Is brand activation strategy a millennial concept? The marketing and advertising industry have been practising this in the past leading to some of the most successful campaigns.

One of the best brand activation campaigns that will go down in history is Toyota’s launch campaign of their RAV4 Hybrid, ‘The Wall,’ that involved 100-foot rock climbing wall. The rolled in Christina Fate, Toyota’s rally car driver, to go for the climb to inspire the audiences to face their challenges.

When Brand Communication Is Not Enough

All successful branding engage their clients and inspire them in the process to be loyal to the product or the brand itself. When the brand communication process fails to connect to the audience emotionally, it is difficult to sustain the business. It is also important to distinguish the product or the brand from existing competition to get the attention of the prospective customers.

Why Brand Activation

When the clientele bond emotionally, they believe in what the brand stands for. This is what eventually leads to a loyal customer base who can give you repeated sales. Brand activation ideas, such as interactive events that involve one-on-one communication with the target audience will build trust.

Choosing the right time to launch or re-launch a brand image is as essential as a great ad campaign. Establishing connection at the correct time and place draws the consumers faster and closer to the brand.

Being creative is essential to put out the brand that will meet the customers’ passion. Campaigns must change according to the current trends that the general audience is inspired from.

How Do You Measure a Successful Brand Activation

Consumer base: Calculate the number of consumers the activation campaign will reach and bring a reaction? Will the campaign be worldwide, national, city-wide, or local?

The relevance of the brand: Always choose a campaign that is relevant to the core value and the message the brand is trying to send.

How much to invest: More than calculating the sales and financial terms, brand activation campaigns should be measured in brand marketing and consumer data. Focus on how much social media coverage the brand has, enquiries being made, etc.

Long-term benefit: Activation campaigns ideally must focus on building the long-term loyalty of their clients to the brand and maintain trust to promote references.

Integrating with other campaigns: Brand activation campaigns should compliment and integrate with other ongoing as well as future marketing strategies of the company.

Always be unique: Setting the brand apart draws audiences closer and faster to the brand, makes them talk about it and prevents them from going over to another.

Flexibility in Brand Activation: Activation campaigns are better cost-wise when the components of the brand strategy are flexible where just the content can be changed in line with the season.

Advantages of Brand Activation

Brand activation, especially interactive events, brings quality feedback direct from the consumer. The Millennials are always looking for fresh ideas with standard content to spread around the social network. This strategy almost works for all kinds of brands and products out thereRe-launching the brand takes patience and is a financial burden that may not yield results.

Brand activation ideas can help reinforce the positioning of the brand in the consumers’ minds. It is easy to get lost in the clutter of traditional advertising such as print, we-based ads, and TV commercials. Set yourself apart with brand activation.

Conclusion

Experiential brand activations can increase the relevance of a brand and shape the future of the company. Such campaigns help long-term loyalty of the clients by building trust. Brand activation plans generate visibility by engaging the audience at a personal level to create awareness.

LSI

brand activation ideas

brand image

components of brand strategy

brand marketing

brand activation strategy

best brand activation

brand communication process

Brand activation plan

Have you ever wondered how a reputed popular brand in the market became so famous and trustworthy? How did it engage so many loyal customers and why is it admired by so many? When a product is first launched in the market, it is unknown to the general public.

To popularise their brand and product, companies engage in consumer engagement marketing.  They come up with marketing strategies like ad campaigns, viral growth, experiential events, surveys, consumer participation activities, etc. They engage in brand communication. They try to spread the word about their brand and their products in the market.

But the real question is: Is brand communication enough to bring about brand activation?

What Is Brand Activation?

Brand activation is the process of making a brand famous and admired by customers. It is a demonstration of how you plan to manage your brand marketing activities. It plays a very important role in creating a positive perception of the brand.

To encourage brand activation, your brand communication strategy needs to be right. You need to know clearly what your brand stands for and who your target audience is. The entire process needs to be carried out systematically.

First, your brand activation process requires an input for brand communication. Through this communication process, you should be able to convince more customers while maintaining the market share of your brand.

Key Principles of Brand Activation

• Formulate creative ideas and strategies to understand the consumers’ passions and needs. You can create a huge demand for your brand by doing so.
• To transform a consumer into a fan of the brand and a loyal customer, selecting the right place and right time is very crucial. Connect with your consumers at the right time.
• Use activation strategies like in person experience events. This way you can connect with the customers and make them start believing in the brand and what it represents.

Your Ladder to Convert Brand Communication to Brand Activation

There are five steps you need to follow so that your brand communication results in brand activation:

1. Be sure of what message you are trying to communicate. Articulate your goals and make sure they are quantifiable. The way you approach branding is more important than simply raising awareness.
2. There is a famous quote by Teddy Roosevelt which says “people don’t care how much you know ’til they know how much you care”. Do not just show off your brand. Let your customers know how much you care about the brand.
3. The next step is to strategise an idea for brand activation. Formulate a strategy which helps you embody all your brand attributes. Think outside the box to leverage cross-channel strategies.
4. Try to come up with ways in which you can leverage your activation for promotional activities. You can adopt programming, digital strategies, content and public relations strategies, paid advertising, etc. for customer engagement.
5. Lastly, formulate strategies to generate additional consumer touch points. Stay connected with them through social channels. Do not just focus on one product of your brand. Focus on your brand as a whole.

Push all the right buttons during your brand communication process. Don’t just communicate; connect with your customers. Keep your brand relevant, reflective and visible to encourage brand activation.

LSI Keywords: Brand Communication, Brand activation strategies, brand activation process, brand communication process