​May 1, 2017 You can rebrand and relaunch, but can you activate your brand? Take a look at what nine companies from across the U.S. Are doing in their brand activation efforts. Every brand runs marketing campaigns, but not every brand knows how to engage with consumers. This is where brand activation comes into play. At the 2017 in Chicago, some of the biggest U.S. Brands–Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ford, Coca-Cola and more–discussed their strategies for brand activation.

Case Study 21 The VELUX Group and the European Handball Federation After six years, in the 2015-16 season, this figure had increased to 6,000. VELUX has sales companies across Europe and, through its Title Sponsorship, offers them corporate hospitality opportunities to bring business partners and customers. Another innovative activation was a hologram setup at airports served by the A321T which allowed for customers to take a 3D interactive tour of the new aircraft. American was the first airline to utilize the hologram technology that was well-received by employees and customers alike.

Here are nine things to know from their presentations. Image Source (left): Dos Equis 1. Think: Are you adding customer value? Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign is likely one of the best-known U.S. So why did the company relaunch the campaign with a new interesting man? Andrew Katz, vice president of marketing at Dos Equis and Heineken, says the company wanted to appeal to the average man in his 20s.

Through research the company found the average man’s biggest fear was being boring. “So we gave them something to say,” Katz says. “Our logic was, we have a franchise not dissimilar to James Bond or Batman where they constantly reboot themselves,” he says, adding that the old campaign wasn’t bringing in as many new, young beer drinkers. The company began focusing on social occasions and showcasing the beer in the ads with the new “Most Interesting Man in the World.” After finding that 60% of Dos Equis drinkers watch sports while drinking, compared with 40% of all other beer drinkers, Katz says the company decided to become the first national sponsor of the NCAA College Football Playoff. The brand activated by launching its rebooted “Interesting Man” commercial on ESPN.

“We were reaching the right people at the right time with the right message,” Katz says of launching at the beginning of the football season. Katz says this was one of Heineken’s best campaigns as a company, adding new beer drinkers in the last two quarters of 2016 and gaining shares in important markets. The campaign also saw 1.1 million interactions through the national sweepstakes.

“As you think about activating your own brands, think about what change [you are] trying to make and add value,” Katz says. “We can get better at this as a brand. Anybody can pay for a sponsorship, but it’s the great brands that can deliver something to the consumer that they can appreciate.” 2. Leverage partnerships for something bigger. When Ford became the official truck of the NFL during the 2016 season, people weren’t surprised. Ford has trademark rights with 13 teams in local markets, is affiliated with Fox Sports and its “FOX NFL SUNDAY” pregame show and has stadium naming rights with the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. Unity pro serial code. Chantel Lenard, Ford’s executive director of marketing, says by leveraging this existing partnership,.

Ford used a 360-degree campaign to lock in the 62 million people the NFL reaches each month both on game day and throughout the week. Ford used influencer marketing, promoted through websites like Bleacher Report and held sweepstakes for tickets. In the sweepstakes, 88% or participants signed up for more information on a Ford truck model, 90% of which were not already Ford owners. By the end of the campaign, Ford was able to tie a sales increase of 2,000 trucks at $50,000 per unit. “That’s pretty good ROI,” she says. Dallas Cowboys, Ford, and Denis Leary Give Local Firehouse Surprise Makeover Super Duty Ford 3.