- March 7, 2025
La Fête Presents Thrills, AI Chills, and Marketing Skills
What happened at kyu House’s carnival of creativity.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, a select group of marketers arrived at kyu’s New York headquarters for the fourth edition of kyu House. This one, known as La Fête, centered on the future of marketing, and harnessed varied disciplines and expertise to showcase kyu Pulse, a new media and marketing network. Engaging creatives and cutting-edge technologists power kyu Pulse, and fittingly, they curated an impactful day. Sessions were presented concurrently to give guests different pathways to explore and included breaks for magic, networking, and moments of wonder.
Be Present for the Magic
To help set the tone for the day, magician Alex Boyce impressed the crowd with mind-reading and sleight of hand, prompting La Fête emcee Alex Gallafent (Executive Director, IDEO) to wonder if it was “magic or manipulation?”
Because magic requires the audience’s focus, Boyce shared that he wants them to feel like they’re in control, but to use their attention in a specific way… a concept many marketers connected with.
To apply these skills, consider “what specific knowledge you have about the world, and how can you amaze people with that,” Boyce suggested. “Astonishment is so rare,” he said. “Magic has a great ability to shape people and remind them that we are present.”
Ice broken, the fully-primed crowd split into groups to make the most of La Fête. Here are some of the key ideas that surfaced during the day.
1. Memorable campaigns require science and soul
PRESENTED BY C2 X KEPLER
Head met heart at “Science and Soul: Crafting Encounters, Igniting Connection,” a discussion hosted by growth marketing agency Kepler and events innovator C2. Each organization shared its take on how it blends “science” (data, technology, and analytics) with “soul” (creativity, emotion, and human connection) to create impactful and effective marketing experiences.
Kicking off with a series of prompts that had guests indicating whether past decisions were guided by “science” or “soul,” session hosts Jesse Gainer (VP of Growth & Partnership, C2), and Remy Stiles (North America CEO, Kepler) illustrated the need to utilize both when it comes to managing risk, and as importantly, standing out.
The modern marketer really needs both. Media and creative are just
so intertwined these days, you really can’t break them apart.
To further explore this thought, guests identified recent marketing moments that continued to resonate with them and considered the reasons why. These included responding to personalized content (such as year-end recaps and wrappers) or feeling a part of the community. The takeaway? Science can provide insights for media plans but to really connect with audiences, modern marketers should consider soulfulness. This could mean understanding your audience’s needs, values, and emotional triggers, as well as appreciating data as a source of courage to take creative risks.
“We think this combination, if done well, really gives us an opportunity to connect with people in a deep way, and to resonate emotionally,” said Gainer.
2. There’s still room for humans
PRESENTED BY DIGITAL KITCHEN X SID LEE
In their AI-powered, human-enhanced session, “Blended Creativity: Reshaping Collaboration in an AI Era,” creative agencies Digital Kitchen (DK) and Sid Lee posed a pressing question to marketers in the room: “Does integrating AI into our work elevate our creativity — or does it stifle it?” DK’s Ally Malloy (Managing Director) partnered with Sid Lee’s Ali Stewart (EVP of Creative, North America), Yanick Bédard (EVP, Innovation, Digital & Strategy), and Jean-François Lavigne (Creative Director & Innovation Lead, Digital Design) for an experiment to see how AI could be leveraged in creative campaigns.
In a fully interactive session, guests were encouraged to craft a brief for trained versions of Open AI o3, Claude Sonnet 3.7, and Claude Opus to fulfill with storytelling, emotion, and strategy in mind. Each AI model played the part of an agency persona, responding to the prompts and the refinements the audience called out, including cultural references, specific music, or a desire for virality. Bédard explained how in this experiment, AI was working together through “chaining” to generate more complex and nuanced responses.
The real magic happens when we all join in —
debating, brainstorming, and even making AI go a little crazy.
When it came to the AI outputs, however, the reviews were mixed. One guest appreciated how AI opened the floodgates for brainstorming, elevating creativity — but without a critical or editorial human POV, the results were potentially too broad. “You can have a prompt whose entire purpose is to challenge these ideas,” said Lavigne about filtering the brainstorm. Another guest suggested reworking the balance even more by introducing a realistic workplace scenario: strong personalities or power dynamics.
Maintaining creativity as a muscle was also debated, given how digital tools are already causing our skills to atrophy, as GPS has with spatial awareness. Malloy didn’t think it needed to be a zero-sum result: “Maybe, because certain people with that creative muscle reject the idea of using AI, it will make that muscle stronger,” he offered. “Because they have more competition.”
3. Customer loyalty is about tapping into our humanity
PRESENTED BY BIMM X HAIGO
The average American belongs to more than 15 loyalty programs; 90% of companies offer them. During “Beyond the Points: Building Lasting Loyalty,” the case was made that loyalty is not just a program but an outcome. Attendees were invited to hop aboard the “Loyalty Carousel,” cycling through the four emotional drivers essential to building customer loyalty.
A digital agency that combines creativity, data, and technology, BIMM knows how to build deep customer connections, while Haigo helps clients better understand their customers so they can create better products.
BIMM’s Roehl Sanchez (Chief Creative Officer) and Frank Cristiano (VP of Growth & Client Success) joined Haigo Founder & Managing Director Guewen Loussouarn to explore questions of customer loyalty through a human lens. User insights, gathered from Haigo-led interviews and research, punctuated the importance of emotional drivers and their ability to enable and inspire customers.
- For trust, it’s important to start from a place of transparency. “If you want to build credibility with customers over time, they need to know that you’re going to be consistent with your actions,” Cristiano said. Establishing trust builds equity that helps brands weather storms.
- Loyalty is a two-way street. “Brands that enable loyalty in the most meaningful ways don’t wait for customers to ask for recognition. They make it a core part of the experience,” said Sanchez. This appreciation may come in the form of personalization, customer spotlights, or even small moments of surprise and delight.
- “A great product is the foundation of a great marketing strategy — and to build a great product, you need to understand humans,” said Loussouarn, who emphasized the value of empathy. Humanizing brands and truly listening to and addressing customer complaints are just two ways to show that you care.
- Lastly, prioritizing advocacy creates opportunities for meaningful growth. “Your advocates are the hero. They will be the ones talking for you. And you need to give them the platform and the tools to help them do this,” said Loussouarn. “We ask ‘would you recommend this product?’ But are we tracking the ones who are?”
Your advocates are the hero. They are Batman. You are Alfred.
The session wrapped with an interactive activity during which attendees selected brands with loyal bases, and together explored how the four emotional drivers worked in their customer interactions.
Missed out on the “Loyalty Carousel”? Download BIMM and Haigo’s card of emotional drivers.
Sport has this enduring power to create monoculture moments,
the moments where everybody is looking at the same thing.
4. Truly creative collaborations win in the sports space
PRESENTED BY SID LEE X YARD
Sports have the unique power to create belonging and connect people’s lives. The space is also full of opportunities; brands can reach audiences at scale and forge emotional bonds with consumers. YARD’s Deputy Managing Director Ambroise Soulé and Sid Lee London’s Head of Strategy Rory Natkiel encouraged deeper, meaningful brand collaboration within the sports world in their session, “Game Changers: Navigating Sports x Lifestyle.”
In an increasingly segmented world, sports events are still monocultural moments that grab viewers in impressive numbers. “If you’re not in sport, it’s a massive opportunity. It’s a high-value, strong-engagement space for brands to play, no matter the industry,” said Natkiel.
But how can brands tap into sports to grow belonging and make an impact on culture? It’s more than slapping a logo on a jersey or LED board. YARD and Sid Lee London are both known for creating campaigns within the sports world that are engaging, meaningful, and memorable through multi-channel platforms that utilize CRM, experiential, retail and TV. Their aim, said Natkiel, is fame. “Fame is about more than awareness. It’s about generating campaigns that get talked about and remembered, not just for 48 hours but for two, three years on.
Natkiel and Soulé shared some keys to creating work in the sports world that gets remembered:
- Know your brand and what you have to offer. Be clear about what your brand stands for and why you’re going into sports. What’s the marketing challenge that you’re trying to solve?
- Remember that brand collaboration is a give-and-take. Consider the value you’re giving back to the audience before identifying the right partner.
- Activate in ways that drive impact and conversation. That might mean building landmark experiences for young fans that connect on an emotional level or creating entertaining moments that help stop the scroll. “Culture is everywhere right now, but being able to hijack it, to understand first, grasp, and seize culture at the very moment can be super impactful,” said Soulé.
Attendees got the chance to put this advice into action in an exercise that asked them to dream big. Assigned five fictional brand challenges, they came up with their own collaborations, choosing from an array of real-world athletes, teams, and organizations to produce creative results that were fame-worthy and meaningful.
Jumping in With Both Feet
Midway through the day, attendees stretched their legs for the ultimate interactive experience, “Creative Tensions,” an IDEO-designed exercise that asks participants to respond to “this or that”-style questions by moving across a dividing line, and sharing the reasoning behind their choices.
IDEO’s Alex Gallafent led the packed room in questions that started out innocuous (“slow and better or fast and crappy?,” “Chappell Roan or Taylor Swift?”) before tapping into some of the vital debates in marketing: Are audiences best defined by shared needs or shared identities? Do the best brands reveal truths or craft myths? Is extraordinary marketing measured in numbers or felt in the air? Is marketing a bridge or a battleground?
Attendees were enthusiastic and vocal with their opinions, and kept the mic runner on his toes. Ultimately, the conversation ended with a question that participants could continue to ponder: Do the greatest marketers reflect — or shift — culture?
Marketing Is Chaos and Control
La Fête closed the day with a panel exploring the changing role of the CMO, moderated by ADWEEK Chief Brand and Community Officer Jenny Rooney, and featuring Emily Maxey, most recently of FILA Global; Jonny Bauer, founder of FUNDAMENTALco; and kyu Pulse CEO Rick Greenberg.
With “Chaos or Control?” as the panel’s topic, each participant shared instances when they embraced chaos and exerted control. Maxey, identifying herself as a brand guardian, recalled a moment when a partnership very publicly went sideways. “Knowing who you are, staying true to your values, having a clear and distinct purpose and position in market to use as a guiding filter for every decision that you make” had been the best course of action, she said.
To help maintain control, Bauer advised marketers to engage their entire organizations. “A lot of times, brand ideas are done in isolation of those that really should be contributing to them,” he said, advising marketers to engage their CEOs earlier: “If they feel they have agency and ownership of it, then they will bring the rest of the organization and connect them to it.”
Acknowledging the pace of technological change, Greenberg said it was worth building for resilience: “The thing you can control is how you gear your organization and yourself to respond in the right way.”
AI was an inevitable part of the conversation, but Rooney kept it light by suggesting the audience take a drink anytime the subject came up. For anyone who lost count on Wednesday, that would have been at least 20 sips.
C’est ainsi que la Fête s’est terminée.
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