Photo: Courtesy of Bianca Knop and Kelly Thorpe
How they got their start: The duo met in 2007 while working in the sports marketing division at Cossette Communications, a Canadian advertising agency, where they focused on leveraging and activating Olympic sponsorships leading up to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. They both had backgrounds in events at the time and dreamed of creating a more nimble agency model where they could exclusively focus on experiential and events. This eventually led to Wildfire Experiential & Events, which the two founded in 2015.
"I started in the event and experiential industry before 'experiential' was even a well-known term," explains Thorpe, who began her career leveraging sponsorships at TELUS in 2001. "We quickly understood that creating an emotional connection between consumers and the brand drove results, and started to think beyond just showcasing technology and more about creating experiences."
Knop, meanwhile, spent time after college doing a variety of event management work and landed a seasonal job as an adventure tour guide.
"Looking back on things, the tour-guiding job was likely one of my most important steps toward entering the experiential industry," she reflects. "My primary responsibility was to curate moments to ensure my guests had the most memorable, impactful, and exciting trip around Western Canada. Through this job, I think I really started to understand how people react to great experiences, and how to craft and create truly memorable moments."
What innovation means to them: "To us, innovation means finding new ways to do something and providing experiences that will make someone stop and pay attention," the duo says. "It's about leveraging key insights to connect with your audience in an unforgettable way and integrating new and unexpected ways to deliver that moment. The best experiences tend to be ones that are fresh, unique, and smart. Just think about the type of experiences you share and talk about with others."
Thorpe and Knop think innovation is crucial to finding success in the experiential industry. "Without delivering on that, we are not doing our job properly," they explain. "We don’t believe in ‘rinse and repeating’ successful events. You can always do better, and coming up with new and different ways to engage with consumers is at the heart of Wildfire."
How they stay inspired: Thorpe and Knop make it a point to keep up with trends by reading publications, listening to podcasts, appreciating the work of other agencies globally, and attending industry events. They also draw inspiration from creative design trends and other industries.
"We not only love working at, but also love attending, inspirational and amazing events of all sizes," they add. "Bianca just recently returned from Coachella energized and full of ideas. We develop ‘magical moments’ to engage with consumers through their five senses. To do this, you have to think outside of the box and step into the shoes of a consumer." 
"We created an oasis amongst the music festival chaos,” say Thorpe and Knop of a Clearly activation they created at the Squamish Valley Music Festival.Photo: Courtesy of Wildfire Experiential & Events
Memorable moments: Thorpe and Knop reflect on two activations that stand out in their minds. The first was for Clearly—an online retailer of contacts, glasses, and sunglasses—and was one of their first activations as a new agency. Taking place at the Squamish Valley Music Festival, the activation helped Clearly introduce a rebrand, capture data, and enhance the music festival experience.
"We created an oasis amongst the music festival chaos and a unique opportunity to receive a personalized souvenir," the duo explains, adding that the branded lounge gave guests a place to sit, relax, and charge their phones. "They also had the opportunity to receive iconic blue Clearly sunglasses, win gift cards, and the biggest draw: receive a personalized tank top with a photo of their choice from their Instagram feed. We had a pop-up heat press station onsite that would instantly create the tank tops simply by having consumers share their photos on Instagram with hashtag #SeeLifeShine."
Icebreaker’s Move to Natural Lounge featured a living moss wall, which drew inspiration from the local Whistler mountainscape.Photo: Courtesy of Wildfire Experiential & Events
"To help highlight the importance of choosing natural materials such as merino wool, we created a pop-up lounge at the base of Blackcomb Mountain to bring awareness to consumers of the plastic found in their performance apparel and encourage the 'Move to Natural,'" they explain, adding that the entire space was built with that "natural" theme in mind.
"The indoor/outdoor, naturally lit wood lounge provided a space where people could ski up or walk up and enjoy locally sourced treats including hot chocolate, coffee, and energy balls," Thorpe and Knop add. "Within the lounge, people were invited to engage with product specialists to learn about the benefits of merino wool, icebreaker’s philosophy and mission, and explore key icebreaker products on display."
Their favorite thing about the experiential industry: For Thorpe and Knop, it's all about tapping into human emotion and building relationships with consumers.
"Experiential creates connections beyond what traditional advertising can achieve by creating two-way conversations and tapping into all five senses to elicit a response," they say. "Experiential done properly fosters brand love by creating feelings through providing value to the consumer. Yes, we want to reach KPIs—but we’re more focused on long-term engagement, creating brand advocates (free influencers, really) that will tell client brand stories, and spread the ever-valuable word of mouth."
Back to the full list: 20 Experiential Experts Changing the Future of Consumer Events
