Roche Conference 2026: Turning Ambition into Action

Client: Roche

Manchester Central, Manchester, UK

Roche UK’s 2026 Conference transformed a complex strategic ambition into an immersive, highly engaging conference experience that informed, inspired and activated 380 employees from across the organisation.

Designed to communicate Roche UK’s ambition to double the number of patients benefiting from a Roche medicine by 2030, the event needed to move delegates from awareness to action.

Held at Manchester Central, the three-day conference combined behaviour-change strategy with innovative experience design under the unifying theme 'Driven by Why. Powered by Us'. Rather than relying on traditional presentations, the programme was deliberately designed to eliminate passive consumption, using a diverse mix of content formats to sustain attention, encourage participation and bring complex strategic concepts to life.

Standout sessions included a podcast-style discussion with The King’s Fund featuring audience-generated questions, a Mastermind-inspired leadership panel, intimate fireplace conversations combining patient stories and leadership dialogue, and an AI-powered Formula 1 race simulation that transformed delegates into “Roche Race Control”, enabling them to experience organisational decision-making through real-time scenarios. Interactive breakouts, a city-wide charity activation, team challenges and a high-energy awards celebration maintained engagement throughout the conference.

The delegate experience was enhanced through a fully integrated production approach featuring 360° staging, LED halo screens, reactive installations, multi-camera broadcast capabilities, live audience participation technology and more than 20 bespoke film assets, including AI-generated content.

The conference delivered measurable success. Post-event evaluation showed that 98.9% of attendees understood the 2030 ambition and why it matters, 97.8% understood the organisational shifts required to achieve it and 91.1% felt more connected to colleagues across the business. Feedback described it as “easily the best conference yet”, praising the content, format variety and audience participation.

By combining innovative programme design, immersive storytelling and meaningful interaction, the conference successfully turned strategy into action and delivered a memorable delegate experience with lasting organisational impact.