Melbourne-based, boutique activations and brand experience company, ACTIV Brand Management, has secured a new partnership with Nine The Block, which saw them deliver a series of sensory brand experiences to support the show’s sponsorship engagement and virtual events calendar.

In response to the changing events landscape, the team at ACTIV recently launched Brand Box, a curation of physical and digital sensory experiences delivered direct to audiences, designed to help brands build customer engagement and brand loyalty in a post COVID-world.

ACTIV scored the deal with The Block after the show was forced to halt production for six weeks during the first round of lock downs; an experience that made them quickly realise that they’d need to adapt many of their usual initiatives for this season.

Sarah Armstrong, Sponsor Producer for The Block commented that not only did they need to implement COVID safe practices on the worksite, they also needed to consider virtual alternatives for major events like their ‘Open for Inspections’ and sponsor engagements, but wanted to ensure they had that something extra.

“When we were developing our events calendar, we knew we wanted to create more than just a standard Zoom call,” she said. “Our ultimate goals was to put a smile on people’s faces and say a special thank you to our sponsors for sticking with us during a challenging year – and thanks to the Brand Box, we were able to achieve that.”

With this season’s program taking place in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton, the Brand Box
experience was designed to harness the affluent, coastal feel of the area.

Armstrong adds: “We sought to use the unique sensory experience to transport audiences from their very own homes to the beautiful beachside town, while they enjoyed online engagements and virtual tours with The Block stars including Scott Cam, Shelley Craft and all of the contestants who were on location at The Block.

Rebecca Burns, Founder of ACTIV Brand Management and creator of The Brand Box said that they were thrilled to partner with The Block to bring their virtual event series to life in a unique and memorable way.

“The idea behind The Brand Box is to ignite multiple senses,” she says.

“We know that brand activations are 30% more impactful when two senses are engaged and
this soars to 70% when three or more senses are ignited.

“Knowing this, our aim was to create a bespoke sensory journey that captured Brighton’s coastal ambiance, while helping to connect the virtual audience to ensure an engaging and impactful event for The Block and its sponsors.

The Block‘s Brand Box included a selection of different beverages, snacks, chocolates and specially curated The Block candles (called Brighton Bliss), all of which supported an array of Melbourne small businesses including Positive Feeds, Chocilo, Redbank Wines, Tukr and Imbue Distillary to name a few.

Armstrong adds: “We’re excited to be able support so many small businesses who have been doing it tough this year and we look forward to expanding the concept in 2021.”