SDI has turned its experiential offering into a new entity known as Midnight Circus, part of the parent company’s recent efforts to create a “house of brands” around its core strengths.

Nigel Scott, the agency president, notes that in the past decade, SDI has grown its headcount from 30 to 200, so instead of spreading its talent across all kinds of work, it identified strengths where it could create more focused units, such as in sales and activation (Kite) or, this past February, with sports marketing and sponsorship (SDIsports). These have been joining other SDI companies Fuel Media (digital), Good Things (promotional products), SDI Marketing Doha (focused on experiential in the MENA region) and Polite Payroll (payment services).

“We chose to restructure SDI as a house of brands, creating purpose-driven subsidiaries that focus solely on what we excel at, and really dialing those in,” Scott says. “We noticed that full-service, jack-of-all-trades agencies were losing relevance, and our size and wide scope made explaining our work a tightrope walk.”

Turning its experiential expertise into Midnight Circus is the latest in that journey. SDI’s experiential work has included helping Heineken offer pints and haircuts during the pandemic and supporting Harvey’s experiential marketing efforts, and the more focused agency brand aims to capitalize on the recognition that XM goes beyond merely holding events.

“Our goal was to redefine XM’s potential, creating meaningful impact and value exchange for all participants through a whole new way of thinking,” Scott says. “We wanted it to energize our culture, inspire cool merch, develop our own lingo and create a magical realm, just like we do for clients.”

Scott tells strategy that as an agency that primarily focused on face-to-face interactions, COVID hit it hard. However, despite the many challenges, it provided the shop with the opportunity to concentrate on essential projects and to “deeply explore what makes an experience valuable.”

The name of the new agency originates from a photo shared with NY designers, Sagmeister & Walsh, who were shown a picture of Diamond Dust and the Midnight Circus, a band featuring SDI staff. The snap featured SDI president and CEO Roy Roedger playing a helmet-mounted cowbell and the name was born.

According to Scott, Sagmeister & Walsh knew immediately that “Midnight Circus” was the name, and set off crafting an arresting visual identity that combined classic big top elements, like primary colors, typographic callouts and illusionist patterns, with a “contemporary almost Japanese-Warhol-esque twist.”

Notable remits the agency has earned recently include working on this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup alongside its sports marketing partners, SDIsports.

“We recently pitched and were awarded fan experiences for two of FIFA’s six continental confederations,” Scott explains. “CONCACAF and CONMEBOL will both have substantial destination experiences at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this summer.”

The shop has also been entrusted with all experience design around Kraft Heinz’s Lunchables brand in the U.S., Hyundai and the launch of Ed Sheeran hot sauce, Tingly Teds, where Midnight Circus will follow the singer’s tour across North America with an immersive food experience.