Validating a fruitful ROI through on-ground activation is a challenge owing to digitization. Marketers can leverage various digital solutions for successful engagement and a positive ROI for their products. Acquiring and reporting data during and after activation can now be done in one place. Additionally, brands now have access to real-time data enabling much more control and ensuring activations run smoothly.
However, marketers need to know which solutions, tools, and tactics, digital or on-ground, can cost-effectively enable their brand activation while meeting their KPIs.
What are on-ground activations?
The goal of on-ground activations and events is to grab the focus of your potential customers and create awareness for your brand. By providing a product experience, brands create lasting attachments with consumers and drive word-of-mouth advertising for their products.
These marketing activities are a subtle but sure-shot way of boosting customer engagement, which can be achieved in several ways –
- One popular approach is where you engage with your potential customers by asking them questions and initiating a conversation with them. This approach makes them feel they are in control of their journey with your brand rather than feeling targeted or coerced.
- The second approach is to ask them to be your brand ambassador and advertise your product on your behalf through social media or word-of-mouth.
6 essential steps to a successful on-ground activation
On-ground brand activation is a powerful way to reach consumers and establish a two-way interactive platform, provided it gets carried out effectively.
Here are six essential steps that every brand marketing agency must fulfill for a successful on-ground activation:
1. Integration
On-ground activation initiatives must perfectly sync with your brand’s creative approach. The undertakings by your brand on other channels like radio, print, outdoor, television, and digital platforms should be consistent with the activation strategy. The performance and effectiveness of a promotional campaign enhance when all the elements are aligned and convey a common message across channels.
2. Amplification
In addition to integrating multiple verticals of a campaign, avenues like radio and digital platforms can be utilized further to amplify an on-ground activation initiative. Cost-effective digital mediums are excellent for grabbing eyeballs and directing potential consumers towards an on-ground brand activation. Multi-platform amplification can be especially impactful in your brand or product’s pre-launch or teaser phase.
3. Uniqueness
Consumers are subjected to thousands of brand messages and activations daily, so your activation can get lost unless it’s unique and catches your audience’s attention. Presenting consumers with an appealing and distinct experience can create a long-lasting brand attachment in the minds of your consumers.
4. Location
Location is a crucial element of an on-ground brand activation campaign. With multiple options like corporate hubs, college campuses, commercial complexes, and malls, you must carefully analyze the tone of your campaign and your audience’s needs and identify what kind of location is best equipped to accomplish your goals effectively. For example, campaigns targeted toward youth work well in malls and campuses, while corporate hubs are better suited for working professionals.
5. Insight Driven
Like every promotional move, consumer insights must drive on-ground activations. To be successful, your activation program must combine both and present a consumer-oriented solution. You must thoroughly understand the audience’s profile, preferences, and campaign objectives.
Ashneer Grover stated in a recent interview, “Personally, I am not a big fan of “the only way to make customer acquisition is google and Facebook.” This interview is a must-watch if you want to get a real insight into the benefit of on-ground activation of brands above and beyond the digital world.
6. Data-Driven
In recent years, marketers have increasingly turned to different data types to make better marketing activation decisions. The ability to measure video-based shopping is an example of a truly innovative solution to the urgent problem of shopper understanding. It provides visibility into shopper engagement and behavior relative to exact marketing activation, enabling a holistic approach to shopper marketing.
Why is On-ground marketing a Better Option?
1. Road Marketing boosts brand mindfulness
On-ground marketing builds brand mindfulness and expands your brand visibility. Dispersing pamphlets, flyers, and leaflets in broad daylight helps contact a specific arrangement of crowds, expanding interactions to make an enduring impression. When a print is disseminated amongst road individuals, it is a suitable type of information that boosts brand mindfulness.
2. Marketing visits help build brands awareness
To make client encounters, numerous brands utilize intuitive publicizing by utilizing modified transports or vehicles. This fills in as a mobile bulletin, spreading the word about their quality and conveying clients’ encounters. It places itself in crowds with the potential to create brand awareness and image.
3. Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla marketing is a technique that advances a brand or item unconventionally with a negligible financial plan. People frequently use guerrilla and on-ground marketing interchangeably, which is a huge misconception. When done adequately and effectively, this marketing technique can rouse the dynamic commitment of consumers to the brand.
4. Intelligent events boost encounters
Brands must be strategic when picking an occasion or cause before organizing an on-ground activation. Activation events, when picked strategically and intelligently, can enhance the impact of your brand and your customer’s connection with it. Public interviews, promotional brand occasions, and item dispatches are a portion of the common and traditional brand advertising events.
Top brands that use on-ground activation
1. BhartPe
BharatPe is the third largest player in the merchant UPI payment acceptance space. This platform offers a wide range of fintech products to help small merchants grow their businesses. A digital payment platform that seeks to popularize cricket in India, BharatPe has discovered that cricket fans are more likely to pay for goods and services related to the sport. The company selected crickets—a species native to India—for its brand ambassadors because Indian customers easily recognize these animals as symbols of cricket culture.
2. Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime was profiting in online advertising but wanted to build strong offline strategies and execution points and create more awareness about its brand offerings. They used origami concepts to create more customer engagement and highly attractive campaigns across Bengaluru. This campaign generated interest, piqued curiosity, and created unparalleled brand awareness while keeping the target customers engaged. The campaign also caught media houses’ attention and was featured in several publications.
3. Oneplus
When OnePlus unveiled its new smartphone, the Oneplus 5T-Star Wars edition, it was launched at a Bengaluru Comic-Con. As soon as the phone was launched, it was made available for sale at the Delhi Comic-Con. Fans were queuing up to get their hands on this limited-edition phone. This activation campaign hugely succeeded with large-scale customer acquisition, optimized acquisition cost, and positive ROI.
On-Ground Activation – Are You Missing Out?
An absolute yes! On-ground brand activation events and campaigns can skyrocket your brand awareness and impressions, bringing in new customers and establishing a long-lasting brand attachment. For a successful product activation, it is vital to focus on your audience and their needs through experiential marketing, digital campaigns, influencer marketing, and other virtual or on-ground activation events.
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