A Season of Strategy: The Authenticity Play – when it comes to big sporting moments, brands should be thinking smaller.

As part of A Season of Strategy, Dave Powell, Commercial Director at Wonderland (part of The Strata Group), talks authenticity, culture and why the brands that contribute real value win.

At the time of writing, London is covered in the St George’s flag, and it’s a familiar, electric feeling. The FIFA World Cup is underway, and the summer stretches long ahead of us, filled with sporting events, music festivals and blockbuster movies. “It’s a perfect time to think about the power of experiences like the World Cup, and how brands can be a part of the energy in a way that feels original and valuable,” explains Dave Powell, Commercial Director at Wonderland (part of The Strata Group).

The problem with showing up for massive cultural events is that simply tagging along to a big moment doesn’t deliver immediate relevance. Exposure without participation can risk feeling generic, and there is an art to authenticity that is difficult to force. “Authenticity comes from a place of contribution, not just presence,” Powell states, “and that’s what my team at Wonderland and our colleagues in the wider Strata Group have been thinking about lately: how brands can achieve their goals with real authenticity.”

Culture is where authenticity lives

Real engagement sits with communities, not audiences. There are some intuitive entry points, if you know where to look as a brand – sport, music and street style, to name a few. “As a music-lover and a Crossfit addict, I can spot a kindred spirit on a crowded Tube platform from the iconic inverted G of the Ghost logo or trust someone wearing R.A.D trainers will want to talk about their Workout of the Day,” describes Powell. “By tapping into the energy that is already there, rather than attempting to manufacture it, brands can find that sweet spot of contributing to an existing culture and forging authentic connections without crowding the moment.”

A fantastic example is Nike’s collaboration with Palace Skateboards¹. Yes, Nike can afford to launch a massive campaign around the World Cup – Rip The Script², their 2026 campaign, is a truly impressive display of star power – but they also understand the power of grassroots. Palace is a London-based streetwear and skateboarding brand, and together with Nike they opened Manor Palace: a revitalized heritage building in South London, now a sport, creativity and community hub open six days a week and totally free to use. “The collaboration element means Nike is spoken in the same breath as a brand whose identity is around street style, enmeshed with the skateboarding subculture,” explains Powell. “It’s specific to London, and the social investment won’t be forgotten by the locals who benefit from the space. The project puts cultural perspective first, and that’s why it’s memorable.”

Participation drives deeper connection

Events and experiences drive deeper emotional equity, not just reach. By putting the community element of activations before the broadcast element, the strategy gains cultural credibility, particularly in sports, which are amazing social equalisers.

“At Wonderland, we worked with Olympic Gold Medalist Keely Hodgkinson to celebrate the launch of Nike’s Vomero 18 running shoe, taking her home to her childhood club in Manchester,” Powell says. “Keely led a community focused running event with 7 local running crews and Sports Direct Manchester employees³. We could have put Keely anywhere, but by taking her home, it meant the audience around her was buzzing with excitement and energy, and the user-generated content (UGC) was authentic and pitch-perfect. The moment was right – the launch of the shoe – but the place and the audience had to be right, too.”

Chris Vernon-Smith, Creative Director at On Event Production Co, who along with Wonderland sit within The Strata Group, agrees. “There’s another element to consider, once you’ve got the right moment and the right audience,” Vernon-Smith explains. “Great live event production makes participation feel easy and accessible, and from that, you get great engagement. By getting the audio and staging right, you can make an event feel elevated, polished and experiential, and let the audience really take in your message.”

Scale should follow the moment

Not everything needs to be ‘Superbowl-big’; by taking a considered approach to the culture surrounding the moment you want to feature, you can correctly find your scale and the ‘volume’ at which you want to speak to your chosen audience. “Sometimes, big is appropriate,” says Powell. “When we organised for Mr. Beast to hold a ‘Willy Wonka-style’ giveaway outside the Sydney Opera House to celebrate the relaunch of Feastables in Australia, we weren’t aiming for subtle.⁴ It would honestly have been off-brand! But while loud and flashy has its place, smaller, sharper moments with true authenticity can actually land harder.”

The truth acknowledged within the industry is that lasting positive brand associations are earned rather than engineered. Trust is built with the right collaborators and the right communities – there is significantly more value, particularly in the age of AI, in true UGC rather than forced content.

Hellman’s (yes, the mayonnaise) managed this impressively when Charlie XCX defended a banned poster during the height of brat summer – the regulators banned her original UK area tour poster, and she responded that it was just displaying ‘a sandwich bag’, encouraging fans to bring their own sandwiches to her show. Hellmans handed out free ‘Club Classic’ sandwiches to fans queuing to enter the area in clear, brat-inspired branded bags that immediately became limited-edition fan items.⁵ 

The brand took a risk, put their finger on the pulse of the zeitgeist, and successfully connected with an audience ready to be vocal and get excited. “We’re being asked by clients more and more to create ‘fan zones’ and other production solutions that promote non-staged participation moments,” describes Vernon-Smith. “Even at bigger events, if you can find a moment where people have the time and the energy to engage, you can create designs that get amazing authentic participation.”

Final thought

Sporting events like the World Cup are great unifiers; brands should plan to add value, rather than attempt to share the spotlight or steal focus. By building a strategy around culture as currency, existing communities can become engaged audiences.

“In the past few years of my work at Wonderland, I’ve come to believe that the truth is this: people engage with what brands enable, not what they say,” concludes Powell. “Sportswear that truly enables young people to kick a ball or run around a track with their friends. Sandwiches that spark a conversation and make sure you’re fueled, heading into a high-energy gig.

It’s as simple as this: no matter the scale you’re working with, be honest. Show up and give back. The results will follow.”

Dave Powell is Commercial Director at Wonderland, part of The Strata Group. He is an experienced Creative Strategist with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. He has a strong business development background in Brand Experience Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Youth Marketing, Social Media, and Digital Media.

References

1. https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-palace-manor-place-announcement-official-images  Last accessed 23.06.26
2. https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-debuts-rip-the-script-a-step-inside-the-universe-of-nike-football  Last accessed 23.06.26
3. https://www.instagram.com/p/DLC5JzBoCa7/ Last accessed 23.06.26
4. https://www.wonderland-agency.com/work/mr-beast Last accessed 23.06.26
5. https://www.mackgire.com/hellmanns-x-charli-xcx