The new year brings with it the prospect of doing some really great experiential builds at the various festivals, roadshows and conferences across the country. Or perhaps you’re thinking of a standalone piece you need to showcase your brand, product or service in a high footfall area. Once you’ve written your brief and figured out what your overarching KPI is it might be time to start thinking about the look and feel of the activity, or specifically, the size of it. 

First full week back in 2020 and we’re already deep into planning and production meetings for campaigns, builds and experiences for most of our clients at this year’s festivals etc. We’ve sites booked at Bloom, area plans laid out for the music festivals, and are reserving more space at the National Ploughing Championships. Not to mention the countless smaller brand activities planned for venues, centres and streets around the country which we’ll inhabit with enthusiastic teams of brand ambassadors spreading the good word of our clients. 

If you’re yet to get cracking on your activity ideas for the year, fear not, we’re here to help – simply pick up the phone or drop us a mail and we’ll be delighted to give you our thoughts and advice. For now though, here are some factors you need to bear in mind before planning any experiential and some top line answers you might be looking for in terms of scale of the projects. 

Friendly Faces: 

If you want to get your product or message directly into the hands of your audience a fun-loving, energetic, enthusiastic and well-briefed pair of brand ambassadors might be enough. Obviously, the more BAs you add to the team the more people you can reach or interact with. You’ll also need sampling bins and bear in mind waste management. Cleanliness is next to godliness. 

Make it pop: 

In high footfall areas people tend to be in flux so you may need a branding piece that catches their eye from a distance. Our BAs will be proactively approaching people to engage but a little stand out branded structure will make their greeting less surprising and increase your successful engagements. The below example of a signus tent is a cheap effective way of doing so. It also provides a clean focal point for the team to work from, keeping storage and refuse in a tidy location. Gazebos do the same job but aren’t as easy on the eye. 

Seriously in tents: 

If you’re looking to keep people at your branded area and provide shelter, then a stretch or a trussed-stretch tent will be the answer you’re looking for. Usually used in festival experiences where you want the area to become a meeting point or an entertainment event space – stretch tents come in various shapes and sizes to fit your needs. Here’s a glimpse of one we used at our 53 Degrees North Adventure Festival. 

Get your skates on:

Your campaign may need to visit various destinations on the fly and what better way to do that than to put wheels on your sampling stage. Okay, so it’s not quite the same, but a bespoke branded van, bus or truck allows you to be agile, shortens labour and loading times, and serves as its own storage facility too. Here’s one we made for our client Logic last year which drove to various festivals around the country.

Mezzy Rascals:

If you need your activity to have a longer dwell time for a larger audience and a roomy environment to host large parts – at a festival for example – then you might need to think about a mezzy or modular-mezzy build. Basically a scaffolded structure that acts as a building complete with walls and a ceiling or even a first floor. Here’s one we built for Renault at the National Ploughing Championships in 2018 to give you an idea.

All of the above depend heavily on the kind of campaign you have, the KPIs and measure of success you’ve set, and of course, the budget you have at your disposal. We’re always keen to sit down with clients to chat through every available option in greater detail so that we can advise on the size of activation they need, which isn’t necessarily the most expensive. Horses for courses. Drop us a line if you’re interested in creating an experience at any of the aforementioned events or locations, or even if you just need a clearer view of how we can get people talking about your brand.

- GC