5 elements of a brilliant brand activation

Published: January 2022

Should be the first question to pop into your head when gearing up for a new brand activation. Even before the conception of ideas, the goal of the activity should be clear. A brand activation is just one way to creatively engage with potential customers and it can be incredibly effective if done right. It requires some thought in order for a brand activation to be remembered, but when the thought goes in, the results come out.

1. Goals

An important question to start with is one that takes us right back to basics and sets us up for a clear thought process from here on: “What is a brand activation?”

We like to define it as “an activity that creates a long-lasting connection between a brand and potential consumer that drives them to take a desired action.”

So the question to ask at the start of the process is “what do we want to achieve?”. Is the brand looking for email sign-ups, entries to a competition, share a photograph or use a hashtag? Whatever the goal, the activation should inspire customers to take action rather than simply just raise awareness.

Once the question of what that desired action is, you can start to move towards working out ‘how’ you can make that happen.

2. Measure

Once your goals are clear, it’s then necessary to know how they’re going to be measured. Often these can be done automatically via tech and the solution might be obvious. Other times might be more tricky and require a hands-on approach, such as assigning members of staff to conduct surveys with customers.

In the ideal scenario, of course, pictures of smiling customers enjoying your brand activation will be the result.

3. Ideas

When thinking about the ‘how’ of your brand activation, you should be aiming for longevity in the mind of the customer, leaving a lasting impression on anyone that has taken the time out to engage in the activation.

Remember the activation should inspire the customer to take the desired action, so it should be something fun - nobody likes filling out forms, even if it is to win a holiday or bag a freebie. Make it fun wherever possible.

4. Promotion

Your brand activation acts as an opportunity to earn ‘free’ promotion through those that experience the activity. Aim to create something that people want to talk about via a message that is aligned with your brand and you’ve landed yourself a win-win. Both the customers on-site have completed the desired action via an engagement with your brand, as well as letting other people know about it. Suddenly you'll have a brand new marketing channel.

5. Longevity

Building a longer-term marketing strategy that goes beyond the activities of the day, using other channels to promote the activation to get the most out of your investment is key. This can include things such as digital campaigns, letting people know your activation is coming up through advertising activities and getting celebrities to attend your activation.

Ultimately, for a brilliant brand activation, you should have one eye on how to continue the conversation long after the completion of the activation. The good news is that by connecting emotionally with your audience, this will happen naturally, providing even higher ROI as time goes by. Your challenge is to create that magic moment that seamlessly matches the values of your customers with the values of your brand. Elevate these elements with our tips on delivering an experiential event that could sit on the world stage.