The Rise Of Brand Activations: Advertising Idea Or An Idea Worth Advertising?

So what actually is the definition of a brand activation? ChatGPT defines it as a ‘marketing strategy designed to actively engage consumers with a brand, creating a memorable experience that drives awareness, interaction, and emotional connection’. It’s a decent definition for this recent advertising phenomenon. But for us, it’s an idea worth advertising. Something for your brand to shout about. And right now, activations are becoming more common. They’re taking full advantage of digital capabilities to propagate ideas online which in turn, amplifies brands organically for free. 30 years ago, a Tango ad on a Saturday night was talked about on a Monday morning in the school playground, or at the water-cooler. Today, it’s instant on Whatsapp, TikTok, Twitter and so on.  And great activation ideas that live online, always have the possibility of getting shared time and time again.

Here are some of my favourite brand activations from recent times including an app concept for Toyota that was the no.1 downloaded app in the country it was made for.

American Outdoor Brand REI Closes For Black Friday

You read right. Sounds bonkers. But it was genius. True to their values, REI closed their doors on Black Friday. Instead of getting caught up in the chaos of the shopping day, they wanted their staff to #OptOutside, have a stress-free day off and enjoy the great outdoors. The feel-good news story was picked up by all the mainstream media outlets in the states, and the brand saw sales, brand warmth and employee retention increase off the back of this one activation.

Xbox made the world’s most dangerous billboard

Xbox wanted the world to know how tough their new Tomb Raider game was so they created an interactive billboard that played out like a live game show. Then they subjected the six people on the London billboard to the extreme weather conditions from the actual game. Fans streamed the show via Twitch, where they could even control the weather via their smartphone. Until only the grittiest contestant was left. The results were off the charts, from 450k+ views on Twitch, 2 million views on Facebook and 18 Cannes Lions.

IKEA created furniture truly for all

How? By flipping disability around and creating ThisAbles. Ikea found 1 in 10 people in the world live with a disability. So they hacked their most iconic IKEA products by developing 13 open-source 3D printed add-ons, each solving a different accessibility issue. Besides the 5M$ worth of earned media from PR, 4,625 people downloaded the 3D models. One of the great brand activations, that intrinsically links to their vision and genuinely make people’s everyday, wonderful.

Human-sized candles battle burnout

Education groups came together to launch Denmark’s Mental Health Day and create awareness about the increase of youth burnout. How? They crafted human sized candles and erected them all over the country to start a nationwide conversation. Each of the statues were made from wax that symbolised inaction leading to an entire generation burning out. They also targeted policy makers with small versions of the burnt-out youth, and produced a series of solutions to help address the growing issue.

Adidas created the world’s first liquid billboard 

The global sports brand discovered that 32% of women around the world feel uncomfortable swimming in public. In the Middle East, it jumps to a staggering 88%. So adidas created the world’s first swimmable billboard in Dubai, encouraging every woman in the city to dive in and become ambassadors for its new inclusive swimwear collection, regardless of their shape, ethnicity or ability. It sparked a global conversation across 60 countries about making swimming more inclusive as a sport for women.

Toyota faced down driver distraction

Put your phone down while you drive and pick up rewards. That was the simple award-winning idea for Toyota in Ireland.

The app topped the Irish app charts, received national TV, radio and press coverage worth nearly £350k. But above all Irish people drove over 13 million miles with their phones faced down. And Toyota showed how “built for a better world” made a real tangible difference in people’s lives.

Calm changed how we looked at suicide

People think they know what ‘suicidal’ looks like: crying, anger, despair. In the absence of these signs, nobody intervenes. With 125 people taking their own lives each week, long-term partners Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) and ITV, the UK’s largest commercial TV station, urgently needed to highlight the fact that ‘suicidal’ doesn’t always manifest the way people expect. So on the happiest day of the year, they created The Last Photo, a hard-hitting campaign that started a vital national conversation and empowered the UK to help prevent suicide.

Act now on your next brand activation

The next time you brief your creative agency, think about what it is you’re really looking for. If it’s brand awareness, perception, resonance and share of voice, give your agency the license to think bigger. Creativity shouldn’t be squeezed into conventional media formats – let your brand break free and break the mould. That’s what garners coverage, reach and long-term legacy.

It’s where experiential meets content meets stunts meets brand amplification. And in today’s world, that means more bang for your budget. Just remember, the best activation ideas can be summed up in an attention-grabbing headline. If you nail that and get excited about making it happen, who knows? Your brand activation could be talked about for years to come. Building long-term brand awareness and advocacy, that’s some return on investment.

Drop me a line at marcus.culloty@saintnicks.uk.com and let’s chat about how we can use brand activations to take your brand further.