On Board Experiential Marketing

What On Board Experiential Marketing does

On Board Experiential Marketing (OBE) is a privately held, full-service experiential marketing agency founded in 1995 by Dan Hirsch and headquartered in Los Angeles. The company designs and produces brand activations, pop-ups, festivals, concerts, hybrid events, product launches, and large-scale press events for global enterprise clients, with stated capacity to deliver experiences ranging from 10 to 250,000 attendees. OBE's service offering is organized into integrated modules including Executive Sports Advisory (Onboard Sports Advisory, or OSA), Creative Strategy + Design, Full-service Production, Technology + Innovation, Content Creation, Account Services, and Business Operations, supported by a wholly-owned brand-ambassador staffing subsidiary (On Brand Staffing) and a multicultural creative subsidiary (Think True). The agency's client base is enterprise-heavy and includes Nike, Sephora, JPMorganChase, Starbucks, NFL, OpenAI, Meta, Chase Sapphire, Converse, Activision, and The Infatuation, with deep repeat engagement across marquee programs such as JPMorganChase's Corporate Challenge, Nike's global race production and After Dark Tour, SEPHORiA, and Meta House at the Big Game.

The company's technology footprint centers on experiential production tooling, hybrid event platforms, and immersive digital environments rather than proprietary software products. Notable technical work includes a SEPHORiA virtual environment with avatar customization, gamified engagement, NFT rewards, and six-language localization integrated with Sephora's Beauty Insider loyalty program; a Call of Duty launch featuring a 36-foot LED soundwave panel and 130 customized game stations; and live-streamed influencer activations for OpenAI's Frontiers event series across San Francisco, London, Tokyo, and Singapore. OBE's go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales into Fortune 500 brand and rights-holder buyers, with project-based, quote-driven pricing. The agency operates from four offices (Los Angeles HQ, New York, Mill Valley, London) and has scaled through both acquisition — notably a majority stake in London-based Playmaker Experiential in March 2024 — and organic practice launches, including Onboard Sports Advisory in January 2026 and the co-founding of the ADD Collective founder-led agency network in December 2025.

Ownership remains private; in September 2015 Azoff MSG Entertainment acquired a minority stake, and founder Dan Hirsch remains active. The agency reports 120+ full-time employees and has been named to Event Marketer's It List of Top 100 Event Agencies for 14+ consecutive years, with multi-category wins across BizBash, Ex Awards, Shorty Awards, The Drum, Eventex, and Chief Marketer. Revenue is not publicly disclosed.

Name

On Board Experiential Marketing

Legal name

OBE Worldwide, LLC

Website

https://obexp.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

On Board Experiential Marketing (OBE) is a privately held, full-service experiential marketing agency founded in 1995, producing brand activations, pop-ups, festivals, hybrid events, and sports activations for global enterprise clients including Nike, Sephora, JPMorganChase, Starbucks, NFL, and OpenAI, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and London.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Experiential Marketing Services

NAICS

Spectator Sports (71121)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Sponsorship Fulfillment & Activation Services (On-Site Ops, Creative Production, Staffing) (MPAKALAL)

Keywords

• Experiential marketing services
• Brand activation agency
• Event production services
• Sports marketing advisory
• Hybrid event management

Headquarters

HQ city

Sausalito

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Experiential Marketing Services: OBE generates revenue through providing comprehensive experiential marketing services including strategy, creative design, production, and execution of brand experiences, events, and activations for enterprise clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

OBE is a full-service experiential marketing agency that plans, designs, produces, and executes brand experiences and live event activations for global enterprise clients. Service offerings span brand activations, pop-ups, festivals, concerts, conferences, product launches, and press events, delivered through integrated modules covering creative strategy and design, full-service production, technology and innovation, content creation, account services, and business operations. The firm also runs the Onboard Sports Advisory (OSA) practice providing executive sports strategy consulting.

Product overview

OBE is a global experiential marketing agency creating culture for brands through experiences. The company operates as a full-service agency with integrated service modules including Executive Sports Advisory (OSA), Creative Strategy + Design, Full-service Production, Technology + Innovation, Content Creation, Account Services, and Business Operations. OBE's Onboard Sports Advisory (OSA) is a dedicated sports advisory practice offering executive advisement, activation architecture, operations management, and insights and analytics. The company also participates in ADD Collective, a global founder-led agency network. OBE recently expanded internationally through acquisition of London-based Playmaker Experiential, adding to offices in Los Angeles (HQ), New York City, and San Francisco.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Experiential Marketing Services End-to-end planning, design, production, and execution of brand activations, pop-ups, festivals, concerts, conferences, product launches, and press events at any scale from 10 to 250,000 attendees for global enterprise brands.
• Onboard Sports Advisory (OSA) Strategic consulting focused on driving business results through global sport, offering executive advisement, activation architecture, operations management, and insights and analytics for sports-related marketing investments.
• Creative Strategy + Design Insight-driven strategy and imagination-led design services built to be felt in the room, not just admired in a deck, supporting experiential marketing programs.
• Full-Service Production End-to-end production making experiences real on time, on budget, and at any scale from audiences of 10 to 250,000.
• Technology + Innovation Human-centered technology approach that amplifies and connects every brand experience, solving complex technological challenges in experiential marketing.
• Content Creation Content development from pre-production through production and post, supporting experiential campaigns with social, video, and live capture content.

Quantifiable outcome

• 230k+ participants annually across JPMorganChase Corporate Challenge
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• ADD CollectivecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 March 2024OBE is a founding member of ADD Collective, a global founder-led agency network that allows the agency to scale teams and capabilities beyond a single shop for larger briefs requiring specialized expertise.
• DemodernsupportingTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner for creating immersive virtual experiences, specifically the SEPHORiA virtual metaverse environment.
• On Brand StaffingsupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSister agency that recruits and manages brand ambassador teams for experiential activations, providing staffing for live events.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• WME (Endeavor): Global entertainment and sports agency whose properties (WME sports, IMG, On Location) handle athlete representation, sponsorship sales, and experiential rights-holder work. WME/Endeavor's scale and integrated talent + sponsorship offering is a broader incumbent threat to OBE's rights-holder sports ambitions and OSA advisory practice.
• Legends Hospitality: Hospitality and experiential agency managing sports venues, sponsorships, and fan experiences for NFL, MLB, and global sports properties. Legends' Super Bowl and NFL activation work (the same property type as OBE's NFL Flag and Super Bowl activations) makes them a frequent co-bidder on enterprise sports RFPs.
• Octagon: IPG-owned global sports marketing agency with deep rights-holder relationships (NFL, IOC, FIFA) and a much broader portfolio across athlete management, consulting, and content. Octagon is a larger incumbent than OBE but overlaps directly on sports sponsorship activation and Olympic/Paralympic advisory that OBE's OSA practice is now pursuing.

Direct peers

• 160over90: Endeavor-owned experiential and sports marketing agency producing brand experiences and sponsorship activations. 160over90's enterprise client base (AB InBev, Nike-adjacent, NFL partners) overlaps directly with OBE's live event and sponsorship fulfillment book.
• Sparks: Omnicom-owned experiential marketing agency producing brand experiences, sports activations, and pop-ups for enterprise clients. Sparks and OBE share the same client roster characteristics (Nike, NFL-style programming, large-scale consumer events) and GTM motion of enterprise field sales into Fortune 500 CMOs.
• George P. Johnson Experience Marketing: Long-standing independently held experiential agency delivering large-scale brand experiences, conferences, and product launches. GPJ and OBE both emphasize global production capability, custom technology integrations, and enterprise client programs (OpenAI's developer conferences are typical GPJ territory).
• GMR Marketing: Sports and experiential marketing agency specializing in sponsorship activation, fan engagement, and on-site event operations. OBE's Corporate Challenge, NFL Flag, and Olympic-adjacent work directly overlaps with GMR's core sports sponsorship fulfillment offering, and OBE's Creative-in-Res hire Ken Black previously led GMR global creative.
• MKG (now MKG Experiential): Independent full-service experiential marketing agency producing brand activations, sports sponsorships, and hybrid events. MKG competes with OBE on creative-led experiential briefs for similar enterprise clients (Sephora, Nike-adjacent beauty/retail) and pursues comparable award circuit recognition (Event Marketer It List).
• Jack Morton Worldwide: Interpublic-owned experiential marketing agency delivering brand experiences, events, and activations for global brands including sports sponsorships. OBE and Jack Morton compete head-to-head on enterprise experiential RFPs for Fortune 500 clients like JPMorganChase, Nike, and Meta, with similar end-to-end strategy-through-production service models.
• CSM Sports & Entertainment: Global sports and entertainment marketing agency providing sponsorship strategy, activation, and consulting to brands and rights holders. CSM is a direct comparable on the OSA-style advisory side of OBE's business; OSA President Dave Mingey previously led CSM's North America consulting practice.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/56233
• Instagraminstagram.com/obexp
• Xx.com/obe95
• Facebookfacebook.com/onboardexp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about On Board Experiential Marketing