A season of summery celebrations.

Summer is just around the corner and the weather is certainly brightening up.

And with the change in the weather comes a great opportunity for you and your business.

Because summer brings a spirit of celebration and presents you with plenty of reasons to get your brand out and about and in front of current and potential customers.

As the days get longer and people start to think about relaxing, at home or abroad, you need to think of fun ways to interact with them and a great way is to use summer as an excuse.

Now, of course, your brand or business might not naturally be connected to summer – with people buying more products as the weather gets warmer. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use the season as inspiration.

With fairs, concerts, festivals and all manner of outdoor events going on over the course of the summer, there are plenty of opportunities for you to take your brand on the road.

This is the perfect time to create and curate inspirational events and engage in face-to-face marketing and brand activations.

The only limit is your imagination…but here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Complain about the heat

Despite the fact that we long for the summer, there are some among us who will always complain that it is too hot. And it looks like it isn’t just the British. In Latin America, the conversation often turns to how hot it is in the summer.

So to tackle the heat, 7Up cleverly came up with an algorithm to track real-time heat-related mentions on social media.

And those mentions then fuelled a “social thermometer” displayed on an interactive billboard attached to a container filled with 7Up. Every time the needle reached the red zone, the container opened, delivering an ice-cold 7Up to everyone!

Is it summer without an ice cream?

Nothing says summer like an ice cream. And Unilever took the summer treat one step further with a brand activation using technology similar to our photo booth technology.

To get consumers to test out their ice creams, Unilever built a giant vending machine that dispensed ice cream based on smiles. Interaction with the machine was encouraged and if the person’s smile was big enough the machine took their picture, posted it on Facebook and gave them a free ice cream.

Celebrate the great outdoors

The good weather presents us all with the chance to get out and back to nature. And what better way than with a bit of camping. But when you want to connect your brand in an impactful way a standard tent and sleeping bag won’t do.

American car brand GMC launched their new vehicle in style with a two-day glamping trip for journalists. Driven in style in the new vehicles, journalists were treated to relaxation areas with hammocks, luxurious lounge furniture and a stay in a sumptuous Airstream. The Airstreams were attached to the new trucks and during the evening journalists enjoyed dinner and drinks from a custom-built bar in the back of one of the trucks.

Make it festive

Look at Instagram or any social media site and the pictures are filled with people having a great time at a festival. Summer in many millennials minds isn’t complete without a festival.

And iconic grocer Waitrose got in on the action by hosting their very own summer festival.

With pop-up kitchens, master classes, workshops and activities focusing on health, wellbeing, cookery, and beverages, this was a step-change for the brand but was a fantastic success.

Be real and honest

Budgets are tight, and you might not be able to put on a whole festival. So think smart and use the local events that are happening in your area.

Make sure that any sponsorship or activations you create reflect your brands' ethos and what you are about as a company.

A great example is when the drinks brand Fever Tree took part in festival No.6 in Wales. Reflecting the festival and Fever Tree’s sustainable ethos they organised a cup deposit trade-in scheme at their Gin and Tonic Bar where every cup returned to the bar saw the individual get £1 back. The Fever tree cup became a must-have accessory and saw the brand exposed to many more than your average gin and tonic lovers!

Sunshine and summer often change consumers’ buying patterns and behaviours. Make sure that you leverage all the opportunities that summer presents and start planning a quirky and creative activation to get your brand out and about in the sunshine.

Want a summer event to engage your audience and elevate your brand? Contact us and let's get creative!