Four hundred guests, a 20-metre screen, and a cause that can’t be dressed up as a party trick. A gala only works if it raises money and feels like a night out, and an arena can feel very empty if you don’t get it right.

We built it end to end: a full annual event brand across web, print, screen, video and social, and the event itself, from concept, hosts and sponsors to running order, guest list, MPs and VIPs, and a media run that sold the room.

The brand had to feel like an evening worth dressing for and still tell the truth about children’s mental health. Prestige without the message is just vanity; the message without theatre doesn’t travel across an arena. So we took a dual approach: spectacle for the room, substance for the cause.

Our secret sauce for assets that had to live over four months was the peak-end rule. It applies to galas as much as shops: people remember how it opened and how it closed, so the strategy held both. Once the date filled, social proof did half the selling and scarcity did the rest. Creative detail turned ordinary moments into memorable ones, celebrity presence gave the evening heat, and the planning kept the heat from becoming chaos.

400+ guests. Over £35,000 raised on the night. We’ll do it all again next year.