Brand activation is where your brand comes to life for internal and external stakeholders alike. Think of it as the ignition switch, the lit fuse, or the burst of energy a new or recently rebranded company needs to hit the ground running in the marketplace.
Even the most thoughtful brand positioning and inspired brand identity are essentially futile until they are brought to life by brand activation, which is the process of engaging internal and external stakeholders with a newly defined brand to increase brand awareness and build brand equity.
What is Brand Activation?
Imagine trading in a well-used 2008 Toyota Camry for a brand-new Toyota Prado, investing in all the interior and exterior upgrades available, parking your shiny new car in the garage—and then leaving it there. It sounds ludicrous (pun intended), right? But that’s what many companies do when they invest in branding or rebranding, only to fall short of activating their brand.
Branding, rebranding, and positioning work only set the stage for the growth that is the ultimate payoff from these sound business investments. Your brand, after all, is how your company is perceived by those who experience it.
If your visual identity, positioning language, photography, etc. are never perceived—or if they’re only perceived by people who happen to stumble upon your website—they never get the chance to be a powerful, cohesive brand.
Internally, brand activation includes the all-important process of aligning your company with your new brand. It’s critical that all internal stakeholders, from leadership to employees to board members, thoroughly understand the new brand and how to communicate it before it’s introduced to the world at large.
Externally, brand activation includes launching your new brand, implementing it across your various touchpoints, devising a strategy for brand communication, and putting into practice ongoing brand management to ensure your brand is consistently executed in every possible scenario.
In an increasingly crowded and dynamic marketplace, it’s imperative your new brand is seen by your target audiences; that the messaging, written expressly for their eyes and ears, finds its way home and that your experience is cohesive and compelling from day one and every day thereafter. This is why brand activation is so essential.
Read also: Oracle CEO sees brands’ activation deepening consumer engagement
Brand Activation vs. Marketing Activation
If you Google the term “brand activation”, you’ll get all sorts of results describing one-off, in-person events designed to engage audiences with surprising and memorable product experiences. They all sound like a lot of fun, but they’re not what I, as a branding expert, would define as brand activation. Rather, they are marketing activations.
Including everything from experiential marketing to promotional events to product launches, marketing activations are isolated instances designed to generate excitement and ephemeral awareness around a brand, product or service.
Brand activation, rather, refers to an ongoing process including multiple elements designed to introduce a newly developed or recently rebranded company to the world, laying the groundwork for further brand-building initiatives that will increase brand awareness and build brand equity over time.
Read also: Activating your brand within the African market
The Benefits of Brand Activation
Brand activation includes a number of important elements, each of which contributes to the overall success of your new brand and, ultimately, the growth of your business.
Many of the benefits of brand activation are evident in its elements, but let’s take a closer look at some of the most valuable ways brand activation can help your business.
i. Maximise Your Branding ROI
As mentioned earlier, there’s nothing worse than investing in a full-fledged new brand or comprehensive rebrand only to falter at the starting gate.
Brand activation ensures you get the most out of your branding investment by introducing your brand to the world with purpose and intent. Properly activating your brand is the only way to ensure that the strategy and identity you’ve developed reach the audiences they were designed for with the impact you intended.
ii. Create Brand Alignment
Internal and external brand alignment are the ultimate goals of any brand., and brand activation is the only way to ensure you’re on track to achieve them.
Internally, activation ensures your leadership and employees are aligned around key positioning tenets like your purpose, vision, mission, and values. Internal brand alignment is the mark of a healthy organisation with a strong company culture.
Externally, activation ensures your brand is aligned with the needs and perceptions of customers. Meeting the specific needs of customers and cultivating positive brand associations are the first steps toward building customer loyalty and amassing brand equity.
iii. Build Brand Equity
Brand equity isn’t going to build itself, after all. It takes an impactful brand launch, skilled implementation, and persuasive communications for your target audiences to sit up and take notice of your brand.
This first step, brand awareness, is the all-important foundation upon which brand loyalty is built, over repeat engagements where customers come to recognise and be familiar with your brand. Familiarity leads to trust, trust leads to loyalty and loyalty leads, ultimately, to brand equity. But it all starts with effective brand activation.
Last line
Brand activation is a critical but oft-overlooked component for the success of your brand. Whether you’re a start-up with a newly developed brand or a legacy organisation undergoing a rebrand, the process of activation ensures you get the most out of your branding investment.
From brand launch and brand training to brand communications and brand management, activation includes all the elements your brand needs to make an impactful and lasting first impression that will boost brand awareness and build the brand equity that is essential to business growth.
