As we gear up for the next XLIST, we’re revisiting members of last year’s class — taking a closer look at how they think, work, and shape the industry. (You can stay in the loop on nominations and announcements here).
XLISTERS Amber Ward and Geoff Renaud are the co-founders of Invisible North, which they’ve built into one of experiential's most forward-thinking agencies. Amber came up through fashion and creative production. Geoff through music and an obsession with emerging tech and culture. Both have always focused on creating moments that carry energy in culture. Together, they’ve worked with Netflix, Gatorade, Lego, Target, and Ripple (to name a few), but every brief starts the same way: finding the brand's Invisible North.
Geraldine Campbell: Was your way into experiential intentional or did you back into it?
Amber Ward and Geoff Renaud: Anyone who’s been in it as long as we have came in accidentally… or at least through the side door. We were definitely passionate about experiences but the industry didn’t really exist as it does now until social media made shared moments culturally valuable.
GC: What do brands get wrong about experiential?
AW + GR: They treat experiential like a standalone moment. Most people still think experiential means events or installations. That’s the output. The real work is shaping perception, designing participation, and building something that extends beyond the moment and actually sticks. The brands that get it treat experiential as a core way to build connection, not a one-off.
GC: What's the thing you do differently at Invisible North?
AW + GR: We approach everything through what we call “New School Experiential.” For us, that means building experiences that don’t end when the event does. We think in terms of worlds, where the experience extends across content, community, and environment. It’s narrative-driven and strategy-first. We spend real time up front finding a brand’s "Invisible North" — the direction that’s uniquely theirs — so that everything we build has clarity and pull.
GC: What's a recent project that mattered?
AW + GR: A recent standout is the Target x LEGO SMART Play tour we just launched. The whole experience is built around play. People aren’t just moving through the space, they’re shaping their own path, building, interacting, and even becoming part of the story as a minifigure. And while it lives physically on the road, it’s also designed to extend through content, social, and fandom culture in a way that keeps going beyond the moment.
GC: What’s overrated and underrated in experiential right now?
AW + GR: Overrated: spectacle. There’s a lot that looks great for a few seconds but doesn’t give people a reason to stay or care. Underrated: intention. Experiences that know exactly why they exist, what they’re trying to make people feel, and trust clarity over excess.
GC: What do you see changing in experiential in the next two to three years?
AW + GW: Experiential stops being a channel and becomes a mindset. The lines between physical, digital, and content are blurring, and brands are building worlds instead of campaigns. Experiences become more continuous, more responsive, and more personal. It’s less about going somewhere, more about stepping into something.
GC: Who's a dream collaborator and what would you want to build together?
AW + GR: Nike. They already think in terms of culture and universe building. We'd love to build something living: a physical environment that evolves in real time based on how people interact with it, with a digital layer that extends beyond the moment. Something where no two people have the same experience, but everyone feels like it was made for them.
