In this era of information, marketers must distinguish between fads and beneficial business strategies. This article tells you something: brand activation is more than just a catchphrase in the industry.
If a brand engaged with its audience on a personal level, it was once considered a benefit. These emotional ties are now necessary for modern commercial success. When it comes to B2B purchasing decisions, human value has double the impact of corporate value. Marketers constantly seek new ways to build stronger, more intimate relationships between their business and their target customer.
Here’s a rundown of the notion of brand activation and its kinds. This article is a guide to get you started with effective brand activations.
What Is Brand Activation and How Does It Work?
A brand activation refers to a promotion, program, or engagement through which your brand develops recognition and builds valuable connections with your intended audience. The majority of brand activations are interactive, allowing audiences to connect with a brand and product directly.
Brand activation is sometimes misunderstood or conflated with more generic branding techniques. The uncertainty is apparent: most branding and marketing efforts are focused on raising awareness and connecting with an audience.
However, rather than the generic, continuing marketing process, brand activation refers to a unique campaign or event, an isolated engagement with the sole objective of enhancing your brand.
What Is the Importance of Brand Activation?
Assume your business was freshly launched yesterday. Your target market is familiar with you, but they are unfamiliar with your brand, and those knowledgeable of it have no significant connection to it. You need to get people interested in what you’re doing. You must give your market a reason to be enthusiastic about your company.
Company activations are one-time, in-person gatherings, encounters, and engagements that help a brand and its target audience form enduring emotional bonds.
A brand activation will bring your visual merchandising displays to life, attract new customers, and change how your current market sees you. And, with the appropriate approach, brand activations can be powerful – after attending an activation, 98% of the audience are more likely to purchase a company’s products.
Four Kinds of Brand Activation
Indeed, brand activation needs a significant amount of planning, possibly even more than a conventional marketing activation strategy or engagement. The good news is that modern marketing specialists who desire to engage their brand can choose from a range of possibilities.
Look at some of the most efficient and successful visual merchandising displays and brand activation tactics available right now.
#1. Experiential Marketing
Experiential marketing is a type of brand activation strategy. A company represents an immersive, real-world experience to engage with its target audience. These encounters aren’t limited to a brand’s particular products; they also include its values and the messages it likes to convey to its target market.
Most experiential marketing efforts entail live participation, which is frequently part of a more significant event or concert. Virtual and augmented reality technology, however, have made digital experience marketing possible. Your audience may interact with your brand from the comfort and privacy of their humble abodes through virtual tours, entertainment, and interactive experiences.
#2. Free trial And Sample Campaigns
One of the most tried and tested methods of brand activation is a sample campaign. The goal is clear: you give individuals the opportunity to try a product for free. You can do this in the hopes that they will enjoy it and want to purchase products from your brand.
It’s vital to remember that there’s a proper method and a wrong way to run a sample campaign. Choose your surroundings carefully rather than approaching strangers in less-than-ideal situations. Consider future events that your target demographic is likely to visit if you do an in-person sample promotion. Fortunately, orchestrating it is more manageable.
Compile a list of consumer addresses and send them a sample of one of your products or services as a surprise. Include a message requesting that the receiver post a photo of the freebies on social media. You can also create an email campaign giving away a free trial of your goods if your firm sells intangible things like software and technical services.
#3. In-store Brand Activation
The aim of brand activation is to establish strong bonds between your company and your target market. There’s no better location for a brand activation than your company’s place itself.
Merchants and other B2C brands use this marketing approach the most. They cater events at their stores, providing amenities such as food and beverages and allowing their customers to see and try things in person. People should, in theory, walk away from experience with a renewed respect for these brands and how they handle their clients.
However, B2B firms use this kind of brand activation less often. You will understand why: desks and cubicles don’t have the same allure as a physical store.
A corporate office with effective visual merchandising displays, on the other hand, can be rich ground for on-site brand activation. For instance, to mark the start of summer, you may invite your target market to a picnic outside your office. Consumers may interact directly with the individuals that manufacture, promote, and market your products while eating their complementary goods.
#4. Trade Exhibitions And Industry Event
Finally, trade fairs and industry events offer various opportunities to engage your brand. Whether you lease a customized pop up store display in the trade room or give a live conference or presentation, these events help you build brand authority and increase brand awareness. In addition, an industry event paired with an eye-catching pop up store design is an ideal location for experimenting with additional brand activation strategies.
The Takeaway
Brand activation is not an entirely new concept. While other businesses fail to understand its importance, your company must get a gist of what it is all about. Understanding its concept will help you leverage its benefits for the success of your business. You may use this guide to know which brand activation strategy will best work for your company’s needs and objectives.
