Brand Activation

Brand activations are all about approaching your audience in an unforgettable way that lets them know who you are and why they should love your product. The activation should generate enthusiasm to the point that your customers are activated into buying your product therefore increasing sales.

 

The appeal of a brand activation is building trust in your brand message, especially when your brand is making a fundamental pivot. For example, when Porsche launched the second generation of its Cayenne in 2010, it sought to bridge the rational and emotional sides of the buyers. It was revealed at a brand activation during the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, followed by an online reveal. 50% of the car’s purchases were from buyers who were new buyers to the Porsche brand – a huge success.

 

Here are five tips for holding a brand activation event that successfully meets your sales goals.

Set Brand Goals

 

A brand activation requires a lot of communication and clear goals. Make sure and spend plenty of time with your client so there is clear communication and clear expectations. A successful brand activation can take 3-6 months to complete so make sure to schedule an adequate amount of planning and meeting time.

 

Your goal is to increase sales, so create a step-by-step plan to accomplish that goal. Do you want your audience to watch a video and then click to buy? Enter a contest by sharing their personal information to win prizes? Share on social media with a unique hashtag? Will there be an on-site purchase opportunity? Is there a reward/loyalty program? Your plan should make purchasing easy for the consumer.

 

Another important factor in the planning stage is measurability. Your goals should be quantifiable and may have an influence over how you measure success as well as your budget.

 

 

Brand Activation Events

 

Know Your Audience

 

You may have an idea of your ideal customer or customer base, and that is a great starting point. However, the more you can focus your group to high value contacts, the more successful your activation will be. Use data tools like Google Analytics and Facebook Analytics to help you focus in on your target group of influencers. Consider what they find exciting and relevant and incorporate that into the activation.

 

Establish how you will know that your audience is engaged. Brand activation is all about personalizing and layering the experience rather than creating simple awareness. You want to tap into a deeper need or desire for your product and trigger purchase intent.

 

Determine key performance indicators (KPIs) that show your customer is engaged. This might be through careful social media tracking, real-time mobility trackingor surveys.

Brand Activation Event Planners

Examine the Competition

 

A large problem for any brand is clutter in the marketplace. With all of the competing messages out there, it can be difficult for a brand to be noticed. Take a good hard look at your competition, what their product is and what their messages are. Search for faults and limitations in areas where you may be able to fill those gaps. This will define your market advantage.

 

Formulate a strategyaround this market advantage. Utilize your goals, data and research along with your team to develop the best way to share your message and sell the product.

 

Activate, Activate, Activate

 

The Budweiser Beer Garage that Anheuser-Busch created at the 2017 South by Southwest Festival is a great example of a brand activation to boost sales. Even though festival goers were familiar with the brand, organizers took the experience a few steps further by taking participants on a 4D immersive virtual reality tour of their St. Louis brewery. The multi-sensory visit included the sights, sounds, tastes and even smells of how Budweiser is brewed. The intent was to develop a deeper understanding of the product with a mass audience and therefore increase sales at the festival and beyond.

Brand Activation Ideas

Monitor and Evaluate

 

Monitor and evaluate stated goals in real-time as well as for a preset window beyond the event. Track sales carefully. Determine what information you’ll want to take away in the short term and assess your capability of capturing emails, phone numbers, comments and other customer data that could be tied to demographics and sales numbers. Study the ripple effect of shares through social media. Consider if the activation might be replicated or increased to a larger scale.

 

Follow these steps to boost sales through a brand activation. If you have any questions about your next brand activation event, please contact Strategic Event Design.

 

Brand Activation Events 101