When Brands Start Dance Classes Instead of Campaigns
Last Saturday, I ended up in a warehouse in Henderson watching a client’s in-house marketing team freestyle in a dance-off. No agency in sight, just the brand team, a Bluetooth speaker, and an incredibly organised producer named Mel. And I have to admit, it was maybe the most compelling brand experience I’ve seen all year.
This wasn’t an activation. There were no influencers. No signage. Just genuine chaos and sticky floors. For context, the brand is a sneaker startup with a cult local following. Instead of pushing a pre-winter promo, they created a month-long event series called Move Club. No guest lists. No logos slapped on walls. Just open movement sessions submitted to a shared Google Calendar. You know what happened? People showed up. Not because they were paid, or because of targeted ads. Because someone at the office dance-battled their way into something weirdly memorable.
Here’s the kicker: brand equity doesn’t scale linearly with budget anymore. It scales with intent. We’ve gotten so distracted by the delivery systems—media buys, sponsored content, polished production—that we’ve forgotten that audiences respond to actual human energy. Move Club worked precisely because it looked like it could fall apart at any moment. It didn’t scream strategy. It mumbled it through the rhythm of actual bodies in space.
I’m not saying every brand should start a dance troupe. But I am saying: what if the future of brand love is less about pixel-perfect campaigns and more about turning your team loose in a room with a theme and 90 minutes to own it? Things get interesting when you stop asking 'what do people want from us?' and start asking 'what do they want to be part of?' Mel gets this. Maybe we all need a Mel.
This wasn’t an activation. There were no influencers. No signage. Just genuine chaos and sticky floors. For context, the brand is a sneaker startup with a cult local following. Instead of pushing a pre-winter promo, they created a month-long event series called Move Club. No guest lists. No logos slapped on walls. Just open movement sessions submitted to a shared Google Calendar. You know what happened? People showed up. Not because they were paid, or because of targeted ads. Because someone at the office dance-battled their way into something weirdly memorable.
Here’s the kicker: brand equity doesn’t scale linearly with budget anymore. It scales with intent. We’ve gotten so distracted by the delivery systems—media buys, sponsored content, polished production—that we’ve forgotten that audiences respond to actual human energy. Move Club worked precisely because it looked like it could fall apart at any moment. It didn’t scream strategy. It mumbled it through the rhythm of actual bodies in space.
I’m not saying every brand should start a dance troupe. But I am saying: what if the future of brand love is less about pixel-perfect campaigns and more about turning your team loose in a room with a theme and 90 minutes to own it? Things get interesting when you stop asking 'what do people want from us?' and start asking 'what do they want to be part of?' Mel gets this. Maybe we all need a Mel.