Imagination continues to grow strategy offer with two new director hires

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Award-winning global experience design company, Imagination, has appointed Sara Parrish and Louise Odquier as Strategy Directors in the UK. Joining at a transformative time for Imagination, they will build on the business’ award-winning expertise in experience design with Sara spearheading the expansion of its consulting offer in London and Louise taking the lead on Imagination’s suite of luxury clients, including JLR and Rolls Royce. Both roles are effective immediately, reporting to Tom Gray, Global Chief Strategy Officer.

Sara has extensive experience in strategy, experience design, and consulting, having previously served as Global CX Strategy Director at Clear M&C Saatchi and Lead Experience Consultant at krow Group. Her previous work includes award-winning projects for some of the world’s largest and most successful brands, including IKEA, Bacardi, Barclays, and Toyota, to name a few. 

Sara’s role will help lead and grow Imagination’s consultancy offer in London, building on the company’s success working with brands, rights holders, investors and nations to unlock the value of the Experience Economy. Imagination’s consultancy offer covers advisory, proposition design, business model innovation, customer experience blueprints and investment cases across all aspects of the experience economy – including entertainment, sports, arts and culture, hospitality and tourism, museums, major festivals and destination master planning. Clients include the likes of Pernod Ricard, Major League Baseball, Robb Report, and ABInbev. 

Her remit will span retail; customer experience and loyalty; brand and visitor attractions; and destinations, leading a team of strategists, researchers, and experience designers, to help clients realise the growing value of the Experience Economy for their businesses.

Louise will bring her extensive knowledge of modern luxury to help shape the future of some of the world’s leading brands, across the full spectrum of Imagination’s Destinations, Live and Content offers. She has 15 years of experience across luxury, entertainment, technology and automotive for global brands such as BMW, LVMH, Diageo, Disney, Samsung and Google. With a focus on brand experiences that tap into culture and community, her work and thinking has been featured in LBB, The Drum, Campaign Live and The Guardian.

Louise’s previous roles include luxury lifestyle group Quintessentially as well as social-first creative agencies Laundry Service, 20ten and Catch Digital. 

Tom Gray, Global Chief Strategy Officer at Imagination, added:

“Sara and Louise both bring extensive experience in CX strategy, coupled with their track records of delivering exceptional work for global brands. Both Sara and Louise’s ethos aligns with our ambition to be a world leader in strategy and design for the Experience Economy. We’re excited to have them both on board to help shape our consultancy in London and beyond, and I’m looking forward to working together.” 

Commenting on her new role, Sara said:

“I’m over the moon to join Imagination considering their impressive client roster, and unwavering commitment to Independent Creativity – an ethos that closely aligns with my passion for how to build best-in-class experience design. I’m looking forward to contributing to an agency with a reputation for consistently crafting exceptional experiences and I just know we’ll make waves together.” 

Commenting on her new role, Louise said:

“I am thrilled to be joining Imagination, an agency renowned for its commitment to crafting experiences that change the status quo. I can’t wait to collaborate with the team to drive innovation and deliver game changing, category shaping work for our clients.”

Imagination is an Experience Design Company headquartered in London, with 13 studios worldwide. Founded over 50 years ago on the principle of Independent Creativity – it brings together diverse groups of strategic, creative, and practical people to find creative and inspired answers to client challenges. We remain independent to this day.  Imagination’s clients include Major League Baseball, Visa, Ford, LVMH, Samsung, Jaguar Land Rover, Costa, Turkish Airlines, Harley Davidson and Telstra.

Imagination was awarded silver at Campaign’s Global Brand Experience Agency of the Year Awards 2022, ranked 38 in Newsweek’s UK Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces 2022, and won the Grand Prix award at Campaign Tech Awards for their recent work with Visa Masters of Movement.