5 Ideas to Level Up Your Next Brand Activation Campaign

If you’re planning a brand activation in the future, it’s time to go beyond free samples. You need to make an experience memorable. You want to associate your brand with something positive, something that sticks.

As you start your next campaign, consider trying these 5 ideas to electrify your next activation.

#1 Pop Up Shops

Pop up shops do a lot of work for brands. First, they can generate local buzz, especially for established brands testing out the potential for new markets.

The success of a pop up shop depends on your goals. Make sure you clarify what your objectives are before you start to plan. Common objectives include:

• Testing a more permanent location in a new market
• Generating word-of-mouth or online buzz
• Testing new products
• Partnering with influencers

#2 Portable Digital Signage

Think digital signage is too inconvenient for a brand activation? Times have changed, and innovative portable digital signage systems are now available that are easy and affordable to set up.

You no longer need complicated truss-based structures to set up outdoor digital signage. It’s now possible to rent portable digital signage and set it up with nothing more than a forklift, no engineer inspections required.

Digital signage has practically limitless possibilities. Even outdoor digital signage today can incorporate gamification or augmented reality elements, helping you create one-of-a-kind experiences for your next campaign.

#3 Mobile Integration

The QR code is back, and it’s opening up new opportunities for experiential marketing. They’re the perfect way to get audiences to walk away from the activation with more information about your products or services. They can turn chance encounters in the real world into future leads.

A QR code isn’t the only way to integrate people’s mobile phones. Digital signage can also integrate mobile phones to create unique augmented reality experiences.

#4 Connect to a Lifestyle

When you take your brand out into the world to connect directly with audiences, you’re hoping to associate your product with a place, an experience, and a lifestyle. There are plenty of ways you can attach your brand to a kind of lifestyle.

Look into sponsorship opportunities at music festivals, concerts, or events that attract your target demographic and highlight the lifestyle you want to associate with.

Besides partnerships, brands have also had success with food trucks and mobile coffee shops. In one notable example, dating app Bumble opened pop up bodegas throughout New York City, giving away free sandwiches and coffee to customers with an account. The campaign was all about connecting to local communities with places that provided a sense of familiarity and joy, capitalizing on New York’s unique bodega culture.

#5 Make It Immersive

Immersion can turn a brief encounter with marketers outdoors into a real, impactful experience. Whether you rely on technology or physical installations, experiential marketing can transform the everyday into something memorable.