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THE BRIEF

We pride ourselves on having a bold approach to creativity. We know full well that building a brand that resonates with consumers requires innovative thinking and impeccable 

To that end, creating an event to bring these elements to life in person required an off-the-wall approach, interactive sessions, and novel content blocks. 

We started with the venue: Magazine London, which had a bigger audience capacity than the first FROM: HERE, TO: THERE venue (180 Strand). The conference series had grown in popularity after just one installment, so by the second we had to up the audience scope.

THE APPROACH

Shining a light and light manipulation provided us with a rich creative hook. In terms of aesthetics, we focused on interesting ways to reflect and refract light, creating unique shadows throughout the space. We explored light abstraction through layering and artful distortions, repeatedly being inspired by the journey light takes FROM: HERE and TO: THERE.

The Magazine building’s bold architecture provided a huge canvas to create initial impact, and so we dressed the facade with dichroic film. Depending on where you stood, this super reflective material appeared as a spectrum of different colours and naturally shifted throughout the day with changing skies, which was the first time the venue had been used like this. 

Inspired by Eliasson's iconic yellow light room, the entrance tunnel offered a transformative journey, a colour cleanse. This transition from dark and monochrome, to light and colour, set the scene for the FROM: HERE, TO: THERE conference.

The suspended chandelier, designed and fabricated by Mailchimp, served as the focal point. Resembling a lighthouse, its illuminated gradients through layers of coloured translucent materials, creating an ever-evolving piece that appeared distinct from every angle and perspective.

Our truly innovative stage design featured a duo of interconnecting vertical and horizontal  LED screens connected via a bespoke curved steel structure, never seen in this type of environment before, enabling us to transform our stage content into a fully immersive experience, complimented by a surround sound package and lighting show which captivated the audience and redefined the boundaries of a conventional conference space. 

The conference programme looked ahead, shining a light on the inevitable integration of AI into the every day, and how to effectively adopt these new technologies to see your marketing in a new light.

By bringing speakers from competitor companies to the stage, alongside trailblazing leaders from different industry sectors — we redefined marketing best practice, pulling inspiration from within and outside the immediate marketing bubble, because that’s how you flip a script.

THE EVENT STRUCTURE

To showcase Mailchimp’s latest, AI-powered digital tools for marketing at scale, we structured the event across six, standout stage sessions, featuring fireside chats, keynotes, and panels — delivered by the most innovative minds in the industry (and introduced by the epic Katherine Ryan, who hosted the stage throughout the day, from opening to close), and who didn’t hold back from getting candid about what speaks to consumers (and what doesn’t).

Each of these six sessions fell into one of three content pillars — ’thought leadership’, ‘skill building’, or ‘tools & resource’. We inspired with insights that look to the future, showed delegates how to implement what they’d learned, and then encouraged action by pointing them towards the right tools — taking them on a path from inspiration to transformation.

From “the biggest risk is not taking any risk” (Steven Bartlett), to “AI is either really smart, or really dumb, depending on the data you feed it, and how”(Nina Schick), sessions were daring. Our bespoke (and brand new) event app gamified the whole experience, awarding prizes for every stage session you sat in on, meeting you booked, and networking opportunity you took — fusing IRL moments with responsive tech, to get the most out of your time at FHTT.

KEEPING THINGS CREATIVE AND FRESH

Our in-house talent agency, The Troupe delivered a seamless, fine-tuned lineup, from the research stage, to the on-site management stage. Alongside the iconic Katherine Ryan (comedian and Sunday Times Bestselling author for The Audacity: Why Being Too Much Is Exactly Enough) as host, we brought Steven Bartlett, Mo Gawdat, global AI thought leader Nina Schick, and marketing guru and professor Mark Ritson to the stage, among others.

We took things a step further with an unusual hosted panel too, featuring speakers in conversation with Ameca, the humanoid (powered by AI) — who was later on hand to answer a bunch of audience questions.

Between each session, we wove in 1-1 meetings and wider networking moments to encourage creative collaboration, and to give delegates the breathing space to tap into demos of Mailchimp’s newest features, and ‘Mailchimp MOTs’ – expert insight across specific, product-related challenges. 

We led the audience towards these opportunities naturally, by creating intimate zones to connect in, like the terrace outside that served as our main space for foodies, with a variety of vendors on deck (plus you could order food through the audience journey app, for those who wanted to plan their snacks).

Or the meeting loft and VIP partner area, washed in black and placed at balcony level, with bespoke meeting pods marked out with LED lighting. Plus the neighbouring bookshop on the balcony — filled with titles recommended personally by our speakers, from leading minds in marketing, AI, technology, and business — where you picked books as prizes (won through the event app).

Connecting on a human level, and learning through fun, joyful engagement sat at the heart of the event flow. The audience filtered out with branded notebooks full of their favourite takeaways (and signature Mailchimp tote bags) after a final, big networking session in the central hub, as canapes, desserts, and drinks circled, and a live DJ ramped up the energy.

CLIENT QUOTE: ‘CLEVER, UNCONVENTIONAL’:

“It’s not easy to replicate the high energy, fear of missing out, and hype of a debut event — because it’s simply not a new concept anymore. Yet, Bearded Kitten helped us do just that. 

We couldn’t have done it without their clever, unconventional creativity and approach to novel solutions. We’re so excited to take FHTT Global with them. Sydney is up next, then it’s worldwide. All made possible by having a brilliant creative experience partner — one that knows how to fuse intelligent, exclusive insights with fun.“

— LaShanda Jackson, Global Director Marketing, Intuit Mailchimp

As Mailchimp’s retained brand experience partner we’re taking the FHTT internationally with rapid, international expansion plans in the pipeline across this collaboration (bolstered by the continued, huge success of the second London event).