What comes to mind when you think about working with an established international bank? Do you expect to be bombarded with limitations? Red tape? Plain old “no”s? Well, lucky for us, Santander North America fully defies all those expectations. They are truly reimagining what it means to be a bank — and to work for one! 

Santander came to us through a longtime colleague and friend of Erick Long, RedPeg’s VP of Production. After their many years working together in the Southern California event world, our team was thrilled to be brought into the loop and given the opportunity to impress. 

Santander North America has a long-standing tradition of gathering once a year for business updates and culture building. But this year was a little different, with their new leadership committed to bringing back a focus on the timeless principles of running a company: demonstrating employee appreciation, fostering growth within teams, and encouraging transparency as changes come and business grows. These may be classic precepts of leadership, but I haven’t seen anyone implement them quite like Santander! When they came to us in need of some enhancements to the highly anticipated summit, we were ready to rise to the occasion. 

If you know anything about RedPeg, you know we aren’t in the business of cookie cutter events. We deliver on passion points and build connections through ideas! Everything we do has a purpose, and we take inspiration from many places — this time, we grew our concept from the signature Santander flame with our “Ignite the Future” theme. Using a motif of metamorphosis, we breathed new life into the summit and reshaped what they thought was possible.

We reignited Santander US’s annual Consumer & Business Bank Summit for retail banking leaders to inspire, transform, and energize the future as the company delivers on its modernization. More than 500 Santander branch managers and partners received a glimpse into Consumer and Business Banking’s role in the next chapter of the organization.  

Throughout the two-day summit, we transformed the space and events in look, color, and energy. Beginning with the glow of Santander’s signature red bouncing off the walls, the summit went on to include a spectacular dinner event, illuminated DJ booth, 360 photo booth, electronic violinist, Cirque-style performance, and a team building exercise where teams created portraits out of LEGOs to be donated to local children’s charities. 

As experience designers, we pride ourselves on making events come to life for our partners, and giving their key audiences an unforgettable experience. Hitting the mark and making an impact are top priorities, so we were thrilled with the support and positive feedback we received from our contacts at Santander. Even before the end of the weekend, Ignite the Future was being touted as one of their best events to date! 

With continued collaboration between Santander and RedPeg, I am excited to discover new ways to fuel the flame together.