Dive Brief:

• Online brokerage firm TradeStation is hosting a pop-up barbershop at New York City’s Oculus on March 27-29, where participants can “Get a Fresh Look” with free haircuts, blue dye jobs and blue wigs, per a company news release. 
• The “fresh look” theme parallels TradeStation’s rebranding over the past year, which included a redesign of its website, logo and online user experience. The event features a selfie wall for attendees to show off their new looks and an iPad station so visitors can explore the brand’s desktop, mobile and web trading platforms. TradeStation will also host an interactive simulated trading competition and award an Amazon gift card to the top traders of the day. 
• Over the past year, TradeStation has introduced a simplified low-cost commission pricing for stocks, options and futures, as well as support for trading bitcoin futures and an expanded “TradeStation Salutes” program, offering low-cost commission pricing and investor education for active-duty military, veterans and first responders. TradeStation also created a live digital news partnership with network Cheddar, which will provide live online coverage of the pop-up. 

Dive Insight:

The campaign shows how a brand can use experiential activations to grab attention with a targeted audience — in this case those interested in trading — as holding the event at the futuristic Oculus train station inside the World Trade Center places near NYC's financial district. Brands like Behr Paint have held experiential activations inside NYC's Grand Central Terminal to get in front of a broad group of commuters and travelers. 

TradeStation’s “Get a Fresh Look" gives the brand the opportunity to engage with potential customers in person and in real time. The quirky blue dye jobs and wigs and designated selfie wall will encourage visitors to snap a photo or two and post on social media, helping the brand create some buzz. By adding the iPad station and trading competition, TradeStation is able to demonstrate its products and provide a fun, memorable experience, something that may seem unexpected from a financial brand, which often give off a serious, stuffy vibe.

Marketers continue to experiment with experiential activations to drive brand awareness, and many are seeing success. WE tv recently created the Bridezillas Museum of Natural Hysteria to promote the new season of the reality show “Bridezillas,” and attracted 10,000 visitors, helping the network increase its social media engagement by 178%. WE tv also earned more than 800 million impressions, which represents and ad dollar value of $10 million.

Brands also see out-of-home marketing as a way to drive key performance indicators even after an event. Outdoor retailer REI used first-party data to reach new customers through digital OOH and mobile for its ongoing #OptOutside campaign. The DOOH effort led to a 14% increase in brand awareness, a 9% boost in consideration and a 7% increase in purchase intent, and retail locations saw a 3.6x increase in visits.