By Jimmy Bruns
Fun does not get nearly enough credit in business conversations. It is often treated like the frosting, nice to have, but not essential. In reality, fun, connection, and belonging are foundational human truths. Long before marketing plans or media strategies existed, people gathered around games, meals, music, and shared rituals. Those moments created identity, memory, and trust. They still do.
Sports, food, entertainment, and culture sit at the center of that experience. They are not just places where brands show up. They are where people show up. To cheer, to celebrate, to debate, to belong. These environments create familiarity and shared understanding at a scale few other platforms can touch. When brands understand this, they stop trying to manufacture engagement and start participating in experiences people already care deeply about.
We recently worked with U.S. Bank to bring this idea to life in one of the busiest transit hubs in the country, the Oculus in New York City, where roughly 250,000 people pass through each day. Together, we reimagined the space by installing a turf lacrosse field, transforming a routine commuter environment into an unexpected moment of play. What is typically a place people move through quickly became a place people stopped, engaged, and connected. It was a simple shift, but a powerful one, turning an everyday setting into something memorable, and reminding people that even in the most functional spaces, there is room for surprise, energy, and shared experience.
Fun is not the opposite of seriousness. It is often the fastest path to trust. Shared experiences work because they tap into identity. A fan’s connection to a team. A family’s ritual around food. A community gathering around music, art, or culture. These moments are not passive. They are deeply personal. When brands earn a role within them, they gain more than awareness. They gain relevance in the context of something people already value, and that relevance compounds over time.
This is where sports, food, entertainment, and culture come in. These are not just sponsorship platforms. They are social infrastructure. They are the places where people gather, celebrate, argue about referees, and feel like part of something bigger than themselves. Brands that understand this stop thinking in terms of impressions and start thinking in terms of participation. They stop asking, “How do we show up?” and start asking, “How do we add something meaningful to this experience?”
When done well, fun lowers barriers. It invites engagement. It creates space for a relationship to form. Not because the experience is loud or flashy, but because it feels right in the moment. Respectful of the audience. Aligned with the environment. Over time, those interactions move people along a journey, from familiarity to affinity, from affinity to loyalty, and eventually into advocacy. The brand becomes something people choose to associate with, not something they are asked to tolerate.
This does not mean every moment needs to be big or overproduced. It means every moment needs to be intentional. Fun without relevance fades quickly. Connection without purpose does not last. The brands that get this right design experiences that build on one another, recognizing that relationships are formed through consistency, coherence, and care, not one perfect moment.
In a world that can feel increasingly transactional, brands that create genuine moments of fun, connection, and belonging do more than market. They participate. And fun, when grounded in strategy and delivered with authenticity, is one of the most powerful business tools available. Also, it makes the work a lot more enjoyable. Which, last time I checked, is not a bad thing.
