How to Create the Perfect Invitation for VICs

Feature by Parade

At Parade, we spend a great deal of our time working with our clients (ranging luxury brands, financial services, law, tech and other industries) to create and curate experiences that will be appealing to their most valued audiences. Gone are the days that an invitation to a red carpet gala would be enough to entice a VIC to engage with a brand. This got us thinking: what IS the perfect invitation for VICs?

The most successful invitations in 2025 are to experiences - and those experiences are generally adjacent to the brand. They sit within its world, but they are not a direct expression of its product. A heritage fashion house might host a twilight conversation between a theatre director and a sculptor about how light changes perception.. A jeweller might quietly sponsor a small classical concert in a client’s home city, not to showcase a collection but to give their client a reason to gather people they love. A champagne brand might arrange a private garden dinner with a botanist who studies rare vines, knowing that their guest has a passion for ecology. The connection to the brand is there, but it never shouts. It feels natural, intelligent and aligned.

This kind of experience says to the client, we know what inspires you. It isn’t about indulgence; it’s about resonance. The setting, the scale, even the choice of company should all reinforce the idea that this could not have happened without the brand’s thoughtfulness. That is the quiet power of access. When done well, it leaves the guest with a feeling that they have seen a side of the world that is usually reserved for someone else, and that they have seen it because of you.

In our business, we curate these kinds of experiences for brands who understand that relationships are built emotionally, not transactionally. A perfect invitation is an opportunity for the relationship lead to spend time with their client in a way that feels natural, meaningful and shared. The goal is not to impress, but to connect. When a client feels seen as a person rather than a customer, that is when loyalty deepens.

And it does not have to be elaborate. Some of the most successful experiences are remarkably simple. A British fashion label once invited a handful of long-standing clients to join a well-known chef for a foraging walk along the coastline, followed by lunch in a fisherman’s hut. The brand’s name appeared only once, on the napkin. The cost was modest, but the intimacy was priceless. Each guest felt part of something authentic, something that reflected their values as much as the brand’s.

When you strip away the staging and strategy, what remains is connection. The art of the perfect invitation lies in creating an experience that sits beautifully beside your brand’s world, yet speaks directly to the client’s own. It should feel effortless, inevitable and entirely personal. For those who already have everything, the true luxury is not access to more. It is access to meaning.

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Parade is an independent, founder-led agency, specialising in an often-overlooked part of the event experience – the guest journey before and after a key brand moment. Sitting at the intersection of events, travel and concierge, Parade exists to champion the importance of the seamless guest experience, and it is our mission to deliver guests to an event in the best possible frame of mind. To learn more about Parade or to enquire about our services, please contact andrew@weareparade.com