From Living Rooms to Global: Sofar's Scaling Playbook

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Kaz Komolafe, Vice President of Experiences at Sofar Sounds. Sofar Sounds has scaled from intimate living room concerts in North East London to operating in 400 cities across 78 countries, building a global network of culturally-resonant live experiences. Rather than standardizing operations across markets, Sofar empowers local leaders to curate hyperlocal experiences while maintaining quality through data-driven systems and strategic content distribution. Their approach to scaling community-driven experiences offers critical lessons for consumer marketers navigating the tension between growth and authenticity. Topics Discussed: Scaling hyperlocal community experiences across 400 cities and 78 countries Building location-specific cultural programming versus standardized operations Using YouTube as both a quality benchmark and artist discovery platform Leveraging data to monitor quality across distributed operations Transitioning from grassroots events to brand partnerships and festivals Maintaining authenticity while working with major labels and corporate sponsors Applying AI to operational efficiency without compromising creative integrity Delegating effectively when scaling across multiple time zones and cultures