Inspiring Bold Thinking at The Grand Hotel Birmingham

For AON’s 2026 Leadership Conference at The Grand Hotel Birmingham, we designed an immersive Client Challenge that ran throughout the two-day event, reinforcing the conference themes of bold thinking and innovation.

Working from an imaginary client scenario developed by AON, we developed the creative framework, including the client identity, branding, brochures and supporting materials for the scenario. Inspired by murder mystery challenges, the tasks unfolded across four stages, with each new brief revealed through AI-generated videos, including a simulated WhatsApp conversation video, a Microsoft Teams call and a breaking news broadcast, creating anticipation, excitement, clear breaks in the conference and driving engagement in the challenge.

Each team received a briefcase containing challenge materials, workbooks and envelopes to be opened during each task so all elements were kept secret until they were revealed in the conference. The challenge culminated in a Dragons’ Den-style client pitch that encouraged collaboration, creativity and confident decision-making.

By integrating the challenge through the conference rather than treating it as a standalone activity, we created an engaging, narrative-led experience that kept delegates immersed from start to finish while bringing the event theme to life.