Ladies Time Out - Winter Retreat
A full-funnel creative transformation: brand narrative, product architecture, experience design and organic performance-led growth
01. Context
Ladies Time Out (LTO) is a women’s organisation focused on personal, spiritual and emotional transformation. The Winter Escape Retreat launched in July with a capacity of 40 women — but by mid-September, only 9 bookings had been made.
With a £3,800 venue deposit at risk and cancellation on the table, I stepped in on 18 September to rebuild not just the marketing, but the entire retreat experience from the ground up.
This was no longer a promotional challenge.
It was a strategic reset of the retreat, the messaging and the brand experience of LTO.
02. The Challenge
The retreat had:
- no cohesive narrative
- no transformational proposition
- no urgency
- no emotional arc
- low clarity on “why this matters”
- no identity-led framing
- no content ecosystem
- visuals without meaning
- diffuse messaging
- zero paid social budget
- less than 6 weeks until the event
The deeper human tension was this:
Women want transformation, not information — but nothing in the retreat was communicating transformation.
I needed to rebuild the meaning of the retreat.
03. The Insight
A retreat is not a schedule.
A retreat is a journey.
The power of the retreat was not the workshops or the location — it was the transformation women would undergo.
The insight that unlocked everything:
“Women commit when they can see the transformation mapped as a story they can step into.”
From this point, the retreat became:
- a narrative
- an emotional arc
- a structure that guides becoming
- an identity experience
- a spiritual progression
- a marketing engine for the LTO brand itself
This allowed me to redesign the entire retreat experience as a live expression of the creative strategy — a form of experience marketing for the organisation.
04. The Strategy
Creative Hypothesis
If we design the retreat itself as a 3-phase transformation journey — and build all messaging, content and creative around that arc — women will feel emotionally called into a clear story of who they are becoming.
The 3-Phase Transformation Arc
I developed the full structural spine of the retreat:
PLAN → PREPARE → PERFORM
This arc did three things:
- Provided narrative clarity
A retreat with a clear beginning, middle and end is easier to commit to. - Communicated identity transformation
Women understood what they were stepping into, not just what they were attending. - Created a unified content ecosystem
Every asset, video, caption and email spoke the same language.
Strategic Experience Design
I redesigned:
- the retreat schedule
- session sequence
- thematic transitions
- emotional pacing
- the language hosts used
- the visual and narrative tone of the event
- how we framed each session as part of the transformation arc
The retreat itself became an embodied extension of the creative strategy.
Ecosystem Build
I built a fully integrated organic ecosystem:
- high-velocity short-form videos
- animated cinematic fairytale trailer
- narrative-led content series
- identity-driven declarations
- email funnel and nurture path
- event experience narrative
- social proof integration
- community engagement touchpoints
All of it supported the transformation arc.
05. The Creative
1. Short-Form Video Series
Each video aligned to PLAN, PREPARE or PERFORM.
Short, sharp, identity-driven — crafted to create urgency, belonging and emotional pull.
These videos delivered the highest organic engagement since LTO’s inception.
2. Cinematic Fairytale Animation
A hero storytelling piece that repositioned the retreat as:
- magical
- intentional
- spiritual
- deeply transformative
This became the emotional anchor for the entire campaign.
3. Identity-Based Messaging
I crafted a declaration that became the brand’s signature:
“I am becoming everything God designed me to be.”
This line shaped:
- email framing
- video scripts
- retreat materials
- photography style
- onsite experience language
It unified the entire brand.
4. Email Campaign
Narrative, behavioural and emotional sequencing:
- tension
- promise
- clarity
- identity
- urgency
This moved women from curiosity → conviction → action.
5. Retreat Experience Design
The creative strategy wasn’t just used in marketing.
It shaped the retreat itself:
- the opening scene
- the pacing of sessions
- the emotional rhythm
- the way teaching topics aligned with PLAN→PREPARE→PERFORM
- printed materials
- declarations
- the “fairytale” evening moment
- post-retreat content and follow-up
The retreat became a live brand experience — not just an event.
06. The Results
- Sold out all 40 places
- Added 5 additional places due to demand (45 total)
- Prevented a £3,800 financial loss
- Achieved full sell-out with zero paid social spend
- Highest organic engagement in LTO’s history
- Repositioned LTO as a transformational retreat brand
- Created a repeatable narrative and experience template for 2025+
This wasn’t just a marketing turnaround.
It was a brand transformation.
07. What We Learned
Transformation is the product.
Once women can see the story they are stepping into, decision-making becomes emotional, spiritual and urgent.
Identity-led creative outperforms informational marketing every time.
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