Why activation without amplification is a glass half empty

What has become apparent to me is that there’s often some decent activation work done without amplification or the other way round, push communications without sufficient on-the-ground activation to back it up and bring it to life.

It’s so critical that a creative idea based on insight (that helps ensure that it actually resonates with the target audience) is leveraged both experientially and with effective communications. The communications will vary according to what you’re trying to achieve with social and PR now almost being mandatories in making campaigns truly impactful.

But a great idea and activation is limited without the amplification it deserves. It will get you so far, without you really realising the value for money and returns you should. When I say amplification, I mean the build up communications making audiences aware of it as well as the PR that allows for documenting it in the media and demonstrating what actually happened and how your brand was responsible for a special experience.

I notice a lot of good activation work in our market but it means nothing if the target public aren’t aware of it. And a few hundred fans on match day is only the start of the success. Sure, a great experience is rich and goes a long way in doing great brand jobs with limited live audiences, but the other half of the magic is taking full advantage of what you have created and making as many people stand up take notice and be impressed with what you pulled off.

Social media has resulted in the ability for high quality niche live experiences to be shared and viewed by millions around the world. So the importance of ensuring an activation is attractive and unique has increased. We’re now essentially attempting to create shareable experiences that will be seen by exponential audiences. Getting that right requires big ideas.

But we need to create and facilitate the sharing ability, as Levergy did with RFID technology at The BMW Challenge activations, as well as share the story utilising PR and ATL capabilities.

With the use of PR and digital, Guinness turned a match day activation into a memorable campaign and in so doing showed a full glass of the black stuff. So remember your glass is half empty if it’s great activation with no noise or share ability. The glass is full when there is buzz. Make the buzz happen with clever amplification and see the results.