Brand Activation- Some Misconceptions

Brand Activation- Some Misconception

 

This article helps clarifying the misconception about the scope of Brand Activation and builds on the ways brands can activate themselves in the cluttered waves. The idea is to not only place the brand on ground but to create a brand experience that exhibits the attributes, personality and essence of a brand. This blog was earlier published in ‘Activate’, a Contact Plus Learning Centre Publication

 

The major stake holders in any successful activation are:

The client (Brand, Sales and activation team)

The advertising agency (Media and creative)

The Activation agency (Strategy, Planning and Execution)

 

If you notice the above stakeholders involved in devising a communication strategy for activation you will see a visible difference from the conventional ATL advertising model where the only people involved are the brand managers and the creative person from the creative agency.

 

You go to a mall and a person dressed in clothes that are branded to a certain brand’s color palette gives you a sample of their product; that’s sampling.

 

You enter a super market and the floor tiles guide you towards the shelf of a certain brand to buy it; that’s Activation pull.

 

But before I move further I would like to share what brand activation is.

Brand activation is a scientific process of engaging your target market in an interactive manner with efficacy in communication and effectiveness in result to achieve.

 

More crudely put it is calculated communication or for the people operating in the communication business Activation is Quantitative Communication; measured on variables such as number of contacts, exposure, response, converters as opposed to the ATL terms of reach, frequency.

 

These variables are the objective for brands to achieve through activation, however the earlier model of advertising also worked on such variables but today in the era of glamour and glitz the only few objectives left for advertising on ATL are to inform, aware, recall. Besides the Consumer Promotions there is not much in advertisements to entice the consumer to make a purchase. Well Shan didn’t make me buy Haleeb or for that matter Viqar Ali Khan didn’t convert me to Warid Zahi.

 

 

 

Now let’s take a look at these variables in detail so as to understand their importance to execute 360 Degree impact activation.

 

contacts, exposure, response, converters as opposed to the ATL terms of reach, frequency

 

Any activation is planned keeping in view the realistic objectives, for a certain brand activation could be to make a certain number of consumer contacts. If further augmented the objective also encompasses the kind of response we need from them to our communication and that would ideally result in converted consumers.

Activation are not half baked communication, it is done with the objective in mind to achieve a certain target.

Breaking the clutter with something that is relevant and something that the consumer can relate to is what matters in the world of style, glamour & paparazzi.

In order to take the brand forward we need to come out of our offices and TV sets and go out in the world where we have our consumers in front of us.

 

Continuing from what I said at the start of my article as to how brands can ideally activate themselves. It is an established fact that today’s consumer is more educated then it was in the yesteryears. Globalization has paved way for choices. The shelf has become cluttered so has the conventional media. The ideal scenario would be to make the consumer try your product, purchase it and convert to loyal consumer.

 

I am sorry that 45 seconders really don’t give consumers enough reason to go out and try out your product.

However with activation a direct link is created through product trials, sampling, feedback, consumer relationship management takes its role.

Brand activation is more customized for the consumer rather than Meera speaking to the entire nation of beauty inspired females.

Selling the essence of a brand via activation is the real challenge as that is what can be gauged in the long run.

Even today Fair & Lovely ‘Kismet kay Sitaray’ holds a certain link to the thousands of females of our country, Gold Flake movie trailer is expected to return to hundreds of towns and villages all across Pakistan. Walls Canteen Kahani hasn’t been forgotten, Mountain Dew sampling is still recalled as it played a major role in developing the excited, adventurous youth of Pakistan.

With the major chunk of communication budgets shifting from conventional media to Activation is a proof that activation is not only limited to putting up a stall at a mall for a few thousand but it tells that the companies are now going through the lines (TTL) to get to their consumers and retain them. Things are not being left to chances and mistakes as now is the time to Activate!

 

I will say my goodbye with an example that will hopefully tell the difference between conventional communication and brand activation Difference of ‘driving Ferrari on play station and actually driving it’.

 

Cheers

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