How Sense Brought the Energy of Madrid to All Points East

Rachael Tettey has spent the last three and a half years at brand experience agency, Sense, bringing creative ideas to life through experiential marketing. She is passionate about crafting memorable moments, and thrives in the world of booze and beauty, designing experiences that connect brands with people in meaningful ways.

Here, she spoke with LBB to look back on bringing the Spanish capital to All Points East 2025 for the ‘Soul Street’ experience and making it a social content hotspot for partygoers.

LBB> Can you give us a brief overview of the experience/event itself and a flavour of some of the unique or special elements in this experience?

Rachael> We built an experience at All Points East Festival that pulled festivalgoers into the Madrí energy – with longer hangouts, merch-driven incentives and Madrid’s street culture stitched into every detail. It also featured a customisation station with our personalised artist merch and festival outfits. We created a code hunt experience that became the ultimate crowd-puller, keeping people buzzing throughout the day. The exclusive merch drops - branded tees, hoodies, and of course, the must-have hand fans (festival lifesavers) – disappeared in no time.

The stand itself turned into a social content hotspot, with visitors snapping photos and filming TikToks everywhere, from the giant bottle cap photo moment to the naturally shareable design touches and interactive features built into the space.

LBB> What was the initial brief from the client on this project?

Rachael> Since its launch, Madrí Excepcional has quickly risen to become one of the UK’s most recognisable Spanish beers. While awareness was strong, genuine affection for the brand lagged behind. People were choosing it, but their connection to it didn’t extend much further than the purchase.

The brief was to shift that dynamic, crafting an experience at All Points East that would spark deeper engagement and foster real brand love among a young, urban festival audience.

LBB> Who were you designing this experience for?

Rachael> We designed the whole thing with a young, urban festival crowd in mind. That’s why having an audience-first approach was so key. We wanted to create something that spoke directly to them and helped build real brand love for Madrí. From our Futures Lab research, we know this audience can be hard to win over. But when you give them something that feels authentic and true to the brand, as we did here, they respond.

LBB> What was your starting point for designing the experience or event – was it brand-driven, opportunistically driven, user-driven or something else?

Rachael> The concept was very much brand-led, but always with the festival setting front and centre. Sustainability also played a big role in our thinking. We repurposed an existing stand originally built for another Molson Coors brand. The bones of the structure stayed the same, but everything else was reimagined to transform it into a fully branded destination that felt fresh and unmistakably Madrí Excepcional.

LBB> How did you build accessibility into the experience design?

Rachael> Accessibility was never an afterthought, it was baked into the design process. Basics like a ramp and a lowered bar were obvious must-haves, but we went further. The existing stand structure was built across two levels, so we brought core parts of the experience like the merch kiosk and best photo moments down to the ground floor, making sure everyone could take part and feel included.

LBB> Tell us about the creative ideas – how did they come together?

Rachael> We approached the creative with an audience-first mindset: what does a festival crowd really want from a beer stand, and how do we make it feel unmistakably Madrí Excepcional? We started with audience insights from our partners at AEG, then layered in our Futures Lab trend work (from ‘main character energy’ to the idea of festival ‘alter egos,’). From this, our creative ‘Soul Street’ took shape.

The result was an urban-inspired space that immersed people in the Madrí brand and doubled as a giant Instagram-ready backdrop crowned by our standout roof installation, a beacon both within the festival and beyond it.

LBB> What were the most interesting challenges that you faced in the ideation and design stage?

Rachael> With cost efficiency and sustainability high up on the priority list, we were challenged to find smart ways to keep budgets tight while reusing existing kit. We had a two-tier structure from a 2023 activation we did for another one of the Molson Coors brands we worked with. It wasn’t without its challenges, but with some refurb, rebuild and creative reimagining, we transformed the old stand into something fresh and festival-ready.

Here is a photo of what the stand looked like in its original guise – a festival stand we produced for Molson Coors brand, Threefold, a few years ago.

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LBB> What details or magical moments were the trickiest to bring to life and how did you approach them?

Rachael> With so many design and experiential details woven in, the real challenge was making sure nothing slipped through the cracks. We obsessed over every finish, texture, and material to make sure it looked premium, while still being durable enough to survive festival life. The roof installation was probably the biggest hurdle - it had to withstand strong wind, so we introduced breaks and overlapping panels that kept the flow of the design seamless while staying practical.

LBB> What other partners did you work with on this and what did they bring to it?

Rachael> The strength of this activation came from open, collaborative partnerships with our client Molson Coors, our suppliers, and every key stakeholder involved. Having worked with Molson Coors for years, our team understands their brands deeply and operates as a true extension of their team. That trust created space for honest conversations where ideas were tested, challenged and refined for the festival setting. Side by side with suppliers, we pushed for premium solutions and elevated details that gave the experience its polish. By refusing to cut corners and investing the right energy and resources, we built an activation that genuinely stood out for all the right reasons.

LBB> What was it like for the team in the run up to the launch of the event or experience?

Rachael> Honestly, we were pretty calm. We had the luxury of time, a solid plan, and a brilliant team behind it. Of course, there were the usual last-minute checks and health and safety sign-offs which are normal at festivals, but nothing that fazed us.

LBB> What uncontrollable external factors did you have to work around?

Rachael> The usual suspects – festival health and safety checks, organiser approvals on materials, and getting the green light for the activation itself. This isn’t our first festival build, so we knew what to expect. Flexibility and thinking on your feet are part of the job.

LBB> What technologies did you build into the experience – what benefits and limitations did those specific technologies bring?

Rachael> ‘Soul Street’ was created to transport festivalgoers straight to Madrid’s streets, where art, fashion, and sound collide in an urban, shareable brand world. We deliberately kept tech minimal as our research showed festival audiences crave analogue, tactile fun, making the retro-inspired approach feel fresh and authentic to Madrí. Visitors were pulled into hands-on experiences: cracking codes for merch, spinning a wheel to raise a giant Madrí can, unlocking surprise lockers, or uncovering hidden letters tucked into murals and posters.

LBB> What are your memories of the moments just before launch? What were you feeling?

Rachael> The team had been on-site all week, juggling H&S inspections and last-minute tweaks to artwork. So, watching everything finally come together on the first morning of the festival was a real moment. There was a huge sense of pride. Not just within our team but also with our client, Molson Coors. Celebrating that launch together was the perfect payoff.

LBB> When the experience went live, what were some of the surprising or exciting reactions or interactions you saw from the public/the audience?

Rachael> A standout moment came when AEG, the festival organisers, chose our stand as the official launch hub for media and stakeholders ahead of the festival. Food and drink flowed from the bar and an exclusive live performance set the tone for the entire weekend - a huge compliment that underlined the strength of the activation.

LBB> Overall can you give us a taste of the impact of the event/experience - number of users, social media reactions, impact on brand etc?

Rachael> We’re still collecting the full picture, but the early results are really encouraging. People weren’t just passing through, they were staying longer with dwell time clearly up and bar sales outperformed last year. We’ll be digging deeper using our EMr tool to track ROI, brand equity, competitor activity and sales uplift, but even now the feedback speaks volumes.

Almost everyone surveyed (99%) said they’d come back, 80% called the activation fun, and 67% summed it up as “great vibes.” For a festival audience that can be hard to win over, that’s a big endorsement.

LBB> And what did you learn from the experience/event?

Rachael> This project really brought two of our guiding principles into focus: stay human and obsess over the details. People connect when you strip away the jargon and keep things real, and Molson Coors trust us to deliver that way. At the same time, nothing is too small to matter, from the materials to the design touches, to the interactions on-site. The big takeaway? Encourage clients to be bold, keep things simple and authentic, and never underestimate the power of getting the details right.

Client testimonial:

The team at Sense delivered an absolutely ‘Excepcional’ Festival stand at All Points East this year for Madri Excepcional! The whole process was creative; collaborative and they worked tirelessly to ensure every detail of the stand was engaging for consumers as well as delivered functionally! Thanks so much for your proactive and problem-solving approach to the whole project and we look forward to working with you on future projects.