Brand Activations are an incredibly exciting space where brand can expose customers who potentially wouldn’t have interacted with your brand otherwise.
The aim should be to involve an audience, get the engaged with what you have created and generate a reaction immediately. It’s definitely not easy to implement and typically isn’t cheap but when done right, it can generate a long-lasting ROI.
One key to maximising the return is to make sure you capture it on video and engage people who participate to share it. You can also look to capture peoples details to involve them in the ongoing campaign.
A couple examples where brand have stepped outside the box, outside the shop and engage customers that came to mind…
Virgin Mobile once created a lifestyle experience throughout Sydney city using giant steal containers. It sported a bar and lounge area, screens and connected mobile devices that you could touch play and share.
The major component to build up the anticipation of passers-by was a timer. The create were placed there over night with no exposed branding initially. A big red timer was placed on each side of the container, ticking done to the mystery reveal. I recall shares a short video on my social media of the timer ticking away, as we waited to see what’d happen next.
Image courtesy of http://4.bp.blogspot.com/
Extending the space outside of the activation is a great way of creating intrigue also. In the city, Nesspresso has stickers leading to their stores, with some creative writing that’d entertain a passer-by. You could create the same journey to your activation, little clues, steps to take along the way to bring them to the big reveal and capture their reactions as they arrive.
Or 3D floor graphic that people that can take a picture of at a certain angle to make them part of the piece, weave in your branding and create some social buzz.
Image courtesy of https://graffiti-artist.net/events/3d-chalk-art-street-art-on-floor/
The tough part is always how to do something outside of the box and how do you keep it relevant to the brand? But that is the fun of getting your vision out of your website, your store or TV set and putting yourself in a position to wow people with a view to interact with your brand.
Just because you’re a service brand doesn’t mean this can’t be relevant for you either. Take the chance to do something that has never been done in your industry before and stand out amongst the noise. Just look to Entertain, inform, be relevant and connect your message.