- Brand activation is useful when launching a new product line or business. It always requires a unique interactive experience to attract loyal customers.<\/li>\n\n
- The following components are some of the most successful brand activation features: surprise, dreaming & sharing, and giveaways.<\/li>\n\n
- Brand activation ideas include creating a unique experience, encouraging a social media challenge, considering partnerships with other brands, solving problems, and promoting your brand\u2019s values.<\/li>\n\n
- Brand activation’s goals include increasing visibility, enhancing awareness, reinforcing propositions, increasing customer involvement, and fostering a relationship of trust with customers.<\/li><\/ul>
What Is Brand Activation in Marketing?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>
Brand activation refers to a marketing strategy that uses one or more of six distinct disciplines\u2014which help bring a brand to life by engaging and interacting with the consumer personally\u2014to enhance a brand’s image and drive certain customer action. <\/p>
A unique brand experience can take place in a classy, fashion-forward setting, such as a five-star hotel or restaurant, or it can be more target-based, such as by giving the appropriate samples to the appropriate individuals.<\/p>
Brand activation highly relies on elements of surprise and creativity.<\/p>
A new local or even online brand can establish a connection with its target audience through a multi-touch brand experience<\/a> offered by innovative ideas in a brand activation campaign.<\/p>
Brand activation is useful when launching a new product line or business. It always requires a unique interactive experience to attract loyal customers.<\/p>
Brand activation marketing campaigns are a great way for businesses to differentiate themselves. Various strategies include influencer marketing, in-store or online events, product sampling, and giveaways.<\/p>
A brand activation marketing event is typically like a party, where attendees enjoy themselves and exchange ideas and experiences with the brand.<\/p>
Why Are Brand Activations Important?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businessyield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-design-2024-04-10T124920.125.jpg\")
Image Source: Freepik<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div> Brand activations can benefit businesses by effectively introducing new items or brands and gaining insightful customer feedback. In the future, when potential customers search for a certain good or service, visuals can help them remember a brand. Brand activations can give your customers engaging images they can associate with your products or services. <\/p>
Some brand activations garner media coverage or attention on social media, which can help a business generate loyalty. Including a well-known public figure or planning an enjoyable activity for attendees could help your business become more relevant to the wider audience. Moreover, brand activations can be a powerful tool for building relationships with your target market.<\/p>
Brand Activation Features<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>
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<\/figure>As we just discussed, successful brand activations are unique experiences that share certain things. The following components are some of the most successful brand activation features:<\/p>
#1. Surprise<\/span><\/h3>
A typical feature of all brand activation efforts is shocking elements to attract the target audience.<\/p>
Several companies use this tactic to stand out from the crowd. For example, the London-based Lipton Tea Company set up a giant yellow water slide in the city’s center, and Google Play distributed cupcakes as part of their campaign!<\/p>
Your mind records aspects that appear out of sequence but are yet pleasurable, resulting in a delightful brand experience.<\/p>
#2. Dreaming and Sharing<\/span><\/h3>
Creating an immersive experience that the intended audience enjoys sharing is another characteristic of brand activation marketing.<\/p>
To attract the proper customers and get their attention, brands must understand the goals and aspirations of their target market.<\/p>
In 2018, Westworld series fans enjoyed a real-life HBO event in Austin, Texas, where over 40 “hosts” (actors in the Westworld TV series) guided and entertained them.<\/p>
El Diablo, a mechanical bull whose target market enjoys riding and sharing, helped the Durango Boots brand achieve this.<\/p>
#3. Giveaways<\/span><\/h3>
Free samples or items are typically given out in exchange for customer feedback during brand activation initiatives.<\/p>
Companies can utilize a variety of gifts, such as promotions or free samples, to engage their target market and keep them entertained.<\/p>
Though they can vary greatly, all brand activation experiences have the same goal of raising brand awareness and engaging the target market.<\/p>
Brand Activation Types<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>
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<\/figure>Many brand activation types are popular among new and established companies, depending on the size of the business and its target demographic. Luxurious, reputable companies frequently use experimental marketing to introduce new products, raise brand awareness, or show off their imaginative, interactive designs during concerts or festivals. Conversely, smaller brands typically choose more economical strategies.<\/p>
#1. Experimental Marketing for Brand Activation<\/span><\/h3>
Prominent companies often use experimental marketing to build direct client relationships. Experimental marketing offers a multi-touch brand impression and a distinctive interactive brand or product experience.<\/p>
Creative brand-sponsored experiences take many forms, from Contour’s adult-sized baby strollers to Sonic’s square milkshakes sold exclusively in return for Instagram pictures. This is the realm of experimental marketing.<\/p>
In modern examples of experimental marketing, often a combination of online and offline brand activation campaigns can be seen.<\/p>
Everything from live contests to social media lives and giveaway campaigns, having influencers in-store or at parties, and online streaming. With these solutions, brands can reach millions of impressions worldwide.<\/p>
#2. Promotional Marketing for Brand Activation<\/span><\/h3>
Through social media campaigns and digital marketing<\/a> tools, new companies and startups attempt promotional marketing to draw in customers or break into untapped areas.<\/p>
Contemporary brands employ various promotional marketing strategies, such as social media campaigns and influencer marketing, to meet significant brand activation objectives.<\/p>
Promotional marketing, which includes handouts of free samples, competitions, social media freebies, special offers, reward loyalty programs, and other initiatives, helps build a devoted customer base and raises brand awareness.<\/p>
Promotional marketing is a big umbrella for all other activities that result in the promotion of the brand.<\/p>
#3. Social Media Engagement for Brand Activation<\/span><\/h3>
Popular social media platforms have a huge user base, which new companies use to launch brand activation campaigns that reach previously unthinkable heights.<\/p>
Social media influencer campaigns are usually curated by brands that hand-pick a set of celebrities or influencers for their events, only to have them broadcasted to their network of followers and increase their brand awareness levels.<\/p>
Influencers on social media run competitions that draw large participation from users, or occasionally; companies send free samples or coupons to their followers.<\/p>
Read also: SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS: The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing Campaigns<\/a><\/span><\/h4>
#4. In-Store Retail Brand Activation<\/span><\/h3>
Publicly launching neighborhood stores and well-known brand stores is another scenario that can highlight innovative concepts and create unexpected encounters.<\/p>
In-store locations allow brands to engage with customers in fresh and imaginative ways. A shop’s visibility and impressions are enhanced when a select group of well-known influencers are invited to the opening.<\/p>
Another popular trend in brand activation marketing is in-store social media engagement, where customers have a unique brand experience.<\/p>
#5. Product Sampling for Brand Activation<\/span><\/h3>
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, various forms of product sampling underwent structural modifications in response to hygiene concerns in shared in-store product samplings, particularly about cosmetics and skincare items.<\/p>
Nowadays, the most common method for end users to engage with a business and its products is through personalized, usable product samples.<\/p>
Brands can target the relevant people for product samples and execute a successful brand activation marketing strategy using physical and digital technologies.<\/p>
The lines between the various forms of brand activation are typically hazy since the practice is equal parts science and art. A successful brand activation campaign is a combination of several types. Every brand requires a different approach to brand activation.<\/p>
What Are the Goals of Brand Activation?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>
Whether a brand is new or well-established, a brand activation campaign can help keep the business and its brand current and in demand. Effectively, it can help a brand become more popular, transform its reputation, attract customers, and become a living, breathing entity. Among the goals of brand activation are:<\/p>
#1. To Increase Visibility<\/span><\/h3>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businessyield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-design-2024-04-10T132201.349.jpg\")
Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik<\/figcaption><\/figure> A business might plan brand activation campaigns even if its brand is already well-known or somewhat present to boost visibility and attract new clients. For instance, Glade, a brand owned by SC Johnson, devised an imaginative and entertaining sampling campaign to attract customers and draw attention to itself. In collaboration with Walmart, the business incorporated packing pillows into its product prototypes. In the first week, the brand’s sales on Walmart.com increased by 83%.<\/p>
#2. To Enhance Awareness<\/span><\/h3>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businessyield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-design-2024-04-10T132810.123.jpg\")
Image by freepik<\/figcaption><\/figure> The majority of customers do not recognize new brands or their merchandise. Brand activation allows these businesses to connect with their target market and raise awareness. For instance, the local Peruvian dairy brand Laive received 800,000 likes, 22,100 comments, and 63,800 shares on social media. The business employed Italian drivers and put them in some of the most well-known eateries. These drivers offered their patrons a complimentary parmesan cheese to go with their meals by trailing the delivery man of the establishments above. The brand raised awareness and attracted a lot of attention with its actions.<\/p>
#3. To Reinforce Proposition<\/span><\/h3>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businessyield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-design-2024-04-10T133121.289.jpg\")
Image by cookie_studio on Freepik<\/figcaption><\/figure> Brand activation improves and reinforces a brand’s value proposition. Businesses use brand activation to remind customers of their goals and objectives. For example, the American multinational firm Nike created and distributed a doll ball shaped like a ball as part of a brand activation campaign to encourage its audience to pursue sports, particularly girls. The brand engaged with customers through this campaign and reaffirmed its “Just Do It” goal statement. <\/p>
#4. To Increase Customer Involvement<\/span><\/h3>
Customer engagement is the outcome of brand activation, which assists in building a bridge or connection between the brand and the customer. The willingness of a customer to actively participate and communicate with a brand is referred to as customer engagement<\/a>. One of a brand activation campaign’s most crucial goals is to engage and interact with consumers. Companies that use experiential marketing for activation can identify this type of engagement. <\/p>
#5. To Foster a Relationship of Trust with the Customers<\/span><\/h3>
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Image by Freepik<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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