For The Drum’s series ‘Secret Sauce,’ Patrick Bennett of Jack Morton reveals all the ingredients that go into the experiential marketing the agency serves to its clients.
At Jack Morton, we‘ve recently come together around a new shared purpose: we manifest culture. It’s the best way to describe the world-class experiences we dream up and build: for our clients, for their audiences and, yes, for ourselves too. And, honestly? It’s not just a rallying cry. It’s how we show up every day.
So, what do we mean by culture? Well, for starters, it’s built on our values: passion, agility, and respect. But more than that, it’s a reminder that the strongest brands aren’t built from marketing outward – they’re built from experience inward. The best cultures – the ones people actually want to be part of – embrace differences, create belonging, and leave space for people to show up as themselves.
We know the most potent forces in anyone’s life are the cultures they belong to. And we’ve got a lot of these at Jack. Hardcore gamers, climate nerds, F1 obsessives, boomers, alphas, design weirdos, healthcare warriors, skincare junkies, data heads, new parents, longtime mentors, introverts, extroverts – you name it, they’re here. We’re not one big homogeneous crew. And that’s exactly the point. Because that mix is what helps us create work that actually resonates with real people and the cultures they live in.
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When experience leads
That’s how we knew a lot of women in the Middle East weren’t swimming, not because they didn’t want to, but because they didn’t feel comfortable doing it. So we helped Adidas build a swimmable billboard to show them they could. It’s how we built stages where Super Bowl MVPs, commentators, and legends could talk shop with fans. It’s how we turned Comic Con’s notoriously gross bathrooms into the ultimate mobile gaming lounge. (Because if people are spending time there… why not make it awesome?)
It’s how we gave truckers – the backbone of B2B – the best booth they’d ever seen, because they’re creative as hell and deserve more than stale coffee and swag. And it’s how we helped New York travelers feel something good in airports and train stations by redesigning transportation hubs with I Love NY. We even turned IT case studies into graphic novels with real customers as the heroes – because IT pros deserve to be celebrated like the legends they are.
In every one of these examples, experience wasn’t the cherry on top – it was the idea. And when experience leads, everything else performs better. Social gets richer. PR hits harder. Media dollars go further. When experience is the heartbeat, the rest of the brand moves.
And we try to bring that same energy inside our walls. We take care of each other like we take care of our clients – with sleeves rolled up and egos checked. We’re not perfect, but we show up for one another, and we’re honest about where we’re headed.
Our global teams are pushing for better, beyond the brief. Our Planet ambassadors are helping us hit net zero and zero waste by 2040. ‘Impact at Jack’ is opening our eyes and hearts with education around accessibility and inclusive design. Our AI experimentation festival? That was our way of saying: “Let’s stop talking and start doing.”
Building branded cultures
Even the way we lead is different. There are no ivory towers here – just open laptops. I sit out on the floor with everyone else, and my Teams stays buzzing pretty much 24/7 (thanks, time zones). Our CEO, Craig, hosts open ‘Ask Me Anything’ forums where people ask everything from business strategy to favorite holiday food. Our chief people officer, Natalie, created ‘Brave Spaces,’ a place where our people talk candidly about things that matter, from menopause to neurodiversity to caretaking burnout.
That intention – to build a culture on purpose, not by default – is why our offices land on ‘best places to work’ lists around the world. But more importantly, it’s why people stay. Why they care. Why they create amazing things together.
So yeah, when we say ‘we manifest culture,’ we mean a lot of things.
We mean we design experiences that build branded cultures for the world’s most ambitious brands, and we’ve got the proof to back it up. We mean we believe experience is the most powerful channel in marketing. And we mean that at Jack, marketing isn’t the message; it’s the echo of the experience.