Activation in sponsorship, and by extension cause marketing, means the stuff you do to promote the sponsorship. Activation is an exceedingly broad idea. It could mean everything from jumping out of airplane with a banner attached to your feet, to advertising or earned media on radio and TV, to email, to social media like Facebook, to signage and out of home advertising. (The old sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati , which was about a radio station, once activated a promotion by dropping live turkeys from a helicopter at Thanksgiving. The results were comically tragic. Watch the classic episode from 1978 here .) At left is an activation of a cause campaign in front of a local Sizzler restaurant, at the intersection of two busy streets. The campaign itself… called Cops for Kids… is a tried and true fundraiser; cops from three local police departments will serve you and bus your tables during your visit to one of three local Sizzler restaurants on April 19, 2011. The money from tips will go to the ...
Dedicated to highlighting and dissecting the best and the worst cause marketing promotions and campaigns.