As marketers face increased pressure to justify return on marketing spend, a benchmarking study in Australia and New Zealand examining how below-the-line (BTL) activations are measured, valued, and prioritised has been launched by brand activation agency Curious Nation.
Despite millions of dollars being invested in activations each year, from sampling and sponsorship to retail theatre, events, and digital extensions, the way effectiveness is assessed remains fragmented. Return on investment in BTL marketing is often anecdotal, with different teams using different yardsticks depending on priorities, making it difficult to compare results.
Developed by brand activation agency, Curious Nation, the Activation Effectiveness Barometer is designed to change that by gathering perspectives from marketers across Australia and New Zealand, highlighting areas of confidence, while exposing the biggest pain points in proving effectiveness and helping to establish a common language for activation measurement.
“For too long, activation has been undervalued because it hasn’t spoken the same measurement language as other parts of the marketing mix. The Activation Effectiveness Barometer is about changing that narrative, giving marketers concrete evidence and a benchmark they can use to prove impact and drive better decisions,” Meredith Cranmer, co-founder and managing director of Curious Nation said.
“This is about moving beyond ambiguous KPI metrics to finally demonstrate the real power of activation and areas where the industry can improve,” Cranmer added.
The Activation Effectiveness Barometer is open to CMOs, marketers, brand managers, shopper marketers, sponsorship managers, and trade/retail teams who activate campaigns on the ground.
It covers levers in BTL activity, including sampling, retail media and in-store activation, sponsorship, PR and earned media, events and experiential, digital and social amplification, direct marketing, and influencer and creator partnerships.
The survey, which is being run independently on the Ideally platform, aims to become an annual benchmark for the industry.
Marketers across Australia and New Zealand are invited to participate in the first Activation Effectiveness Barometer. The survey is now open for responses with the results to be released towards the end of this year.
