Activate: Brand relationships!

From live to life and viral to traditional. All experiences...

In the broad scope of marketing one of the keys to success is brand activation. Now, when submerged in ad clutter, visual noise and a lot of competitors, brand activation plays a pivotal role in the success of branding programs, while intertwined with the WWW, viral and social network platforms. Though at times it is misinterpreted by just throwing parties or solely paying a sponsorship fee; activation is the MOST important part when putting the brand in front of your target audience.

Most brands don’t go mainstream in main-street through Madison Avenue but there are others that choose not to, considering their strategic approach to their target audience. Also, most of the brands rather be big within their niche than small in the Walmart shelves.

Adidas takes a tribal sport to the masses with great hype and an inside story. The documentary: All Blacks,serves as the platform to generate genuine brand activation through viral and 30 second TV spots. The narrative is media neutral, while the story flows in any medium. 

Oakley edits video of it’s sponsored athletes to create incredible promotional tools that spread around the web within their niche. While capturing video footage of most of it’s live activation programs, it breathes action sports throughout it’s massive brand engagement cycle. 

In the best of it’s stunt/guerrilla/mob style campaigns, T Mobile hits the street with a smart and unique activation. Since the message is the same, any public happening that involves people sharing, makes it worthwhile for audiences across the board and the brand. In the same vertical it successfully uses the live execution for viral threads and TV spots, while keeping the axis of it’s campaign.

Just 3 SMART executions in different markets and intended for different audiences. Only to enlighten the minds of so called marketers who spill money in traditional advertising for share of _____'s sake.

You can lead by being good but champions go further, they stand aside from the pack doing OUTSTANDING stuff!

Balls!

That's what it takes to do great stuff nowadays. Though the time calls for urgency in everything we do, every industry and every Jack is in a rush to do things differently. 

All the geniuses in the world call for a creative approach and those in dead industries like news papers, auto, travel and MARKETING: Are bragging about new ways, while the business for business sake is dead and their safest bet is to cut cost and take care of business as usual!

Those who dare to be really different and creative, manage to survive the self created ad NOISE/CLUTTER by touching audiences in a genuine and authentic manner. Therefore, creating and fostering relationships...

One of the marketing gurus of out time: Seth Godin, said: "Dare to be different". And even though everybody is paying attention, our rusty socio-economic helm is having a difficult time steering the wheel.

My favorite trend spotter Jeremy, brought these two videos to my attention again. 

So in the spirit of sparking an other good reason to be different... Just do it! Dare to 

go the other way, the un-usual way!!

in the moving business!

So, it seems that the industry is starting to realize that we are in a people focused 

business, where impressions are not weighted on a ROI metrics grid against media 

buys. It’s starting to shift to interactions based on ROE (return on engagement): A 

relationship model on brand experiences. 

As marketers, communicators, community activists and development agents, we move 

peoples emotions to win their rational selves as fanatics. We have the world as a 

canvas and a whole lot of possibilities to connect people with brands on an opt-in basis. 

Let’s work, play, perform, celebrate and live with them.... 

“What they want is products, communications and marketing campaigns that dazzle 

their senses touch their hearts and stimulate their minds – that deliver an experience.” 

                                                            | Bernd H. Schmitt - The Experience Economy 

 * Images courtesy of On the groung looking up, blog. 

New ways!

Remember the time when the world and life would happen in a TV box? Alternatively, we had the movie theater to expand our imagination and have a mental flight. But  a long, long time ago this experience would be exclusive of the theater for plays and music. Today, as human beings we are essentially the same as 80 years ago. Though technology has brought bridges between other cultures and even satellites in other worlds, we are MOVED by experiences that are positive and gratifying. Like those in the movies or sit-coms, based on real life and inspired in real people.

We are all in that business. The business of people and moving peoples heart and emotions.  even though some have never thought of it of maybe never realized it: We are in a people business... I must ad, that we are not in the business for the sake business:  Market share, niche, cross promotion, marketing mix, positioning, segmentation,  crm, cpm, HITS (How idiots test success), affiliate marketing, CUT THROUGH THE CLUTTER(my favorite), out of the box, strategy, asp, blogroll, ROI(an other classic), cpa, INTEGRATED(famous fatale), reach, coverage, traffic, impressions, awareness, fragmentation, mentions, endorsement, tag, multi-layer, etc, etc... I bumped into a site called Bull Shit generator, which holds a vast collection of marketing buzz words that are worth a laugh!

As clients feel the pinch from the economic slowdown, they start sacrificing MARKETING budgets. I'm not surprised, considering almost every business model runs on high paid brass, under paid labor and marketing based on crafted ROI metrics: Humm...

So, what happens to the sponsorship this summer, the invasive take over on internet portals and obviously, the master brand's national campaign?? Marketing becomes an off the shelf pad of millions of dollars that fails to ENGAGE, TOUCH and MOVE audiences. It happens today in the era of iphone, internet and customer empowerment. I’m not in the role of a priest at a Hooters party, but there is right doing and wrong being!  

A few days ago, the world saw with awe Susan Boyle’s performance at Britains got talent. In just a few of the YouTube videos the numbers are staggering: 10,822,056 views, 37,343,775 views, 4,551,940 views, 7,395,899 views and they go on and on... She has more views than Barack Obama’s inaugural speech or any marketing viral video ever. But, why is this such a craze? Many got inspired, cried and yelled in joy, while others compared it to past underdogs like Paul Potts, though everybody was MOVED!! Nowadays, what ever is great spreads in a matter of seconds and more often than not it happens through twitter, facebook and also email.  

The new economy meets new media and because of the very nature of both, marketing and branding have to be better and clever as well as genuine. ENGAGE, TOUCH and MOVE your audience or your agency, client and big fat cheque are gone, like the rest of the old economy.

A few marketers get it and I found these gut twisting samples:

I am an e-motion creative and engagement manager: Rendering actions and experiences that TOUCH emotions and engage PEOPLE! I am in the business of MOVING people.

Experience the story

Like in the golden years of the 7th art, we recently stumbled upon a fascinating story that made us cry, laugh, stick to the arm rest and shake our booty: All in a two hour movie. We’ve had Forest Gump, La Vita E Bella and maybe American Beauty that comply with being well told stories for the big screen.

In the realm of experiential marketing we believe at times that we are everything that traditional mediums are not, just because they are traditional mass media. Under the premise that there is a sound difference between experiential tactics and experiential methodology; Not all events are experiential marketing and not all traditional marketing communications tactics are experience-less.

A compelling narrative with an involving rhetoric and a well told story, blows audiences out of their socks and shakes their hearts off their chests!!!  An awesome, remarkable, memorable and relevant experience.

TOUCH AND BE TOUCHED in your human fiber !!