What Meow Wolf Can Teach Us About Branding

Welcome to Brand Burnout’s "In the Hot Seat." In the series, I'll spotlight a product, business, or concept I love and share tangible branding lessons you can implement in your own business—no matter your size.

If you're unfamiliar with Meow Wolf, you've honestly got to see it to understand it (see also: Create a Communal Language, below). But it's a series of five permanent art exhibitions across the southwest—from Santa Fe to Houston.

I first heard about Meow Wolf when a friend from Santa Fe posted photos of their flagship exhibition—House of Eternal Return—during a trip home. I was then determined to go experience it myself.

In 2020, while I slowly lost my sense of self and my sanity, my husband and I planned a road trip we dubbed "The Takeout Tour of America" and set our sights on Santa Fe. I knew Meow Wolf was closed due to the pandemic when we planned the trip. But just being near a fictitious world that felt so unlike my own felt like it would get me through the next months (and, as it later turned out—years) of the pandemic).

Fast forward to 2021 and I was vibing in my semi-post-pandemic era. Cory and I did another road trip (this time to Utah to hike) with a final stop in Las Vegas. My number one priority? OmegaMart—the (at the time) newest rendition of Meow Wolf. The experience was otherworldly and exceeded any expectations I had or could ever imagine.

In 2024, while attending a design conference in Denver, I set a solo date to check out Convergence Station, the largest exhibition in the ever-expanding Meow Wolf family. Don't get me wrong—I loved the experience—but as a brand strategist, it's hard for me to just enjoy anything without putting my brand hat on.

So here's my rundown of what Meow Wolf can teach us about branding.

But before we disappear into this wormhole…

If we haven’t met yet, I’m Jamie Cox, a brand strategist and founder based in Nashville, TN. I publish content all over the internet, but mostly here on Substack and on LinkedIn. Here are a few ways you can work with me:

• Book a brand workshop: I offer workshops for creative communities and high-performing teams.

• Pick my brain: Get feedback and move your brand forward with actionable brand consulting sessions.

• Build a brand: My 12-week brand intensive will help you build a brand so you can get off the marketing hamster wheel.

Now Let’s Dive In

Lesson #1: It's all brand, baby.

When I was considering going to Meow Wolf, one of the biggest questions I had was "Would this be a fun solo adventure?" So, I turned to Reddit.

I found my answer (Yes, it would be perfect for a solo adventure) and proceeded to fall down some adjacent rabbit holes. I quickly learned that Meow Wolf employees had unionized a few years ago and are still fighting for their rights as workers (to learn more and support the union, follow Meow Wolf Workers Collective1).

And while it may seem that people-ops and operations efforts within an organization aren't directly tied to the brand, they are. Because in branding, how you do anything is how you do everything. And Meow Wolf just got really weird about the union.

Through these actions, they've put their brand, brand perception, and brand equity at risk. They've created a riff in brand consistency (if you've been to OmegaMart, you'll sense some immediate irony).

Meow Wolf's website reads:

Spot the inconsistency. If you aren't making a positive difference for your employees, you can't make a positive difference in the world.

Additionally, "Authentic Compassion" is a core Meow Wolf value.

But, if the company isn't supporting its employees or giving them space to stand up for what they believe in, it isn't living up to this value.

Let's be clear—this isn't a Meow Wolf takedown. After all, I still paid money to experience Convergence in all its glory (and am now writing about it to tell others to consider going). But it is a learning moment for anyone running a business.

Every single action you take and decision you make as an organization, founder, or executive impacts how consumers perceive your brand. I have a whole different take on their business now. What I saw as a cool collective of artists I now see as a faceless corporation led by financial motives.

It's imperative that as a leader in your organization, you make continuous efforts to revisit, review, and revise your brand standards and guidelines to align with where your organization is heading. Brand-building isn't a once-in-a-lifetime event, but a continuous effort to build an experience that aligns your customers with your mission.

Lesson #2: Commit to the Bit

As I said: In brand, how you do anything is how you do everything. And Meow Wolf is committed to the bit. Each experience is so immersive that consumers find themselves in a thin space between fact and fiction. Every detail—from the restroom signage to the elevator wayfinding—is carefully thought through and created to blend into the environment, transporting you to another world, universe, or reality.

I arrived at Meow Wolf on a Tuesday night—definitely not a peak time for any tourist destination in the Denver metro area. I was one of maybe 50 folks perusing the exhibit—some solo like me, others in small groups. We all had room to roam, space to play, and could take our time interacting with exhibits in our own time and at our own pace.

As I wandered through the exhibit and found myself lost in a room I swear I hadn't been to yet, I heard a disembodied but ethereal voice announce that the last train from Convergence Station was leaving in 30 minutes. "Please claim your items from the coat check." It said.

Convergence Station is the fictitious world I'd been transported to just 90 minutes ago, but coat-check was a place in the real world.

Was this announcement real?

Or was it part of the story?

I'll never know, because as a private conference event poured into the experience, I continued to explore (though a bit paranoid I would get caught). It was apparent other participants had fallen between fact and fiction as well. I saw many of my fellow explorers were wearing street clothes, sans conference badges.

Meow Wolf has built a brand and experience that's so intentional and immersive, it's impossible to not get sucked in. Their employees understand the assignment, speaking the shared language (see also: Create a Communal Language, below) and guiding participants through an out-of-this-world experience that allows them to forget reality (even if just for a moment) and meander at will.

Without these touches, Meow Wolf would be just like any other Instagrammable attraction—with folks glued to their phones, snapping photos to show where they've been, rather than actually being where they are.

Lesson #3: Create a Communal Language

When I parted ways with my conference colleagues, I shared my plans for the evening. It went a little something like this:

Me: "I'll see you later! I'm going to Meow Wolf tonight so won't make it to the party."

Them: "What's that?"

Me: "Well...it's kind of hard to explain. It's an art exhibit? No...It's an art installation? But it's like...super cool and wacky and creative. It's kind of an escape game, too."

Them: *Stares blankly*

Me: "You really have to experience it yourself."

Yow. What a sales pitch, Jamie.

But here's the problem I was faced with—how do you explain something that's unlike anything you've ever experienced? And, despite popular opinion about the value of why, I believe that before you can talk about why you do something, you have to be able to talk about what it is you do.

After studying Meow Wolf's website and marketing a bit more, I would describe it as an immersive art exhibit that's equal parts psychedelic and thought-provoking. And while experiencing it didn't quite give me that language, Meow Wolf's marketing does. They're repetitive in their language. "Permanent art exhibit" and "Immersive experience" speckle every page of their website.

Repetitive, succinct brand language wins every time. These messages equip your customers with the language they need to sell your experience, product, or service when you aren't in the room. It gives your marketing and sales team key phrases and words that tell your story consistently. It gives your audience a place to categorize your brand in their minds.

Next time someone asks me about Meow Wolf, I'll nail the pitch (and maybe convince a friend to tag along on the journey).

The TL;DR

Whether you're a diehard fan of Meow Wolf or this is your first time hearing about it, we can agree this brand is larger than life and lives outside of the conventions of most corporations.

But even brands as big and purpose-driven as this can falter if they don't stay true to their values and mission. Whether you’re running an immersive art collective or a services-based, B2B business, the way you do everything matters. So, commit to the bit, live your values, and give your audience the language to carry your story forward.