Creating Memorable Branding Experiences
City of Melbourne Get Moving
A highly targeted brand activation that brought together local council and an existing corporate partnership to create database growth.
The Brief
City of Melbourne’s (CoM) ‘Get Moving’ activation was the perfect project for us based on its focus on healthy lifestyles and activating in corporate environments. In response to their affiliation with ‘The Partnership for Healthy Cities’ they devised the ‘Get Moving’ campaign – an 8-week challenge that aimed to motivate city workers to be more active throughout their day by walking and cycling around Melbourne, particularly to and from their offices. CoM was considering public CBD spaces as well as corporate assets for their activation so they were happy when we arranged locations using our expertise in both of these areas. Their ultimate objective was an additional 500 email addresses for contact and sign-up to ‘Get Moving’.
The Execution
CoM’s ‘Get Moving’ campaign was seeking to motivate urban professionals to adopt healthy, sustainable lifestyles by walking and cycling in and around Melbourne. Their audience and objective became the muse for our activation design. What interests them? How do they want to be informed? What experiences will connect the target audience to the campaign? A first-up interest for us was locating and securing four CBD locations that provided adequate quantities of the target audience. Owing to a strong existing relationship with a client deeply ensconced in the urban property/culture industry, we were able to create a win-win situation: CoM had the perfect home for their four activations, ripe with the urban professionals they sought, and our existing client had original, engaging content to offer to its tenants.
Next up was the task of designing an activation mechanic that provided a relevant reward to the target in exchange for their personal contact data. Along with CoM providing in-campaign rewards such as Rebel vouchers and Fit Bits— perfectly suited to their audience — our experienced event marketing agency knew that in order to deliver database growth the activation also needed an on-site reward. Healthy bodies need fuel, hence our decision to use delicious fresh bircher muesli topped with Nudie yoghurt and a mint garnish to attract people (a), and (b), reward them for providing their email address. Despite some warm weather at one of the four activations that might not have endeared some people to a dairy treat, the bircher reward presented beautifully on an organically styled food station and was for the most-part hugely popular. The snack-sized portions were perfect for people on the go and enabled us to produce samples in quick succession.
The process for gathering personal data also had to suit the style of the audience. As commercially-savvy professionals, they were likely to be disinclined to hand over their phones, even to a well-presented staffer, to install an app (needed to record ‘Get Moving’ points). There was also the time sensitivity of contact – lunchtimes only offer a certain window for interacting with anything. Hence our recommendation to CoM to gather email addresses rather than app downloads onsite, facilitated through a team of informed staff, armed with a specially-developed digital platform provided by the City of Melbourne specifically for their campaign.
Our final major consideration was for the overall presentation of the activation – not only ensuring it met our execution standards, but what is actually happening at the activation to align it with ‘Get Moving’ and create a connection in the mind of the audience. The answer for our event designer was linked to the healthy lifestyle proposed by the campaign. The branded ping pong table did not see much down time for the three days it was onsite, whilst the branded digital map station that allowed people to easily calculate their best walking route to and from work, was also popular and a great conversation starter. These two engaging activities were situated alongside the beautifully styled bircher station as well as a cute bike-n-cart, which also tied in nicely with the healthy lifestyle theme.
The Result
Across the four activations we collected 381 emails, the activation represented the brand perfectly, created a talking pointing and provided CoM with a range of valuable insights for future campaigns. The CoM ‘Get Moving’ activation was an example of ENGAGE’s ability to embody a brief by truly understanding the target audience. It also showed the value of working with an agency that works across a breadth of industries and the synergies that can be gleaned from existing relationships.
“ It was great working with ENGAGE! Their team worked hard, to a tight timeframe, and put together a visually appealing launch for our new health initiative, Get Moving. Their activation was bright, fun and engaging for the corporate audience we wanted to encourage to be fit and healthy. ”
— Mike Rowell | Healthy Cities Project Officer, City of Melbourne
