The guide helps marketers quantify the holistic value of real-world experiences such as events and experiential marketing.
LOS ANGELES, CA (July 21, 2025) – Residence, a global network of best-in-class creative companies, releases Return on Experience (ROX): A Marketer’s Guide to Measuring—and Making the Case for—the Holistic Value of Real-World Experiences, a new report co-authored by strategy, media and data consultancy, Part and Sum and experience design studio, VTProDesign. The report introduces a strategic framework for measuring the full spectrum of value generated by branded experiences, events, and experiential marketing, moving from return-on-investment to return-on-experience.
Spending in experiential marketing has surged and in 2024 was predicted to reach $128.35 billion surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to PQ Media’s Global B2C & B2B Experiential Marketing Forecast 2024-2028. As brands invest more in real-world experiences, the need to quantify that investment grows. The Return on Experience (ROX) report and framework responds directly to that challenge, helping marketers prove and optimize the impact of their experiential work.
In an age when consumer expectations shift rapidly, businesses demand clear return on investments, and traditional marketing metrics fall short. The Return on Experience (ROX) report outlines a blueprint for marketers to plan, scale, and measure experiences that are emotionally resonant, culturally relevant, and reflected by business growth.
Drawing on Part and Sum’s data-driven growth expertise and VTProDesign’s award-winning experiential production capabilities, the guide equips marketers to design, scale, and measure transformative experiences that create cultural capital and drive sustained advocacy.
We measure things not for vanity, but to be able to learn and make things better. That means designing an approach to uncover foundational insights that can impact more than marketing, but product, sales, and even our notion of who a customer is.
Jim Babb, CEO, Part and Sum
Great experiences generate insight, not just intrigue. By marrying strategic measurement with creative technology, we're giving brands a blueprint to strategically plan, measure, and optimize real-world activations—not just as moments, but as mechanisms for lasting brand value.
Paul Elsberg, Group Business Director, VTProDesign
The framework is built on five key shifts offering event marketers and planners a holistic approach to planning and proving experience-led marketing strategies.
- Transactional → Transformative: Experiences must build lasting emotional bonds.
- Passive → Active Participation: Audiences become co-creators, not spectators.
- Physical → Hybrid: Blending IRL with digital extends reach and relevance.
- Individual → Collective: Shared moments amplify resonance and advocacy.
- Momentary → Transcendent: Memories outlive media impressions.
What’s inside the Return on Experience (ROX) report:
- The ROX Framework maps value across five dimensions (Brand, Engagement, Sales, PR/Storytelling, Organizational Insight) and three time horizons (Before, During, After).
- Case studies illustrate real examples of how brands have used elements of the framework to out-perform on brand lift, community engagement, and earned reach.
- Cheat sheets give B2C and B2B marketers tactical guides to track the metrics that matter—from memory retention to CRM-linked conversions.
The Return on Experience (ROX) report is available to download at: partandsum.com/return-on-experience-the-business-case-for-branded-experiences
Press Kit
Includes full PDF report, animated sizzle and loops
About Residence
Residence is a global network of creative companies united by a shared mission: to empower creative potential. Its companies bring deep expertise across branding, experiential marketing, digital products, media, and community-building, working collectively to help ambitious organizations make a meaningful impact. Residence was founded to champion best-in-class creative work while supporting the talent and culture that make it possible. For more information, visit residence.co.
About Part and Sum
Part and Sum is a strategic growth partner. They bolt on to pull signals from across your brand experience, uncovering and actioning growth opportunities. They pride themselves on being "a creative team's best friend," equipping their partners with insights, validation, distribution, and measured impact. For more information about Part and Sum and its innovative approach to strategy and integrated creative services, visit partandsum.com.
About VTProDesign
Building unique worlds to help brands connect audiences to radical experiences, VTProDesign is here to evoke emotion and create interactive journeys others are simply too scared to take on. The immersive design company leads with an innovative yet authentic foot forward, curating a team of trailblazers that push the boundaries on how an audience connects with an experience. Learn more at vtprodesign.com.
