Journal
Field notes on brand activations, racing simulators and the events people queue for, from the team that has been building them since 1993.
- Brand activations
Brand activation agency or production company: who does what
The two suppliers do different jobs, get judged on different things, and fail in different ways. Which one you need depends on a question most briefs never ask.
- Esports and sport
Running a competition that includes the people who do not play games
Why a tournament can be a success and still miss most of the room, and the three properties that change who takes part.
- Simulators
How many people can one simulator actually move in a day
The formula that decides whether your activation serves everybody who wanted in or sends most of them away, and the four things that change the answer.
- Corporate events
Choosing the activity at the centre of a company event
Why the entertainment that gets booked and the entertainment that works are usually different things, and the four questions that separate them.
- Corporate events
The company party people are still talking about in January
Why the budget goes to the things nobody remembers, and what to put in the room so the evening produces its own stories.
- Brand activations
The metric that matters at an activation is not footfall
Why the number everyone reports is the one that cannot tell a busy aisle from a successful stand, and the two that can.
- Trade shows
Trade show booth ideas that actually stop traffic
Why the stands people queue at are running an activity, not showing a product, and how to tell in advance which of your ideas will hold someone for four minutes.
- Brand activations
What a brand activation costs, and what actually drives the number
Why quotes for the same brief come back so far apart, the four variables that move the number most, and what to put in a request so the answers are comparable.
- Esports and sport
What a fan zone at a race weekend actually has to deliver
Why a format that works at a trade show fails at a race weekend, and the three demands a fan zone has that no other activation does.
- Simulators
What a simulator activation needs on site: space, power, access and lead time
The site questions that get asked too late, and the one that kills more activations than any other: the door.