Making Moments That Matter: Inside the Mind of Simon Hatter.

Shop Drop Daily
2 hours ago
6 min read

As the founder of HATTER, Simon Hatter has built a reputation for creating experiences that go beyond spectacle to deliver something far more valuable: genuine human connection. Guided by the philosophy of “Making Moments That Matter,” Simon and his team design brand experiences that balance strategic objectives with emotional impact, helping global brands like Nike and LEGO create memories that last long after the installation is dismantled. In a world increasingly shaped by algorithms, AI, and digital noise, Simon remains a passionate advocate for the power of being present. In this interview, he shares why humanity will always beat hype, how the most memorable moments often emerge from the unexpected, and why trust, connection, and legacy have become the true currency of modern brand experience.

Simon Hatter, Founder at HATTER.

SDD: The HATTER philosophy is “Making Moments That Matter”. In an industry often paralysed by data-driven safety and predictable KPIs, does creating spaces focused on being present and finding genuine connection sometimes feel like a radical act?

SH: Yes!

And that’s exactly why they are so important, especially right now.

People are clamouring for in-person connections, where they can escape the relentlessness of the everyday and participate rather than just observe.

Where they can get out of their own heads and feel curious, creative, and inspired. So, actually I’d say they’re less a radical act, more a necessity!

Data and KPIs are an intrinsic aspect of marketing; you not only have to justify spend, you also want to know that what you’re doing is working. (Otherwise we’d all be making it up as we go along.) Yet, traditional ROI frameworks fall short. They weren’t designed for this. The metrics have to evolve, which is totally possible.

Brand experiences can tick all of the boxes: appeasing data and KPI needs (just ensuring the data is relevant and the KPIs achievable) while also making moments that truly matter.

Lego Botanicals Bloom Bar, Amsterdam

SDD: How do you strategically engineer a physical environment to lower a visitor’s social defences, and where is the line between a controlled brand message and the genuine, unscripted chaos of human connection?

SH: Always leave enough space for the unscripted chaos – that’s where the magic lives. You can never predict exactly how something will play out and that’s the beauty of what we do.

The skill is in designing a space and consumer journey that accentuates both the strategic engineering (so you can hit those KPIs) and the natural unpredictability of us.

There is risk and reward in designing in a way that embraces the unknown and I find that really creatively fulfilling. In a HATTER-designed Nike project, we once made a climbing wall game for kids – and absolutely none of them played it how we’d designed. They all made their own ways across the wall, one even using it as a launch pad into the ball pit.

It actually worked out better than we’d planned, which is how you know you’ve hit the sweet spot navigating the brand message and the unscripted chaos.

Stanley Clubhouse, London

SDD: You’ve mentioned that “details make the difference” and that you enjoy perfecting the subtler elements that make guests feel like they’ve been let in on a secret. In a world of "Instagrammable" moments designed for mass broadcast, how do you ensure that the "small stuff" doesn't get swallowed by the "big wow,".

SH: Perhaps this isn’t the answer you were expecting, but sometimes the smaller details absolutely can get swallowed by the big ‘wows’. Sometimes that’s the whole point – that it’s just for the few. And for them, that subtle nod will stick in their memory forever. For those who don’t notice, it’ll be the big wow that keeps them talking for weeks.

It’s about having both: the small details and the bigger wows working together to create one cohesive overarching story.

As long as all details, big and small, are well designed, well planned, and totally intentional, they’ve done their job. The best thing about ‘shareability’ is seeing what different people choose to share – that, for me, is where the small details make the biggest differences.

Nike Air Max DN8, Amsterdam

SDD: Working with brands like Nike and LEGO requires a delicate balance of global DNA and local nuance. You’ve said that if an experience doesn’t make sense in its environment, there is no point to it. When taking a concept from Amsterdam to a different corner of the globe, how do you determine which parts of the brand’s story are universal and which must be "sacrificed" or adapted to honour local understanding?

SH: Our LEGO Botanicals Bloom Bar went live in February of this year, and our global toolkit was run by 17 countries – so this question feels very fresh!

Essentially, the rule isn’t determining which parts of a brand’s story are universal, because that’s not our job. The client knows the brand best and that’s their decision.

Our job is to determine which parts of the experience are universal and which parts can be adapted to be culturally relevant.

Things to bear in mind: what materials and build specs are available or affordable; local regulations (health and safety, licensing, permits, signage rules); lead times and supplier relationships; language nuances; cultural sensibilities (everything from religion and imagery, to humour and social norms); prioritising local craftspeople and artists; likely consumer behaviour in the space; national days of significance; tone around staffing and human interaction; wow factor.

Some elements will be non-negotiable brand assets that need protecting, others will be flexible and left up to local teams.

If the essence of the experience gets compromised too much, you have to question if it’s worth putting on at all. That’s where our belief that an experience has to make sense in its environment comes in.

Lego Botanicals Le Florist Tour, Europe

SDD: The SDD audience is obsessed with the now, but HATTER is deeply focused on the legacy, what stays in the mind after the event is struck and the doors are locked. When you are in the "first inkling of an idea" phase with a client, how do you define a "Moment That Matters"?

SH: Legacy matters hugely to us. We always ask how and why anything we make will matter going forwards. If it doesn’t, we don’t make it – because why produce something that leaves no memories, no mark, no footprint?

Legacy can come from creating something truly memorable and shareable. It can also come via functions of connectivity, such as sign-ups, exclusive clubs, community forums, competitions, merch, and offshoot events.

The more the now matters, the more legacy is guaranteed – however, there are tools at your disposal to help that along.

Having said that, to ensure a positive legacy the brand has to show up honestly, totally as itself. Trust is a massive issue right now within, well, everything, but specifically in marketing where you’re in the business of persuasion. Digital manipulations and AI have meant that we have more to prove – which is actually a gift for brand experience makers as you can’t fake how someone feels when they’re standing in the middle of your event.

You can’t manipulate how someone connects in-person with what you’re selling, or what memories they take home. Experiences offer brands a unique opportunity to tap into long-term loyalty by building trust, by proving they are who and what they say they are. Trust builds legacy which builds loyalty.

Nike Play New, Dubai

SDD: We are currently seeing a massive push toward "immersive" digital tech and AI-driven activations. Yet, HATTER’s manifesto firmly states that "Humanity Beats Hype." As a visionary who cut his teeth in the worlds of theatre and retail, where do you see the future of the physical brand experience heading? Can tech ever truly facilitate the "meaningful connection" you strive for, or is the most "future-proof" strategy simply a return to the theatricality of real human presence?

SH:“Humanity Beats Hype” is one of our core pillars. It’s about how genuine connection will always win out over fleeting trends. The hype in that instance is more concerned with big talk, little substance – not digital tech or AI. We 100% believe digital can help to facilitate proper, meaningful connections.

In our Nike Powers of Play experience, guests could make their own avatars and then ‘become’ them on a game played out on giant screens. We collaborated with Coolman Coffeedan to create “Coolman’s Universe” at NFT.NYC, creating an entire in-person experience for a digital community. Tech was integrated naturally throughout our recent LEGO Botanicals Bloom Bar, in shareable touchpoints and as part of the sign-up and sign-in processes. It smoothed out the journey that enabled the ‘theatricality of human presence’ to flourish.

We live in a world where most success metrics are measured online. You’d be naive to think that you can, should, or need to go fully analogue nowadays without a bloody good plan and ethos behind it.

As long as humanity – real people doing real things – is the foundation upon which any experience is built, you’ll always beat empty hype.