DH: It’s great to see you, Michael. Congratulations on opening the Design and Project Management division at Tinc. This seems like the perfect time to offer this type of work, especially based on current market trends and projections. 

As head of the DPM division, where do you see the industry’s current landscaping heading as we enter 2024?

MB: There's a lot of appetite for it, for sure. There's a lot of call for it, and there are a lot of people out there doing it. You see it everywhere, from Disney on down. Everybody's doing some immersive experience, some sort of interactive thing. 

It really just comes out of a desire for the culture that we live in right now. We're so media-focused. Our attention spans are very short. Businesses have to compete with the movies and television. That’s not an easy thing to do. I think that people want to not just go to a movie theater or traditional theater. They want something more.

There’s a large clamoring for these immersive experiences, walk through them, and experience them at their own pace. Take something like the Meow Wolf installations; people are coming back to find different nooks and crannies that they didn't see the on their first visit. There’s just a lot of want for these types of experiences outside of the house, especially coming out of Covid.

DH: Speaking of the pandemic, the marketplace is very different from five years ago. For businesses that haven't fully embraced this idea of immersive experiences yet, what's the competitive advantage that working with a company like Tinc provides?

MB: What we offer is a collaborative partnership where a clients’ brand identity meshes with our own creative ideas and strategies. Out of that partnership, we together create something that is unique, something that is genuine. 

Genuine is an important part of the equation. So much of what is popular or mainstream today is content from the heart. If you, as a business, stay true to yourself and your message, companies like Tinc can develop a way to take that message and make it an experience. It’s something tangible that you can show your guests and will be better received because it was routed in such a way. 

DH: What kind of businesses can benefit from such an approach?

MB: Almost any type of business can benefit, but businesses that focus on in-person traffic specifically see a high ROI. Things like zoos, museums, and amusement parks. For example, an aquarium can hire us to do something as simple as creating an interesting touch point for guests as they experience an exhibit. The same aquarium can also hire us to design and execute a dynamic welcome area in front of the main entrance so that customers are naturally drawn in. 

DH: Can immersive experiences inadvertently result in marketing for the company?

MB: Yes, but not in the traditional sense. We are not advertising, but it’s part of our job to make sure people organically are driven to your business.

Take photos on social media as an example. These experiences provide the perfect place for people to pose and/or take candid shots. When you put these interesting activations in front of your zoos or your aquariums, people come down and take pictures in front of it. They post it on Instagram, their friends see it, and suddenly you've got 15 more people coming into your attraction. 

DH: It sounds like these immersive experiences foster community engagement. 

MB:  Exactly. What Tinc brings, that is so unique, is an opportunity for your business to engage with your community. In turn, your community comes and engages with you in wonderful ways.

When I approach any design, I want our clients to know that strengthening social bonds is an essential part of my process. I want our clients to walk away with something that's meaningful to them and to the community that they represent. I want to give them something they're proud of.

DH: In your division’s process, when does community engagement usually come into play?

MB: Right from the start. I make sure one of the first things we do for a client is look at the communities they are in. We understand who they are interacting with, who they're sponsoring with, and who they're partnering with so that we can bring those people to the table as well.

It's fostering that community relationship that makes it impactful for not only the organization that's putting on the event or activation but for everyone who comes to experience it.

DH: While we’re on the topic of community, how do you think retail spaces can benefit from immersive experiences? I ask because, for 30-40 years, malls had been a central gathering place. I don’t see that so much anymore. 

MB: I look at malls as a gathering place just as much as any gathering place. With the trajectory of the current market, though, indoor malls will die out if they don’t embrace the reality of the situation. 

DH: Which is?

MB: Customers need to do more than just shop when they go out, otherwise, why wouldn’t they just order everything online? It's not interesting to just go out and shop for clothes like it was a few years ago. Retail spaces need to do more. 

Meow Wolf is a great example. As you know, Tinc recently installed Meow Wolf’s The Real Unreal experience at the Grapevine Mills mall. It’s been wildly successful for Meow Wolf, but that increase, and sustained traffic has also brought people into close physical proximity to retail shops and restaurants in the area. Retail spaces need things like Meow Wolf. They need things like Level99 at the Providence Place Mall, another project Tinc installed. These experiences are what bring people out of the house and into retail spaces. 

DH: It sounds like leasing centers at these shopping destinations are finding success when they bring in these types of businesses. What are some other things retail property managers can do to help drive business through immersive experiences?

MB: A perfect example of this would be a Santa experience during the holiday season. People want to come with their kids to see Santa and take pictures. It's one of the easiest things in the world for malls to do. But I would go a step further. Don’t limit yourselves to the holidays. It’s 2024. Your retail shopping experience needs to be immersive to be completive. Even more, your retail shopping experience should be unique. 

DH: Do you think malls and shopping centers can regain a place for communities to gather? 

MB: If you can make something into a destination, people will come. They’ll also spend more time there and are more likely to return in the future. 

DH: Tinc has offices in New York City, Dallas, and Miami. I know the company’s theatrical and labor divisions do work across the country, but how does your division factor in for markets outside of your offices’ metro areas? With all this talk about community, why would businesses not just hire locally? 

MB: In these cases – especially in mid-size and smaller markets – it is an efficient advantage to go with a national company like Tinc. For one, these local areas may have talented people who can do the work, but the experienced talent pool is smaller than in larger areas. When a company goes with Tinc, they get access to our deep national talent roster. Our team members are from all over the country. We bring the best of the best to each project, no matter the location.

Partnering with us is partnering with your community, no matter the location. Let’s say you need work in the Arizona area. Just because we've signed a contract with you to send Texans on an Arizona install doesn’t mean that local crews will be out of work. In fact, we are known for helping local crews develop and work. There have even been an increasing number of projects where we’ve added local crew members to our roster for future projects.

DH: Are there any other advantages Tinc brings to companies in mid-size and small markets? 

MB: Because we’ve done projects all over the country, we bring outside perspectives. What works well for an immersive experience in the Northeast or the Midwest may not fully work in the Southwest, but there are parts that do. We’ll show you those parts while also immersing ourselves into your local community, like we talked about earlier. We want to be apart of your business and your community, and I think that means something in today’s market.