Regardless of time, place, industry, or audience, experiential marketing is a form of field marketing that focuses on connecting with consumers through memorable encounters. These experiences form the basis of an emotional bond with the brand, one formed at a deeper level than viewing a TV commercial, making a transaction in a store, or showing a product demo in a social media ad.
The core activity of this high-touch, deep-connection marketing? The brand activation.
The term “brand activation” came into vogue some two decades ago, but the activity itself has been around for ages. Sampling stations in grocery stories? Photos with local celebrities at store openings? Radio stations’ “live remotes” in mall parking lots? All are brand activations, and all serve the same ends: brand awareness, customer engagement, and a memorable, positive experience.
As the term “brand activation” has gained traction among marketing experts, experiential marketing agencies, experiential marketing consultants, and brand owners, its definition has grown to encompass a huge array of events and activities, many of them on a grand scale. Don’t be dissuaded — activations can work for brands of any size or marketing budget. Here are a half-dozen creative, scalable, proven-effective brand activation models that have withstood the test of time and the vagaries of the marketplace.
1. Immersive Activations
Surround participants in a multisensory brand experience.
A sub-category of experiential marketing, immersive marketing takes the “brand experience” concept to a whole new level. By using custom installations, carefully curated spaces, and one-on-one interactions with products, environments, and brand ambassadors, immersive activations create brand-themed fantasy worlds that immerse participants in alternate realities. Immersive activations “turn audience members into participants in your brand’s story,” inspiring uniquely personal memories and emotions participants will carry with them long after the activation’s end.
By definition, immersive activations are intense. The transformation of the space needs to be complete, and thrilling, to have the desired impact. But an immersive activation can be as self-contained as a trade show booth or as expansive as an entire mansion. And immersive elements can be added to other types of activations — think adding a photo booth to a pop-up shop or trade show presence. Agencies like Promobile specialize in this kind of all-senses-on-deck treatment, offering brands looking to create deeply connecting experiences the expertise and resources to pull them together.
2. Sampling Activations
Distribute free samples to potential customers to boost sales and awareness.
Sampling is undoubtedly one of the oldest forms of experiential marketing. Though its execution takes many forms, the core premise is simple: let consumers try your product, and if it’s good, it will sell itself.
Psychology tells us there’s more at play there — in addition to creating a positive impression, free samples spark a sense of obligation in those who accept them — but sampling is undeniably an effective means of increasing sales and brand awareness. It can also be cost-effective, depending on the type of product and the mode of delivery, but it also lends itself to endless variations.
Brands can elevate their sampling campaigns by making them the centerpiece of immersive, multi-sensory experiences; choosing timing and locations that are saturated with the target audience; linking sampling to causes or company-wide initiatives to imbue the experience with deeper meaning; engaging participants’ sense of play through gamification and challenges; and playing upon participants’ sense of obligation and desire to be helpful by using the activation to collect feedback, inspire reviews and user-generated content, and build connections and clout with influencers.
With sampling, the possibilities are limitless. Experiment with a simpler, more down-to-earth approach by working with local vendors and venues, expand your sampling horizons by working with creative marketing pros and consultants, or explore elevated sampling campaigns with an experiential agency well-versed in executing large-scale, nationwide, and mobile activations.
3. Product-Demo Activations
Bring in experts to demonstrate your products for curious consumers.
As product sampling’s educational cousin, demo-based activations bring in experts — such as industry professionals or brand ambassadors — to show participants how to use a product.
As these subject-matter experts show consumers how the product works, when and where to use it, and how to achieve best results, they’re also answering their questions and letting them experience the product in the best use-case scenario. Consumers not only get to enjoy the end results — delicious tacos, for example, or frizz-free hair — they also leave the demonstration poised for success when they use the products later, setting the stage for positive reviews, user-generated content, repeat purchases, and ultimately brand loyalty.
4. Event Activations
Lean into the fun and excitement of an event or occasion with an on-theme activation.
Meeting your brand’s target audience where they are can mean a lot of different things — and sometimes one of those things is throwing a brand activation that connects with the theme and vibe of an event in a way that’s fun, on-brand, and in tune with the consumers you’re trying to reach.
Two case studies highlight different ways to connect with audiences through an event: Trojan’s WorldPride food truck activation, and a Thanksgiving partnership between Butterball and Bumble for Friends.
For the WorldPride activation, Trojan went full spectacle, cruising the parade route in its wildly creative and hilariously racy Trojan Conecocktails Ice Cream Truck. With a gaggle of drag queens in tow, Trojan handed out free ice cream and gained a huge brand awareness boost, raking in more than a billion social media impressions and massive media coverage.
The more modest Butterball-BFF gathering pulled together New Yorkers who lacked Thanksgiving plans, a professional friendship coach, and five culinary influencers for an event that was part social mixer, part cooking class. Live demos showed guests tips and tricks for cooking a perfect Thanksgiving meal, while the friendship coach and a heap of carefully crafted icebreakers warmed up the conversation.
The magic of both events lay in the way these brands connected to the events in a natural, authentic way. By matching the energy of their respective occasions, these brands created activations that connected them to participants organically, and memorably.
5. Guerrilla Marketing
Use the power of positive shock value to grab attention and generate buzz.
Guerrilla marketing uses unconventional, unexpected, eye-catching activities in public spaces to grab and hold consumers’ attention. As an activation strategy, guerrilla marketing builds brand awareness, with the added potential bonus of virality. “Elements of shock and surprise in a guerrilla marketing campaign create content customers will want to record, photograph, and share,” says a recent article.
Guerrilla marketing is a low-cost, high-creativity strategy that by definition is a short-term, possibly one-off affair, so it’s a great fit for brands of all sizes. It also equally suits experienced field marketers and those looking to start small with experiential. If you lack the personnel to pull off guerrilla marketing campaigns in-house, or just need some creative expertise and advice to get started, look for a brand activator or experiential marketing consultant.
6. Collaborations with Influencers and Brand Ambassadors
Collaborate with influencers and hire ambassadors or brand activators to promote your brand, energize your activations, and connect with their followers.
Influencer partnerships can be powerful engines for brand awareness. Couple them with brand activations by asking influencers to promote or participate, and you’re leveraging the influencer’s audience and credibility.
Influencers can be a strong asset when it comes to planning and designing activations, too: they know their followers well, understand what they’re looking for, and can help craft an event that makes their audience part of your brand’s audience. That type of partnership can benefit a brand of any size or industry — and given social media’s scope and reach, it could be what propels a small brand to big success.
