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When the world started opening back up after COVID, people weren't just looking for entertainment, they wanted to feel s...
04/29/2026

When the world started opening back up after COVID, people weren't just looking for entertainment, they wanted to feel something together again. The Ted Lasso Believe Tour was built for that moment.

To promote Season 2 we brought Ted Lasso storyworld to life across Los Angeles. It started at Banc of California Stadium during the LAFC vs. Sporting KC match with a full tailgate takeover where cast members Cristo Fernández and Brendan Hunt joined fans for games, freestyle soccer performers, British pub food, trivia, and "Biscuits with the Boss."

The following weekend, the Believe Bus kept rolling in Santa Monica, then DTLA/The Row, bringing the experience to fans who weren't at the stadium. Over 6,000 people across three locations walked away with an unforgettable memory.

The best fan experiences don't ask people to come to the story. They bring the story to the people.

On April 24, 1914, William Castle was born in New York City. He would become one of the most inventive creators in cinem...
04/24/2026

On April 24, 1914, William Castle was born in New York City. He would become one of the most inventive creators in cinema history.

Orphaned at eleven, Castle found his calling at thirteen when he saw Bela Lugosi perform Dracula on Broadway. He went back every night for two weeks, met Lugosi, and dropped out of school at fifteen to join the tour.

He spent twenty years making films nobody remembered. Then in 1958, he mortgaged his house and made Macabre, a low-budget horror movie that came with a genuine $1,000 life insurance policy from Lloyd's of London for anyone who died of fright. Nurses in the lobby. A hearse outside. It cost $90,000 and made $5 million.

Castle never looked back.

For The Tingler, he bolted surplus vibrating motors under theater seats. At the climax, the screen went black and the buzzers fired while Vincent Price commanded the audience to scream for their lives.

For House on Haunted Hill, a twelve-foot skeleton flew over the audience on wires.

For Mr. Sardonicus, he gave audiences glow-in-the-dark thumbs to vote on the ending, but knowing they’d never choose mercy, he didn’t bother filming that version.

What makes Castle a pioneer is the principle behind the gimmicks: the content is only half the product. The experience is the other.

It's a tradition we carry forward. Happy birthday, William Castle.

Tudum is Netflix's biggest fan event. Tudum 2025 streamed live from the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, featuring performances...
04/15/2026

Tudum is Netflix's biggest fan event. Tudum 2025 streamed live from the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, featuring performances by Lady Gaga, comedy, and exclusive reveals with Netflix's biggest talent.

Our challenge was to create an Immersive Red Carpet Experience designed to spread on social well beyond the event itself. We like to say that if it’s not designed to be shared, it’s not fully designed.

Campfire developed a 20,000 sq ft Immersive Red Carpet where superfans, creators, talent, and VIPs could step into Netflix's biggest worlds: Stranger Things, Squid Game, Wednesday, One Piece. Every environment was built for capture and sharing as much as for the in-person moment.

The entire space was engineered for content creation. Clear sight lines, layered moments, multiple entry points. No matter how long someone spent, they left with something worth posting. The most effective experiences don't end when you leave. They scale through what people share during and after.

The results spoke for themselves. trended globally and became part of the on-platform show itself. Engagement was powerful enough that Netflix stock saw a bump immediately following the event. The space eventually transformed into a 1,300-person after party, keeping the energy alive long into the night.

The phone booth is in San Diego. It is July, 2019. A man steps inside and sees his own face turn blue. He is becoming so...
03/19/2026

The phone booth is in San Diego. It is July, 2019. A man steps inside and sees his own face turn blue. He is becoming something else. He doesn’t know it yet, but he already has.

I am in New York. It is October. I am also still in San Diego. A telescope points toward the sky. A ship hangs overhead that was not there a moment ago. People are eating food from a place that doesn’t exist. All of this is happening simultaneously.

In forty-seven locations across the country, a box arrives. Inside are objects from a world that hasn’t premiered yet. The recipients open them and believe, briefly, that the world is more complicated than they thought. They are correct. They have always been correct.

The IP is forty years old. The story is older. Some stories have their shape in time, not space alone. Some storyworlds contain experiences within them, embedded in their future.

It is 2019. We are building the world of Watchmen on both coasts. It is 2026. I am looking at the photographs.
All we ever see of worlds are their old photographs. Unless someone builds you a door.

And Campfire builds doors.

Great brands tell stories. The best ones build worlds.Nearly a century ago, Ernest Gantt was already doing exactly that....
03/12/2026

Great brands tell stories. The best ones build worlds.

Nearly a century ago, Ernest Gantt was already doing exactly that. In the 1930s, he opened a small bar in Hollywood that did something unusual for its time. Instead of simply serving drinks, he built a world.

The space was filled with bamboo furniture, tropical plants, carved tiki statues, music, and storytelling all working together to create the feeling of stepping into a far-off island escape. The tiki bar was born, a place where people could leave ordinary life behind and step into a story.

And that idea feels incredibly relevant today.
Across culture we’re seeing a massive shift from content consumption to world participation.

You see it everywhere:

🛸Fandom activations at Comic-Con
🎬 Pop-Up Brand Activations
🧩 Real-world environments built around digital IP
🍹Themed cafés and concept bars

The most powerful brands today aren’t just telling stories. They’re building worlds people can physically enter.

Nearly 100 years later, the principle still holds: The best experiences don’t just entertain people. They transport them.

It’s the kind of world-building that still inspires the work we do at Campfire.

We’ll continue exploring the Pioneers of Experience Design, including the unexpected places where immersive storytelling first appeared and how those ideas shaped the Experiences Campfire creates for brands today.

If aliens land this year, we’d just like to clarify… it’s not our fault. 👀This week, prediction market Kalshi saw seriou...
02/27/2026

If aliens land this year, we’d just like to clarify… it’s not our fault. 👀

This week, prediction market Kalshi saw serious money placed on the U.S. confirming alien life before year’s end. Not a meme. Not a Reddit thread. A market.

Meanwhile:
- A major comet flyby had everyone double-checking the sky.
- UFO/UAP conversations are no longer fringe - Barack Obama and Donald Trump have publicly engaged the topic.
- Hillary Clinton was even asked about UFOs during the Epstein disposition.
- And this summer, Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day hits theaters, a story about the moment humanity learns it’s not alone.

Culture’s circling the same question: What happens if we’re not alone?

Years ago, for Chasing UFOs, we helped create The Wow! Reply crowdsourcing tens of thousands of voices (including ) into a single message beamed into space using the world’s largest radio telescope. A response to the mysterious 1977 “Wow!” signal.

So if humanity gets a callback, we might know why. 👽🛸

ExperientialMarketing Storytelling

Not all fans engage with IP the same way.Some skim.Some dip.Some dive deep.At Campfire, we call them Skimmers, Dippers, ...
02/19/2026

Not all fans engage with IP the same way.

Some skim.
Some dip.
Some dive deep.

At Campfire, we call them Skimmers, Dippers, and Divers.

Skimmers are drawn in by the spectacle. The big moments. The visuals that spark curiosity.

Dippers go further. They participate, share, and bring others into the experience.

Divers go all in. They uncover hidden details, find Easter eggs, and explore every layer of the world.

Most importantly, these aren’t fixed categories of behavior. They’re different modes of participation. Our goal isn’t to design only for the deepest fans. It’s to create experiences that reward EVERY level of engagement — without requiring any single one.

That’s how fandom grows. Not by demanding commitment — but by inviting it.🌎✨

CampfireNYC Marketing

The best immersive experiences don’t end at the exit, they stay with you.At San Diego Comic-Con, we helped bring AMC’s ...
02/12/2026

The best immersive experiences don’t end at the exit, they stay with you.

At San Diego Comic-Con, we helped bring AMC’s Immortal Universe to life through The Street of Immortality, an immersive theatrical experience inspired by Interview with the Vampire.

Fans stepped into a fully realized storyworld: turn-of-the-century New Orleans Storyville, filled with musicians, dancers, magicians, and moments designed for discovery, from a hidden speakeasy tasting to limited-edition artifacts.

Immersive design works best when it’s built from the inside out, grounded in fandom, story, and emotion. When fans participate rather than observe, the experience becomes personal, memorable, and lasting.

That lasting feeling was recognized with a Silver Clio Award for Fan Engagement and voted Best Offsite at San Diego Comic-Con 2023 by fans. 🏆

BrandExperience ImmersiveExperience CampfireNYC

02/10/2026

How do you make people stop in their tracks at San Diego Comic-Con?

Sometimes it’s not what people see. It’s what they can’t see yet.

For the premiere of Those About to Die, we leaned into mystery as the strategy. Sound, atmosphere, and glimpses of what was coming next pulled fans in before revealing the full experience.

Inside, guests stepped into the world of the series, competition, performance, and participation colliding in an immersive activation inspired by the spectacle of Ancient Rome. In an environment built on constant stimulation, pacing became the power move.


02/06/2026

📣 Official reminder: San Diego Comic-Con is six months away. 🎟️✨

As we gear up for the season, we’re flashing back to Hulu Animayhem: Enter the 2nd Dimension — Hulu’s spotlight on adult animation at SDCC.

Designed to fully immerse fans in a 2D universe, the activation turned ’s adult animation slate into a walk-through experience, bringing shows like Futurama, The Simpsons, American Dad, and Family Guy off the screen and into the real world.

The result? A packed activation, unforgettable fan response, and industry recognition, including multiple Clios and GEMA Awards, an EX Award recognition, and being voted Best Free Swag at SDCC 2023. 🏆

So what’s the best activation you’ve experienced at SDCC?

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