BTL and special projects people remember
People remember offline experiences that have one simple action linked to the product, a reason to take a photo and tell friends, and a continuation online. Handing out leaflets at a stand is not enough: you need a moment that makes people come over on their own.
Three rules of a good activation
- Mechanics about the product. The action itself should remind people of the brand's benefit, without explanations.
- A reason for content. A leaderboard, unusual costumes, a photo zone: things people film and post themselves.
- A continuation. A QR code to the brand's social media or media, a useful leaflet people would not want to throw away, reposts and a photo report.
Cases
A knee strength meter at the Almaty Marathon 2026. For Teraflex Ultra, we came up with and built a structure where you could kick a strength meter and get onto the leaderboard. Winners received merch, and promoters in knee costumes invited people over and handed out a post-race recovery guide with a QR code to the Instagram media “Life on Ultra”. So many people wanted to try that the pop-up kept going after the other stands had closed.
“Novyi Den” tastings at Galmart. The Kostanay dairy brand was entering the Almaty market, and a tasting by the shelf became the shortest path from first contact to purchase. Stands in the new brand style worked as advertising in themselves.
Abai quotes in the city. For Abai's 180th anniversary, together with Yandex Books, we placed quotes from his “Book of Words” in Almaty, Astana, Taraz, Karaganda, Aktobe and Ust-Kamenogorsk, near schools, universities, museums and sports centres, with a QR code leading to the books. Local influencers spread the word about the project. Its whole point was its local focus.
“Kazakh Street Food Map”. A digital special project for the release of a series: an interactive map of eight cities with dishes and places to try them. Placements in 13 local media outlets brought 800,000+ views in a week.
Local focus as a strength
Big brand projects are rarely addressed to people in Aktau or Taraz. When a project comes to their city and their local media, the attention and warmth of the response are noticeably higher than for a national campaign.