If you’ve walked past a branded pop-up at a festival, stepped into an interactive booth at a trade show, or had your picture taken at a branded photo booth, you’ve experienced a brand activation firsthand.
Traditional marketing is becoming easier and easier to scroll past. That’s why more brands are getting creative and putting their budget toward experiences people actually want to participate in.
So, what is brand activation, how does it work, and what does it look like in reality? This guide by Kande Photo Booths explains everything you need to know.
What is Brand Activation?
Brand activation is a marketing strategy used to bring a brand to life through live, interactive experiences. The goal is to create a memorable connection with consumers. This could be anything from sampling a product or playing a game to immersive exhibits and branded spaces.
Brand activations are almost always built around a goal, which could be:
- Awareness: Introducing a brand or product to a new audience
- Engagement: Getting people to interact with the brand
- Trial: Getting people to sample a product or try an experience
- Lead generation: Encouraging sign-ups from interested consumers
- Loyalty: Building a stronger relationship with existing customers
How Does Brand Activation Work?
Brand activation works by changing what people think or feel about your brand. Imagine you have two similar brands. Brand A: you’ve seen 20 ads for it. Brand B: you’ve tried it, spoken to someone from the brand, and had a memorable experience. Which product or service are you more likely to be interested in?
The brand activation campaign can create things like:
- Better brand awareness
- Familiarity
- Trust
- Emotional associations
- Better understanding of the product or service.
Overall, brand activation can help you acquire customers, increase conversions, and increase customer loyalty.
Plus, it keeps working after the event, through things like user-generated content, press coverage, and influencer posts.
Brand Activation Examples
The best examples of brand activation campaigns give people something to do, not just something to see. Some classic, foolproof examples include:
Branded Photo Booths
Branded photo booths have long been one of the most effective ways to encourage interaction between a brand and consumers. For those looking to get creative with their ideas and stand out from the crowd, here at Kande Photo Booths, we have an extensive range of options, including AI photo booths, green screen photo booths, and even state-of-the-art 360° photo booths.
And remember, encouraging consumers to post their pictures on social media will keep the brand activation going even once the pop-up is over.
360° Video Experiences
360° video experiences quite literally put consumers at the center of the brand activation campaign. A campaign arm rotates around one or more people to capture a cinematic video which they are instantly able to share on social media, often as a short-form video. You’ll often find that 360° video experiences tend to bring in a crowd, since watching someone else recording a video is almost as fun as being filmed.
Product Personalization
Product personalization involves letting consumers customize their own product on the spot – for example, through AI robot sketches or custom trading cards. Other examples include monogramming, engraving, creating custom labels, or using “build-your-own” exhibits. Personalizing products turns a standard marketing giveaway into a personal keepsake. This is a great way to enable consumers to build an emotional connection to a brand. People typically place more value on things that are custom-made or that they helped create, and they’re far more likely to hold onto (and show off) something made just for them.
Interactive Games
Interactive games, from touchscreen challenges to physical carnival-style games, give consumers a reason to stop, play, and stay for longer at a brand activation booth. Games work well because they break the ice and help you build connections with consumers in a casual setting. Plus, by including a leaderboard or prize incentive, you can keep engagement high throughout the event.
Product Sampling Experiences
Letting people try your product (through food and drink sampling, live demos, giveaways) removes any doubt they may have around purchasing the product. This brand activation strategy works because people are more likely to buy something they’ve already experienced and know they enjoy.
How Do You Measure Brand Activation Success?
Brand activation success is measured by looking at how well your campaign achieved its goals. Think back to your original goals:
- Engagement: How many people participated in your campaign?
- Reach: How many people saw or shared the brand activation?
- Leads: How many emails, sign-ups, or inquiries were generated?
- Sales: Did the activation drive purchases?
- Social content: How much user-generated content (UGC) was created?
- ROI: Did the results justify the cost of the brand activation campaign?
Bring Your Brand to Life with Kande Photo Booths
At Kande Photo Booths, we supply ready-to-go experiences that are guaranteed to turn heads and get people talking, including a wide range of brand activation photo booths and video experiences. Our experiences are perfect for brand activations, trade shows, product launches, and private events of any size.
Ready to bring your brand to life? Get a quote today.