Disney Wonder of Friendship - The Experience

Client: Disney

Lara Judd – PR Supervisor – The Walt Disney Company

2023 marked Disney’s 100th anniversary. To celebrate a century of friendship, Disney wanted to give Gen Z a fresh and meaningful way to connect – both with each other and with Disney as a brand. We created an ultra-personalisable, hyper-immersive ticketed Gen Z pop-up event that toured four of Europe's coolest cities. Collaborating with experts in sound design, set design, interactive tech, motion-design, CGI, and AR, we tailor-made 136 cubic metres worth of kit. Using a modular set, we adapted to each venue’s unique floorplans and architecture – ensuring every intricate element was carefully transported and rebuilt to create the same magical multi-sensorial Gen-Z content-haven in each city. With a production crew of 20, 160 brand ambassadors and 4 localised theatrical event directors – we struck the perfect balance between consistency and localisation for the best guest experience. Our event brought classic characters, groups of guests and Disney’s brand partners together under one unifying theme – ‘Wonder of Friendship’. With the help of some of Disney’s most iconic pals of the century, guests explored, played, and sang their way through four immersive zones – each celebrating a specific friendship quality through the stories of 4 classic franchises. We wowed 40,000 guests in 40 days across 4 countries, achieving over 90% of ticket sales – surpassing our KPI of 75%. The event was a neon-glowing success, smashing sales goals, reaching over 1.4 billion people, and helping Disney to reinforce that coveted spot in the hearts and social feeds of Gen Z.