5 Brand Activation Ideas that Create a Memorable Experience
What is a brand activation event?
A brand activation is an event for brands–usually something in a store front, hotel, or restaurant–or a campaign to help connect brands with their audience. It can be an event to promote a new product or just a way for customers to have a special and unique experience. For branding activations, an artist will arrive on site, have a neat set up with the necessary supplies, and ready to interact with guests while providing them a memorable takeaway gift. Adding a live artist is a great way to elevate an event and provide a luxurious experience.
Here are my favorite ways to add an artist to your brand event:
1. Calligraphy
Live calligraphy artist personalizing a Mother's Day greeting card during a Cartier luxury retail brand activation and customer engagement event in Detroit.
Calligraphy is one of the most popular requests for brand events. It can be as simple as adding names on place cards or gift tags, or something more unique like candles or greeting cards. During the holidays, this is a great way to elevate your event and offer guests personalized holiday cards with their gift purchases.
2. Bottle and Product Painting
Live bottle painting artist customizing a Jo Malone fragrance bottle during a luxury retail brand activation and customer engagement event in Detroit.
Bottle painting offers a truly unique experience. Guests are often mesmerized watching my quick bottle painting techniques. Each painting takes 10–15 minutes to complete! The paint used quickly dries and the item is ready for guests to take home that day.
The best part of this one is that it isn’t limited to just bottles. My floral painting skills can be applied to many different types of surfaces such as acrylic, cardstock, or boxes.
3. Engraving
Custom engraved fragrance bottle created during a live engraving activation at Sephora, featuring luxury retail personalization and customer engagement in Chicago.
The beauty of engraving is that it creates a permanent personalization. Using a small, portable, hand-held device, engravings can be added onto glass, acrylic, metal, and many other types of surfaces. Small engraving pieces, such as fragrance bottles or wine glasses, are complete in 10 minutes. For larger items, such as liquor or wine bottles, engraving can take anywhere from 10–25 minutes depending on the word count. Each piece is completed with a color fill to really make the lettering pop.
4. Live Debossing & Leather Personalization
Personalized David Yurman jewelry pouch featuring custom hand-lettered calligraphy during a luxury retail event activation and VIP client gifting experience.
Debossing & Leather Personalization uses a hot tool to add calligraphy and art onto wood surfaces. This is absolutely a fun one to have on site and requires an extra steady, careful hand to make sure no one gets burned during the process. Debossing & Leather Personalization is great to add onto leather items.
5. Hot Foil
Live calligraphy artist personalizing a Celine leather eyewear case with gold initials during a luxury retail brand activation and VIP customer experience event.
Hot foil is a really fun brand activation event and perfect for leather personalization. Using the same hot tool as pyrography, hot foil offers a way to apply a shiny, metallic calligraphy or art work on leather. Popular ways to elevate your brand event with hot foil is adding it onto wallets, coin purses, card holders, or any other leather surface.
Calligraphy by Yasha offers brand activation services for Detroit, Chicago, US and Canada. Want to book a one of these services for your next brand activation?
