CB Hot Suit Takes: Vivienne Collins, General Manager, Graffiti Experiential
CB Hot Suit Takes is our new Q&A series for extremely busy CEOs and senior leaders across the industry ~ covering careers, creativity, challenges and the song that sums it all up. Next in the hot seat is Vivienne Collins, General Manager, Graffiti Experiential.
1. What made you get into advertising?
I actually stumbled into it via a cold, muddy field in the UK. It was my last year of uni, I was interning for free, sleeping in a broken tent, and spending my summer helping bring the ‘Persil’s Mosh and Wash tent’ to life across UK festivals like Reading, Beach Break Live and Camp Bestival. It was entirely unglamorous behind the scenes, but the moment the gates opened, everything clicked.
Standing in a crowd of thousands of people, feeling the bass, and watching them genuinely connect inside a physical brand footprint you helped build from scratch, with all its meticulous little design finishes – it’s an addiction. You can’t replicate that magic on a screen or via a click. It taught me early on that experiential marketing isn’t just about a clever ‘setup’; it’s about invoking a feeling and core memory.
2. Which piece of work are you most proud of, and why?
CASA BACARDÍ – European festival rollout
Global BACARDÍ handed us a massive brief: scale CASA BACARDÍ, a multi-level, Cuban-inspired activation footprint complete with custom bars, secret spiced rum rooms, and live DJ sets – across 17 major European music festivals spanning 9 countries. The goal was total brand consistency, but the reality was beautiful chaos.
I learned the high art of stakeholder management very quickly, wrangling nine different international client teams and local on-ground production partners. My crash course was figuring out how to adapt the content and experiential nuance for each specific country while strictly protecting the integrity of the global strategy.
When you’re dealing with language barriers and tight festival turnarounds, you realise the best operational tool is just straight talking, direct communication. I practically lived in spreadsheets and WIP calls for a year, but nothing beats the feeling of stepping on-site and seeing a global blueprint execute flawlessly in the real world.
3. What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role right now?
The shifting definition of what an ‘experience’ actually is. Lately, a lot of agencies have rebranded themselves as brand experience. With the rise of AI, the internet is flooded with automated, cheap digital content that looks flawless on a screen, making it tempting for clients with tighter budgets to just buy online clicks.
My challenge is constantly reminding our clients that while screens buy eyeballs, the real world experience buys actual trust with our audience and needs to be considered. You don’t need a massive budget to stand out.
4. What’s the most recent thing you’ve learned – professionally or personally?
That looking after, nurturing, and retaining great talent pays back tenfold.
5. What song best sums up your career so far?
I’m a pop princess at heart. Superwoman – Alicia Keys. For all the working mums out there being dictated to by tiny humans at the end of the working day.
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