Beyond the Booth: Why Experiential Marketing is Healthcare’s New Frontier

LOS ANGELES, CA – December 02, 2025 – In a move that reverberates far beyond the traditional marketing world, private equity firm Truelink Capital announced that its portfolio company GES, a global events provider, has acquired the creative agency 2Heads. The London-based agency will be integrated into GES’s experiential arm, Spiro, creating a formidable global player in the design and execution of immersive brand experiences. While the press release focuses on clients in technology and finance, the true significance of this consolidation lies in the trend it represents—a trend with profound implications for the healthcare and life sciences ecosystem.

As digital fatigue mounts and the demand for authenticity grows, the era of passive communication is ending. For an industry built on human trust and complex innovation, this shift isn't just a marketing opportunity; it's a strategic imperative. This acquisition is a clear signal that the infrastructure is being built to move healthcare engagement beyond the static conference booth and into a new, dynamic, and far more impactful dimension.

The Experience Economy Comes for Healthcare

The explosive growth of the experiential marketing industry is a direct response to a fundamental change in audience expectations. Global spending in the sector is projected to surpass $128 billion in 2024, with over two-thirds of marketers planning to increase their experiential budgets next year. This isn't about chasing a fad; it's about meeting a real human need for connection in an oversaturated digital landscape. After years of Zoom meetings and endless email chains, both consumers and professionals are craving tangible, memorable interactions.

This dynamic is acutely felt in healthcare. Patients, increasingly viewing themselves as active consumers of healthcare services, expect the same level of personalized, human-centric engagement they receive from other sectors. Simultaneously, healthcare professionals (HCPs) are inundated with data, digital ads, and virtual presentations. To cut through the noise and truly communicate the value of a complex new medical device or a groundbreaking therapeutic, a simple PowerPoint slide is no longer sufficient.

Experiential marketing offers a powerful solution by transforming abstract data into tangible understanding. It allows a surgeon to simulate a new procedure using augmented reality, a patient to visualize their treatment journey in an interactive exhibit, or a group of researchers to collectively explore complex trial data in a dynamic, immersive setting. As one industry analyst notes, “In an age of deepfakes and AI-generated content, the currency of trust is built through real, verifiable experiences. For healthcare, where trust is paramount, this is not a luxury but a necessity.”

Building a Global Powerhouse for Immersive Engagement

The acquisition of 2Heads by GES is a textbook example of strategic consolidation designed to capitalize on this trend. GES, through its Spiro agency, already possesses a massive global footprint and the logistical prowess to execute large-scale events. 2Heads, an award-winning creative boutique, brings the specialized design and innovation talent needed to make those events “unskippable,” as the agency describes its work.

As Jeff Stelmach, Global President of Spiro, noted in the announcement, the goal is to leverage this combination to “deliver impactful, strategic creative experiences” on a global scale. The strategy is clear: combine Spiro’s infrastructure with 2Heads’ creative engine to build a premier, end-to-end partner for live and immersive experiences. For Truelink Capital, the private equity firm backing the deal, this is about more than just owning another marketing asset; it's about building a platform capable of defining the future of brand engagement.

This move mirrors a broader consolidation trend where specialized creative firms are being acquired to infuse larger platforms with agility and innovation. The combined entity can now offer clients a single, integrated solution that handles everything from initial strategy and creative concepting to global execution and data analysis—a compelling proposition for large pharmaceutical and medtech companies managing global product launches and complex educational campaigns.

The New Playbook for Medtech and Pharma

For the healthcare industry, the capabilities of a super-agency like the newly expanded Spiro offer a glimpse into the future of stakeholder engagement. The traditional medical congress, long the cornerstone of HCP interaction, is ripe for disruption. Instead of rows of static booths, imagine a conference floor where experiences are the main attraction.

Consider these applications:

• Immersive Product Demonstrations: A medtech company launching a new robotic surgery system can create a hands-on AR or VR simulation, allowing surgeons to experience the device's precision and ergonomic benefits firsthand, rather than just watching a video. This accelerates the learning curve and builds confidence.
• Data Storytelling: A pharmaceutical firm can transform its Phase III clinical trial data from dense charts into an interactive, walkable exhibit. Physicians could explore patient outcomes, side effect profiles, and efficacy rates in a three-dimensional space, fostering deeper understanding and retention.
• Patient-Centric Education: For chronic diseases like diabetes or heart failure, experiential activations in community settings can educate patients and caregivers about management strategies in an empathetic and engaging way. These events build brand trust and can directly support treatment adherence.

By integrating 2Heads' design-led approach, which has served top technology and consumer brands, Spiro is now better equipped to bring this level of sophisticated, emotionally resonant storytelling to the historically more conservative healthcare sector. As Paul Godwin, Managing Director of 2Heads, stated, the vision is to “amplify” the power of creativity on a global scale, and the healthcare industry stands to be a major beneficiary.

From Engagement to Impact: The ROI of Experience

Historically, the greatest challenge for experiential marketing has been measuring its return on investment. A positive feeling is hard to quantify on a balance sheet. However, the modern experiential agency is as much a data company as it is a creative one. The press release highlights Spiro's “data-informed” approach and 2Heads' commitment to being “driven by results.”

This new generation of experiential marketing integrates technology at every touchpoint to capture meaningful data. RFID wristbands, mobile event apps, and interactive touchscreens can track attendee journeys, measure dwell time at specific exhibits, gauge sentiment through interactive polls, and capture qualified leads for sales follow-up. For healthcare marketers, this means they can now draw a direct line from an immersive conference experience to a subsequent increase in prescription rates or device adoption.

This focus on measurable impact is critical in an industry with long and complex sales cycles. The goal is not a one-time splash but the cultivation of what Spiro calls “Brand Gravity”—the sustained, data-informed emotional and behavioral pull between a brand and its audience. By creating a series of connected, high-value experiences, healthcare companies can build lasting relationships with HCPs and patients, guiding them from initial awareness to long-term advocacy. The GES acquisition of 2Heads is a strategic investment in the tools and talent needed to build exactly that kind of enduring connection.