People often think of brand activations as complex, multi-faceted affairs that require a lot of planning and coordination. But the truth is, they can be quite simple!

At its core, a brand activation is just marketing to your buyer persona in person, solving their problems, and appealing to their emotions. But of course, none of that is possible without a strong foundation. 

As an event marketer, you need to have a clear understanding of your business and what you stand for. You need to have a deep insight into your customer and what they want and need. And most importantly, you need to have values that you truly care about. Once you have all of that in place, strong brand activations will naturally follow.

An example of a brand activation that meets the latter criteria, was the recently promoted Gymshark “pop-up barbershop”- creatively dubbed as “Deload”. 

The temporary barber shop provided a “non-judgemental safe space” for men to open up to professional mental health care trained barbers- while they received a free trim. An interesting touch to this activation was the fact that Gymshark partnered with two incredible mental health charities, “Calm” in the UK and “JED” in the USA.  But why?

According to their team, “ ‘Deload’ is part of Gymshark’s expansive mental health initiative, existing to “deliver a stream of positive information, guidance and entertainment, that boosts you when you're at your mental best, and supports you when you're not.”

The Deload Barbershop brand activation went viral and was extremely popular.  

In this episode of Event Marketing: Redefined, Matt Kleinrock and Mollie Stahl, discuss three reasons why this Gymshark brand activation so creative, authentic, and successful:

1.  Core Values Driven: The activation was created and built based on one of Gymsharks main core values. It was both customer focused and relevant to an inherent emotional need/belief of their internal culture and targeted buyer persona. 
2. Branded and Aligned with a Good Cause:  Most brand activations are executed with a customer centric mindset. But being customer centric, may not always mean having a charity or deeper impact associated with the activation. The unique men’s mental health focus of this activation added that next-level touch to the campaign. 
3. Focused and Strategic Execution: Gymshark is a branding rockstar. Their intent and their “why” behind the activation was crystal clear. They spoke not only to their core customers, active males, but also their family life and problems. The vulnerability of the topic provided a way for their target audience to immediately connect emotionally with both the brand and the activation. 

From the location, to targeted partnerships, and tactful execution, it’s clear that there was intensive research done for this brand activation. Prior to even considering what services would be offered, or what the activation would look like, they focused on what the activation would feel like.  So if you're looking to make your brand activation wildy successful, remember the importance of intimately understanding your customer base. It's the secret sauce to success!

Connect with Mollie:

On her LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molliestahl/

Connect with Me:

On my LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kleinrock-9613b22b/
On my company: https://rockwayexhibits.com/

🚨 Register for the show here: https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined