Forging Lasting Connections: Essential Elements Of Brand Activations
Brand activations have emerged as a pivotal strategy, seamlessly bridging the gap between consumers and brands. Multi-faceted campaigns go beyond traditional advertising, focusing on immersive experiences that resonate with target audiences. At their core, brand activations encompass a spectrum of crucial elements designed to leave a lasting impact.
From experiential events and interactive installations to social media engagement and influencer partnerships, each component contributes to forging authentic connections with consumers. The strategic amalgamation of creativity, technology, and consumer psychology forms the bedrock of successful brand activations. By fostering memorable encounters, these initiatives not only enhance brand visibility but also create a tangible and emotional bond between the brand and its audience. In this era of heightened competition, understanding and harnessing the power of these vital elements is essential for brands seeking to carve a distinctive and enduring presence in the market.
The 3 E’s
Talking to Everything Experiential, Shailendra Singh, Founder, Percept articulates that he believes in the three E’s that work and create appropriate results – Education engagement entertainment. “The activation needs to obviously educate the consumer about the product or the experience that they're selling. And secondly, after education it has to engage. This means that the promotion, the offering, the benefits or whatever that is they're selling to the customer has to engage them at that level. And finally, it has to entertain the customer.
And when we say entertaining, it means it’s about the whole experience – it has got be an exciting, fun experience. The packaging of the product can be entertaining. The way it's presented, it can be entertaining. So I feel that these are the three strongest pillars that will ensure that the activation gets the right attention.”
At the end of the day, a consumer will only buy a product that they understand. “The understanding happens through the education and the promotional offer of the activation ensures that the customer is getting engaged. And last but not the least, when the deal is being closed, the customer needs to feel thoroughly entertained at the entire experience,” reiterates Singh.
Banking on Authenticity
Gunjan Arya, Chief Executive Officer, Only Much Louder feels that whether it's on-ground or online, campaigns that deliver authenticity are the ones that will stick.
“For us, at least, because we've always been on the side of artists delivering authentic messages, I believe that what creator-led content does is that it collapses the funnel. Any campaign can operate as an awareness-building campaign as well as a conversion campaign, because everything has become online in terms of delivering reach, plus your mode of fulfilment, it's also e-commerce. So I think that's really exciting,” she points out.
