Everybody is talking about brand activation but what is it? Well, in short one can say that it is a certain way to market your brand so that your customers become engaged and emotionally involved. Sounds ideal right? How is it done then.
In this article we will discuss the basics of brand activation and the best steps to allow to achieve this. A few inspired examples will also be discussed.
The Basics of Brand Activation
The basic of brand activation actually include events, campaigns, social media initiatives, and more. To active anything you need to create a response. An emotion with your intended audience.
Furthermore you will need to determine what activation channels you would like to use. Do you need to use all of the social media channels for example or skip TikTok etc. These are all part of the basics of brand activation questions.
Of course to be able to start activating a company’s products you will need to define your brand personality, your company values and what you are selling that you think people want. To do this you can have help by a good brand manager that knows all about brand activation.
Once the planning phase is complete, it’s time to execute the activation. This can be creating stunning visuals, organizing some sort of events. Of course making sure social media platforms all all working on the same page, and more.
Dont forget that the goal is to create experiences that are interactive, memorable, and shareable. The hardest part is to create a buzz in your audience and to get customers to care.
Why Brand Activation Matters
Understandably, you need to ask yourself why brand activation even matters. I mean you are already running a campaign of Instagram and you are making sure your have a solid brand kit.
More importantly, brand activation is an important aspect of modern business brand strategies. Actually, its the process where you are most likely to create a strong and memorable experience that your customers will like.
When you make special events or create marketing campaigns that really make people feel emotionally connected then you have created an almost unbreakable brand between your brand and customer
This on the other hand allows businesses to tell their brand’s story in a way that is both entertaining and informative.
Additionally, brand activation can help to make you different from your competition. Helping you find your niche if you like. The market is always crowded out there but there is always room for another pizzeria.
So, if you investing in brand activation you actually help your business in the long run. It will be worth it.
Brand Activation vs. Traditional Marketing
Is brand activation and traditional marketing not the same then? No is the answer to that. In fact, brand activation is a marketing technique. One that focuses on making customers engaged in different experiences so that they get emotionally attached to the brand.
However, traditional marketing focuses more on products and what benefits a product or service can give you as a human being. Above all, brand activation aims to make the brand a part of people’s lives and memories. Usually by creating interesting events, buzz features and experiential marketing. Also better know as experimental marketing, giving you a first hand experience with the product.
Traditional tested method or brand activation to create relationships?
On the other hand, traditional marketing usually consists of media channels such as TV, radio, newspapers and billboards. Normally, a rather expensive advertising mean but still very powerful. Take a look at the 3D billboards at Times Square in New York. Gorgeous billboards with sparkling lights that make people stare in awe and as a result spend more.
However, this tends to be more one way and less interactive than brand activation. One advantage is that traditional marketing can be very effective in reaching a large audience quickly. But might not be the best way to engage people or create some sort of reaction. You can do this with a good brand activation plan.
Therefore, the choice between brand activation and traditional marketing will probably depend on the goals of your campaign. Who you are aiming it at and of course, the all important budget. While traditional marketing is a good tried out method, brand activation can be more powerful way to create relationships with your potential customers. Creating loyalty above all.
Ultimately, a balanced mix of both may be the most effective approach for a successful marketing campaign.
Steps to Successful Brand Activation
There are understandably several steps to make a successful brand activation. You need a plan of course.
Here are five vital steps that I would follow:
- 1. Firstly, define your brand’s purpose
2. Secondly, do a solid market research to understand your audience and competition.
3. Thirdly, develop a creative and memorable campaign that showcases your personality
4. The, use your marketing channels to reach out and engage with your customers
5. Lastly, continuously track and measure the success of your campaign and make changes if necessary.
If you try to put all these five steps in place then you have a really good chance of showing everybody who you are and what you want to say. In fact, stating and showing what you have to give to this world. Brand activation is very much creating solid relationships. Making people feel and love you.
Key Benefits
Most of all, brand activation can bring numerous benefits to a company. The most important one in my eyes being creating loyalty. There is nothing better than a loyal returning customer. These customer are what keeps you going year after year because they come back just typing your name in the browser. Im happy to admit that in the bad years, loyalty and trust is what have kept The Logo Company going.
If you can activate your brand in an authentic way and always stay true to your beliefs then you will succeed. Bad times will come and go so stick to it and you will have a loyal customer base that will always support you. Our testimonials are wonderful to read.
Of course, brand activation also allows for better understanding of customer behaviour and what they like best and that is good to test and valuate your image even further.
Examples for Inspiration
Some famous companies have managed very well in creating an emotional bond with their customers via different very successful campaigns. One could say that they had a good budget bit also a lot of imagination to make it a true success. Let’s take a look at them:
Red Bull Stratos
The first one up, Red Bull Stratos. An absolute super duper brand activation campaign where Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner broke the world record for the highest skydive. Cleverly, Red Bull sponsored the event as part of its broader strategy to associate its brand with extreme sports and adrenaline fueled activities. Not surprisingly, the live-streamed event made a huge online buzz. Now RedBull can really say they can push their limits.
These examples demonstrate how brand activation campaigns can be creative and create emotions with your customers.
IKEA Sleepover
The famous swede IKEA. Mostly known for its crazy marketing tactics. Organized a nutty brand activation called the “IKEA Sleepover” campaign. One clever marketing team though up the idea to transformed one of its stores into a sleepover destination. People could then sleep there and experience the comfort of IKEA furniture. More so, participants enjoyed activities like for example bedtime stories and yoga sessions. The incredibly successful campaign made a huge social media buzz and showed that IKEA can focus on creating meaningful and memorable experiences for everyone.
Domino's Paving for Pizza
Last example, The Paving for Pizza” brand activation campaign to put highlights on the problem with potholes affecting pizza delivery. So, the company invited customers to nominate their towns for pothole repairs. Then Domino’s promised to fix them to ensure smoother pizza deliveries. Here this showed the company’s commitment to customer satisfaction and at the same time made positive publicity while fixing a real problem. Reinforcing the brand’s message of ensuring hot and fresh pizza delivery.
Evaluating the Success of Brand Activation
When you look at the above mentioned examples of successful brand activation campaign then you see one thing in common. Imagination! Somebody or a team of clever people came together and though of something a bit extraordinary.
So when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of brand activation it is crucial to determine its success. The best way is to use data analytics and tracking tools that can provide valuable insights into the efforts that you made. Furthermore to regularly monitor and adjusting your strategy based on the results can help optimize the success of future campaigns.
Wrapping Up
Ultimately, brand activation is about creating memorable relationships and experiences with your customer by using your imagination. Budget will be be important but staying true to yourself and keep going to create loyalty will in itself create brand activation.