Experiential activations are a great way to bring your company into the limelight. Whether it be a pop up, mobile tour, or guerrilla takeover, experiential marketing tactics like these can elevate your brand name in ways that other more traditional marketing methods can’t.
With that being said, you may be unfamiliar with the ins-and-outs of ‘brand activations’, or may be skeptical that experiential marketing is just a buzz term that doesn’t actually yield results. In this blog, we will discuss what brand activations are and convince you that it’s a marketing method worth mastering across all industries.
What is a Brand Activation?
In the long history of marketing, the term ‘brand activations’ is fairly new, so don’t worry if you’re not familiar. Simply put, the term ‘brand activations’ refers to different event types or marketing campaign efforts that result in a specific set of consumer experiences that are more long-lasting and emotional than what traditional advertisements evoke. This means that brand activations can be initiated in different ways, but will ultimately accomplish the goals of bringing your brand to life, garnering attention from new audiences, and redefining how your existing audience perceives you.
Why are Brand Activations Important?
Brand activations are especially important this day in age. Today, most brands are fighting for attention in the digital space, and as a result, people are restoring their appreciation for in-person experiences. Instead of trying to be the loudest brand on the internet, brand activations create live, face-to-face experiences that gain online attention organically, so you get the best of both worlds.
Again, you may be wondering what a brand activation might look like for you. There are various different types of activation campaigns that you can use, overall proving to be a good way to show a business’ personality and identity.
Brand Activation Examples For The Fall
With September in full-swing, this blog will discuss brand activations examples that are relevant during the fall and winter seasons.
Fall in particular is a great time to employ in-person, experiential marketing tactics because with the cool, enjoyable weather, you’re able to activate outside and capitalize on foot-traffic in a major market of your choice.
Keep in mind that Food Truck Promotions specializes mostly in outdoor activations, transforming vehicles into branded experiences that passer-byers can stumble upon, and fall is our busiest season. Winter, too, has proven to be a as a good time as any to bring brand awareness with experiential marketing activations. One, because being outdoors is not necessary, and two, because when you do activate on the streets, you bring a sense of excitement during chillier months.
Of all the different ways our clients have used our experiential marketing services to put on brand activation campaigns, the examples we will discuss all include one special element: hot chocolate! Many of our clients opt into our culinary services as a way to attract consumers, and one especially effective way to do it is by offering free hot-chocolate during sweater weather! Here are some success stories:
Christian Louboutin Pop Up
It goes without saying that New York is a city full of excitement, but even so, there are few things that have stood out on the concrete jungle’s streets more than Christian Louboutin’s bright red mobile crêperie.
Because of this promotion, Christian Louboutin was able to give New Yorkers of every age and background a taste of world-class French fashion and food by serving up crepes and hot coca from a branded vintage vehicle.
Expectedly, their store was left packed with excited customers ready to reach in their wallets and show their undying love for Louboutin.
Go Puff Brand Activation Campaign
Gopuff partnered with us to put on a brand activation campaign in October through March of this year! The brand extended its initial partnership with us because of just how impactful they found our experiential niche was in bringing brand awareness.
During the chillier of those months, the brand served up delicious, complimentary hot chocolate in exchange of a QR scan and app sign up. Gopuff was able to gain thousands of new subscriptions while being able to establish itself as the #1 delivery service.
Rose Inc Mobile Tour
We teamed up with Rose Inc to bring their brand on an international mobile tour. In the states, we hit Los Angeles and New York, and overseas, we activated all the way in London, UK, marking our first-ever international activation.
In addition to custom branding three different vehicles and securing permits in multiple, high-priority locations, our team also executed the creative details of the campaign, creating a product display wall that gave guests the opportunity to sample Rose Inc’s Skin Enhance Luminous Tinted Serum or read the Rose Inc newspaper while they waited in line for a cup of hot cocoa— hot cocoa that we specially customized to represent the inclusive range of skin tones this makeup is suited for.
These elements came together to create the perfect mobile pop up that both promoted the micro-encapsulated makeup and truly captured Rose Inc’s vision of clean and sustainable beauty for modern women.
Miu Miu Marketing Activation
When we partnered with Miu Miu back in 2019, it was hardly a question that our vintage E-tuk was the perfect vehicle to create the brand activation they were looking for.
The uniqueness of the E-tuk would allow us to bring out the unconventional spirit of Miu Miu, while fully customizing the exterior to include the brand’s new graphic. Meanwhile, the interior of the vehicle would allow us to explore its versatility: a food truck from which we would serve hot gourmet hot chocolate to New Yorkers passing by, and a showroom to display the Miu Miu’s Spring season handbags. This made the perfect fall pop up!
Chanel
Whether or not you’re a fashion connoisseur, there is one thing to know about the French fashion house Chanel: their iconic color red. In fact, it was founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s favorite lipstick color herself, which inspired the brand’s very first lipstick debut, “Allure Rouge” in 1924. As part of the Chanel’s month-long pop up in New York City, aptly named Le Rouge Chanel, they partnered with Food Truck Promotions to extend the very-red interactive beauty experience from their store and onto the streets, culminating in an all-out rouge holiday wonderland.
Chanel worked with our in-house culinary team to craft a perfect, rich and creamy Hot Coco to entertain guests with a complimentary luxury treat on a cold winter day. The Hot Coco Trucks created lines around the block, with over 10 thousand servings of Hot Coco given out each weekend. The campaign drove over 5 million impressions throughout the month and in the weeks following the event, but more importantly, it cultivated new customer relationships while strengthening existing ones.
Key Takeaways
Experiential marketing can be done in many different ways. Even in the mobile/vehicle niche, we have found a diverse range of ways to create branded environments and experiences that resonate with consumers.
If you’re looking for a truly creative way of marketing your brand that actually is impactful, then brand activation campaigns should be one of your main considerations. We hope that in the upcoming, chillier seasons, you decide to make use of our experiential marketing services!
Top 10 Best Pop-Ups of 2023
It’s been a big year here at Food Truck Promotions. With the holidays on the horizon and the new year quickly approaching, we’ve been looking
Creating Experiences That Drive UGC
Why UGC is a Key to Successful Modern Marketing If you are interested in modern marketing, you already know that the advertising world has dramatically
Come on, Barbie, Let’s Go Market!
There’s no doubt about it — Barbie is back. Everyone’s favorite childhood dream girl is hitting the big screen on July 21, and the hype
