merciless cameras that record their every move for posterity: successes, stumbles, comebacks, even failures.

So why do we celebrate or lament these moments so passionately?

The science of watching

Researchers have the answers. First, they say, it’s something we need. Watching sports helps us in our own search for meaning. Following our favorite athlete or team can satisfy our human need for belonging, security, and even meaning in life.

It’s something we feel too. In every competition, there is a moment of truth, when hype and artificiality disappear and preparation, skill and destiny collide. This is where champions and legends are made. Before that moment, everyone is a potential champion – and by extension, we as spectators feel the same.

We feel connected to it too. When we watch sports competitions, our brains put themselves in the shoes of the athletes. In a phenomenon psychologists call the “chameleon effect,” our brains mimic the actions and emotions of the players, even when we’re sitting on the couch.

We experience the emotional highs and lows – the joy, the pain, the thrill – maybe even the disgust (anyone know “Triathlon dans la Seine”?) of the Olympic and Paralympic athletes at the same time as them.

This is the closest we’ll ever get to Olympic gold. At every competition, we’re on the edge of our seats as fans – or jumping out of our seats to cheer with joy or scream with disappointment. And when it’s over, we count down the time until the next sporting event, where we can experience those highs, lows and camaraderie with fellow fans all over again.

Experiential loves sports

As nice as it can be to be a spectator, for us there is nothing better than being in the arena. And that brings us to our own sport: brand experience.

Experientialism is about giving people the opportunity to see, do and feel for themselves – ideally touching them so deeply that they have to pass on this enthusiasm to others.

Our sport is about bringing people into the game so they can connect with their athlete, their team and their sponsor brands through emotional experiences – activations that consumers feel with their own five senses. This is something that only personal, dynamic and immersive experiences can do.

In Experience, we design and create brilliant experiences that bring brands and people together in unpredictable live spaces – in ways that our audiences talk about, that our competitors hold up as exceptional, and that will set the standard in our categories for years to come.

Our sport is one we train for, obsess over, and spend countless hours honing our craft in. It’s a sport where we continually strive to captivate our clients’ loyal customers with each experience and to keep their brand top of mind in the hearts and minds of their customers long after the experience is over.

And in our sport, it’s all about getting the landing right. We know that nothing else matters unless the execution is flawless – and it’s our decades of hard work perfecting operational excellence that give our customers the confidence that we’ll get them to the winner’s podium.

Brand fans

If the landing in the experience area is successful, the reward is genuine, strong emotions – and thus brand loyalty and endorsement.

Experiential marketing goes beyond traditional marketing because it is something that is personally experienced and felt intensely.

And they can be trusted: Our emotions are real, and live experiences that allow us to see and believe them are the new kernel of truth in today’s world of artificial intelligence, fake news, and saturated marketing landscapes.

The emotions that brand experiences generate can turn a casual consumer into a passionate brand fan. And brand fandom is a desirable thing: For 70% of today’s self-described fans, fandom is a part of their everyday life – and 64% consider their fandom to be a defining part of their identity.

Fandom—whether it’s sports, entertainment, tech, or brand—pays off in the form of increased engagement, brand loyalty, and brand advocacy. Consider that 85% of brand fans talk to others about the brand and its products and services, and 54% want everyone to know they’re fans.

While we may not be breaking world records in the 200-meter dash, we get up every day and work hard to create experiences that strengthen the bond between brand and customer.

We ensure that every experience is strategically led, creatively driven, brilliantly conceived and flawlessly executed. We live for the moment when the landing hits, truth and emotion are unleashed and brand fans are created.

Our drive and passion are expressed in the experience area. We believe in the power of live experiences.

And we love our sport.