7 Tips for Brands Launching Retail Demo Programs
We work with brands of all sizes – from startups to category leaders. We love watching brands grow and evolve. Most emerging brands get into a smaller retailer, hoping to create a data story there that will compel larger retailers to bring in their products. In these cases, building a high ROI demo program is […]
Experiential Marketing: When More is More
The saying less is more is true…sometimes. But sometimes, you have to toss aside that old adage and go big! At large-scale events, where dozens, or even hundreds, of brands are competing for attention, if you don’t stand out, you’ll be lost in the shuffle, and you can expect your ROI on the event to […]
Is Guerrilla Marketing Right for Your Business?
If you want to get a lot of samples out fast in a cost-effective way – you’re probably considering guerrilla marketing. The planning is relatively simple compared to other styles of experiential marketing. 1. Assemble a street team. 2. Load them up with thousands of samples. 3. Send them into the oncoming traffic at a […]
10 Cost Saving Tips for Your Experiential Marketing Activations
Face-to-face marketing is one of the most effective ways to increase your brand awareness and sales. Throughout the years, we have discovered several ways to keep the costs down to make our clients’ marketing dollars go further. Do you want to control costs on your experiential marketing programs? Try these tips! 1. Instead of a […]
7 Tips to Make the Most of Expo West
Is it just us, or does Natural Products Expo West feel more like a family reunion than a trade show? New products, old friends, early mornings, and late nights. Our team looks forward to this industry celebration every year. In our decade of attending this event, we’ve seen brands crush it at Expo and we’ve […]
How to Find the Perfect Brand Ambassador
One of the many questions I’m asked during new business meetings is “how does HFA find their brand ambassadors?” This is such a great question because how exactly do we find the “perfect” candidate for your unique brand when we work with a variety of brands? Let me tell you, it’s not a one size […]
How to Improve Brand Ambassador Retention
Turnover in the experiential marketing industry is high – very high. Most brand ambassadors have other primary commitments, like school, a full-time job, or auditioning for acting or dancing roles. When the demands of one of those roles increases, they’ll usually drop their side hustle like a hot potato. And this turnover is costly for […]
2022: Our Best Year Yet
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that you never know what’s just around the bend. Going into 2022, we honestly had almost no idea what to expect. We had some strong client partnerships and some big dreams, but the pandemic was still looming, and we didn’t have a crystal ball to know when […]
Should You Demo Health-Minded Products During the Holidays?
While many experiential marketing agencies are busy during the holidays, the end of year is usually a slower time for us. Many health-minded CPG brands slow down their demo programs during the holidays. We understand – more people are buying pumpkin pie than protein shakes. They figure they’ll reserve their cash for January when people […]
Should Demo Reps be W-2?
The question, “Should Demo Reps and Brand Ambassadors be W-2 employees or 1099 contractors?” comes up often in the experiential marketing world. The answer to this question depends on who you ask. If you ask the state of California, it’s almost always W-2. If you ask a demo rep who doesn’t want to have taxes […]
Tips for Acing your Brand Ambassador Interview
Between all of our programs, our team probably interviews 30-50 brand ambassadors each week. We’ve seen it all. We had a woman who wouldn’t answer our interview questions because the FBI was listening in. We had an interviewee who answered every question with a single-word answer, and then would burst out laughing every couple of […]
How to Make Guerrilla Marketing Work for You
Guerrilla marketing, or street teams, can offer a cost-effective way to introduce hundreds, or even thousands of consumers to your product. But if you’re not planning properly, you may find yourself underwhelmed with the results of this style of experiential marketing. Today we’re going to give you insights on how guerrilla marketing can work for […]
The Devil’s in the Details
When you work in the experiential marketing world, there’s never a dull moment. Sometimes a hurricane rolls in on the day of your outdoor activation. Sometimes you use hay to soak up the water left behind by the hurricane rains, only to discover your tour manager is severely allergic to hay. Sometimes you are trying […]
5 Tips to Make the Most of Your Sponsorship Activation
Whether it’s a major event like the Boston Marathon or your local weenie dog race, when you sponsor an event, your hope is to get an ROI on your investment. But how do you make sure your sponsorship is successful? Today we are sharing some tips on how you can make the most of the […]
How to Select Your Product Sampling Store List
When we get a new client, one of the first things we help them with is finalizing a store list. Which stores will receive product sampling demos and how often? This may sound like a simple task but it’s actually quite nuanced. Usually, our clients start off with a wish list – a list of […]
Lessons We’ve Learned in 10 Years
This year, Health and Fitness Activations is celebrating our 10-year anniversary! 10 years! We’ve gone from a one-person venture to a team of 9, and our company is the strongest it’s ever been. During the last decade we’ve learned some things – some the easy way, and some the hard way! Today we’re sharing our […]
How to Successfully Engage with Runners
For those of us that know our Health and Fitness Activations story, you know that I am really into running – 4:45am alarms, missing toenails, and stress fractures kind of into running. I ran my first marathon at 17 years old, and now I’ve got more than 20 years in the sport as a participant. […]
Trade shows: 4 tips to plan
Trade shows have returned. Are you ready? Working business development for Health and Fitness Activations, I have the pleasure of conversing with many companies about their go-to-market strategy. Occasionally companies will have ideas already fleshed out and only need Health and Fitness Activations to bring the ideas they have on paper to life. More often, […]
The Key to a Successful Experiential Marketing Event
Diving into experiential marketing can be scary. Often, the price tags are large and at big events, you don’t have time for a learning curve – you’ve got one shot to nail it. So, how can you ensure your activation will be successful? It really all comes down to one question, “What’s in it for […]
3 Cost-Effective Ways to Engage at Music Festivals
The positive energy of the crowd, the tunes in the air, and the massive amounts of people – music festivals offer a unique and fun opportunity for experiential marketing. But with sponsorship price tags in the 5, 6, or even 7 figure range, where does a smaller brand even begin? The good news is that […]
