2026 brand activation examples: Ikea, Spotify and Apple TV+ show us how it’s done

Brand activations are interactive brand experiences that directly engage consumers online or in person. Mini festivals, pop-up bars and digital quests: brand activations are immersive experiences that create memorable moments and help consumers build a stronger connection with a brand. 

91% of consumers say they have good feelings towards a brand after a brand experience. While 85% of consumers are more likely to buy.

"In a world of advertisements, live experiences leave a lasting impression. They fuel interest, spark conversation, and turn audiences into advocates."

- Cheil USA

In this post, I take a look at 12 stand-out brand activation examples for 2025 (featuring guest editions from some of 2026’s best so far).

Read on for some of the most impressive brand activations of 2025.  

1. Walks and wings: Raising Cane’s 

Raising Cane's was the first ever QSR to do "Chicken & Couture" with their fried-chicken-and-high-fashion pop-up in NYC. The show debuted Raising Cane’s inspired couture, designed by Joe Ando-Hirsh — known for his viral "Can I make you a dress?" TikTok series.

The influencer-studded event included a mix of athletes, well-known models and reality-TV favorites. Love Island USA’s Olandria Carthen wore a floaty red dress – a nod to one of Raising Cane’s brand colors (or arguably: ketchup). While Livvy Dunne wore a long, gold metallic dress reminiscent of a magnolia, the state flower of Louisiana — home to the brand’s founders.

"What is Fashion Week without a food-themed gimmick? We’ve seen Cheetos on the runway in New York and McDonald’s in Stockholm. Panera likes to usher in Fashion Week with a fast-casual accessory launch — a few years ago, it released a baguette-shaped purse for the fashion girls who love a soup-and-sandwich combo deal. The newest installment in the canon comes from Raising Cane’s, which held a runway show at the Standard High Line on Wednesday." - Julia Reinstein, The Cut’s morning blogger

Takeaways: 

• Unlikely pairings like fried chicken and high fashion can bring a sense of novelty and surprise to an event, driving engagement and virality.  

• Popular designers, influencers and reality-TV stars added to the event’s draw. By casting Gen Z’s faves like Livvy Dunne, Ciara Miller and Brooks Nader, Cane's broadened their reach by targeting fans across three distinct fanbases (sports, reality TV and high fashion).

• Activations featuring influencers and celebs typically generate more engagement, greater brand awareness and a higher return on investment. Campaigns featuring influencers typically show an ROI index of 151 compared to 77 for paid social. 

2. Coachella in miniature: MGA Miniverse

To celebrate their new line of playable mini-records, MGA Entertainment are recreating the Coachella experience in miniature form with a unique lounge at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival this April.

The lounge will replicate core festival landmarks like the Ferris wheel in mini. Festival goers can chill in the lounge and enjoy mocktails and minibites. They can pick up exclusive, mini-sized keepsakes — including a pocket-sized poster of the official Coachella lineup.

Jodie Shaw writes that small things act as signals, they tell us about who people are — what they do and what they love. She says: “Luxury brands play it best. Dior and Chanel minis are sold as entry points, but for many buyers, the mini is enough. It sits on a bathroom counter as both ornament and signal. You don’t use it. You display it. Because small things promise a story. They carry novelty, cuteness, control, or identity. That’s the trick. They don’t just reduce size. They add narrative.”

Josh Hackbarth, Chief Marketing Officer at MGA Entertainment says: "Miniverse as a brand is built on the idea that big passions can live in tiny details. From food and lifestyle to animals, pop culture and now music, we transform the things fans love into highly detailed collectibles that are both display-worthy and interactive." 

He adds: "With Miniverse at Coachella, we're bringing that philosophy into live culture, inviting fans to step inside the brand in a truly immersive way. By combining thoughtful design, highly shareable photo moments, and authentic music functionality through our new Real Music line, we're creating a space where festivalgoers can experience something familiar from an entirely new perspective, proving that the smallest details can make the biggest impact."

Takeaways: 

• Add to the the dopamine rush of a highly-anticipated event with activations that celebrate it and give consumers tokens to remember their experience by. 

• Improve brand memorability with on-brand keepsakes. Keepsakes also play into the law of reciprocation. When you do a favor for someone (aka give them a cute freebie), they feel more motivated to “return the favor” (like buying something from your brand). 

• Miniatures act as identity signals. For many people, event attendance at festivals like Coachella becomes a core part of their identity. Mini keepsakes on coffee tables help consumers express who they are and what matters to them. How can your activations support self-concept, self-identity and self-expression?  

Reciprocation is just one way to persuade people to buy from you. Read more about the art of persuasive marketing and buying psychology in my past post.   

3. Ketchup packaging worthy of a french fry: Heinz  

Ketchup and french fries are an iconic duo. Paying homage to the celebratory combo of condiment and potato, Heinz added an additional pocket to the French fry box to home consumers' ketchup.

As The Drum writer Amy Houston writes, people love fries and ketchup — but the packaging has never kept up with how and where people eat. Helping to overcome the limits of the traditional ketchup packet for consumers eating their fries away from home, Heinz added an easily dippable, spacious ketchup pocket to the front of their branded french fry boxes. 

Takeaways: 

• Activations can be as useful as they are fun. When building out your own, consider functionality: what can this event or product help consumers do better?  

• Celebrate classic combos that have nostalgic ties for many consumers. 

• Use your activations to support the customer journey. Heinz’s design reflects what they want consumers to do next: buy french fries = buy Heinz to dip them in. 

4. Viral products and photo strips: Rhode and 818

Models and friends Hailey Bieber (founder of Rhode) and Kendall Jenner (founder of 818) set up a stylish vending machine photo booth for Coachella 2025. Festival goers could slot a branded Rhode coin into the machine in exchange for a free lip tint and mini bottle of 818. Once they had their freebies, they could step inside the minimalist-chic booth and snap photos with their new merch. 

Natasha Smith shares how the activation perfectly captured Gen Z’s trending party clean girl aesthetic. While Rhode’s cult-favorite lip tints’ recent virality added to the activations’ draw and encouraged consumers to share their snaps online. The Rhode booth also tapped into another Gen Z trend: the penchant for the dreamy vintage nostalgic aesthetics of 2000’s photography. 

Takeaways: 

• Successful activations are often built around target demographics’ values and trends. 

• Viral products can improve event draw and encourage consumers to share photos on social media, improving multi-channel campaign performance. 

5. Expanding the Severance universe: Apple TV+ 

To promote their cult-favorite dystopia series Severance, in January 2025, Apple TV+ set up an extension of the Lumon's Macrodata Refinement department in Grand Central Terminal. 

Office tech, minimalist desks and cookie-cutter outfits: the activation perfectly mirrored the show's on-screen office, allowing fans to immerse themselves in the show's fictional aesthetic.

Fan and writer Belen Edwards shares: "The stunt kicked it into high gear when Severance's actors themselves entered the cube. Adam Scott, Britt Lower, and Zach Cherry arrived first, playing Mark S., Helly R., and Dylan G. Also present were Patricia Arquette as Harmony Cobel and Tramell Tillman as Mr. Milchick. 

Meanwhile, creator and showrunner Dan Erickson looked on from the sidelines, while director and executive producer Ben Stiller gave interviews and took photos of the cube like a proud father.

Once inside the cube, the actors played out what a day at Lumon might look like. While onlookers couldn't hear what any of them were saying, there was no denying the show was enthralling. It was like an entire episode of Severance was taking shape before us, and I certainly reacted accordingly. I jolted when Ms. Cobel smacked the desk with a Lumon-brand ruler. I chuckled when Helly playfully threw a cleaning rag at Mr. Milchick." 

Takeaways: 

• Visual immersion that needs no explanation gives activations a transcendent experiential feel. 

• Play with narrative. Severance’s glass cube and character re-enactments show the visual draw of exploring narrative in your brand activation. As Edwards notes, the experience was “enthralling” — capturing the sustained attention of both fans and commuters. 

 6. The disco fitting room: H&M

H&M flagship stores in Dubai, Barcelona and Seoul give shoppers the nightclub experience with their disco fitting rooms. Each dressing room features a touchscreen that lets consumers choose their music and lightshow combo — from electric Hype to pop-heavy Vibe. 

Takeaways: 

• Great activations are all about upgrading consumers’ experience. A disco fitting room takes a boring retail necessity and makes it fun. 

• H&M helps consumers “future project”, the disco fitting room lets consumers imagine how their dress or jeans-and-T-shirt combo will look in a bar or club and how good they’ll feel partying in their new outfit. 

• H&M’s activation shows how brand experiences can deal with points of friction in the customer journey. The fitting room experience can be stressful, boring or anxiety-causing — the party ambiance turns something stressful into something enjoyable. 

7. Activations with a purpose: Lush 

At SXSW 2025, Lush unveiled their Bloom a New Day activation: a sunflower-filled classroom in Austin acted as a hub for social activism by exploring the impact of gun violence and pushing for greater gun safety across America. 

Arranged with their nonprofit partner Change the Ref, Lush used the activation to educate consumers on the Lawsuit for Survival — a bill aimed at implementing tougher U.S. gun policies.

The organization was set up by Manuel and Patricia Oliver, whose son Joaquin was murdered in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, FL, in 2018. 

The family’s backstory informed much of the activation. The entrance of the activation showed a U.S. map that showed where, when and how many school shootings had happened since Parkland. Anti-gun-violence books and lockers filled with sunflowers and "Vote out NRA" stickers were set up around the venue. 

The activation featured a mock social studies classroom fitted with posters and a blackboard that included anti-gun-violence messaging. At each desk, phone numbers were displayed, inviting attendees to listen to a 90-second recording of an active shooter lockdown drill. 

Following the mock classroom experience, attendees walked around the corner to find a field of paper sunflowers crafted by local Austin artists. Manny and Patricia sat close by, giving people the chance to talk to them about their mission and get more advice on how they could take action against gun violence. Attendees could also visit the couple’s yellow school bus, decorated with Joaquin momentos. The bus is home to the couple when they drive across the U.S. to campaign against gun violence.

Takeaways: 

• Support a social cause: Activations like Lush’s show that brand experiences can deepen connections with consumers and demonstrate brand values by using their marketing to help contribute to the social good. Consumers are more interested in a brand’s values than ever: 82% of consumers say that alignment with their personal values is a necessity for them to consider doing business with a brand. 

• Lush expertly rolls out a narrative arc and uses symbolic imagery to show the importance of their cause. Artist-crafted sunflowers, the yellow bus and sticker-filled lockers: visually-supported narratives deepens consumers’ emotional connection to brands and helps consumers connect to an important issue in a deeper way. 

8. The sensory playground: Sol De Janeiro

As the official fragrance and body skincare partner for Coachella 2025, Sol De Janeiro set up Casa Cheirosa, a tropical-hued 30 ft x 30 ft sensory activation, for the festival.

Dubbed a “sensory playground,” the activation opened consumers up to six interactive zones: Attract, Enter, Entice, Engage, Chill and Extend. The striking scent wall allowed consumers to try out each of the brand’s iconic scents, while the photo-op wall invited consumers to take pictures against the techni-colored, Instagram-worthy backdrop. 

Making brand and product education fun: the brand set up stylish phone booths inside the activation space where consumers could learn more. 

Partygoers could pick up a free branded juice and a fragrance sample of some of the brand’s most popular scents including Cheirosa 76, Brazilian Crush Cheirosa 40 and Rio Radiance Cheirosa 87. 

Takeaways: 

• Multi-layered immersive experiences, from the scent wall to the colorful phonebooths, help engage consumers sense on multiple levels — making for a more fun, memorable experience. 

• Educate and delight: Sol De Janeiro invites consumers to learn more about the brand, but does this in a fun, intriguing way with retro phonebooths. Way more interesting than reading a founder’s story on a brand’s website, the activation shows that brand education is more inviting when it’s playful.

9. Validating dating burnout: Tinder

In a nod to dating burnout, Tinder welcomed Mumbai’s residents to dump old momentos from exes in their on-street hot pink garbage truck. The Ex-Press garbage disposal truck invited consumers to let go of their emotional baggage by parting ways with old sweatshirts, plushies and love letters from ex partners. 

The activation follows a recent Tinder survey of 1,000 singles in India aged 18 to 25, conducted in 2023 by OnePoll, which reported that 82% of people say they prioritize their mental well-being in relationships.

It also found that 77% of singles say they wouldn’t compromise on self-care or boundaries for their partner. The activation acknowledges consumers’ move towards greater self-care and rejection of the toxic dating patterns and experiences, encouraging passers-by to process past emotions and let go of their past hurts. 

"In a space crowded with apps that promise everything from “forever” to “just for now,” this campaign doesn’t just focus on the positive outcomes of dating. It acknowledges the inevitable emotional baggage and offers a cathartic, almost comical way to rid ourselves of it."

- Social Samosa

Takeaways: 

78% of Gen Z daters report they feel emotionally or physically burnt-out from dating. Activations like Tinder’s don’t ignore consumer frustrations — they empathize with them. Tinder acknowledges daters' burnout (a big barrier to dating app usage), bringing lightness and humor to the frustrations of dating and encouraging daters to process their emotions in a healthy way. Tinder’s activation shows how brand experiences can help address consumer frustrations and move them through their main barriers to buying or usage with humor and play. 

10. Multi-sensory play: IKEA

To celebrate their 40th U.S. Anniversary, IKEA brought the dinner party experience to shoppers in Manhattan for the entirety of October 2025. The activation featured a colorful blue and yellow comic-style storefront to encourage footfall:

On entering the store, brand ambassadors greeted consumers with a coffee and warm cinnamon bun. While enjoying their complementary snack and drink, consumers could tour the store and browse IKEA’s cooking and eating products across the event’s staged dining room, kitchen, pantry, living room and children’s play area.  

"To forge the emotional connection between consumers and IKEA’s cooking and eating products and overall home design options, Activate transformed a high-traffic Manhattan venue into a warm, curated IKEA pop-up home that blended storytelling with hands-on discovery, creating a memorable and interactive brand journey." - Activate, Ikea’s activation design partner

Bringing the fun, inviting dinner party ambiance to shoppers, IKEA delivered free cooking classes in their Kitchen Lab and Meatball Happy Hour, which served up IKEA’s iconic meatballs. To celebrate IKEA’s American 80’s roots, guests were welcomed into IKEA’s on-site AI photobooth that styled consumers with AI-cultivated 80’s hair and outfits. 

Takeaways: 

• By celebrating the emotional connection many people have to food and dining with family and friends, IKEA mirrored and deepened consumers’ emotional connection to their cooking and eating products with on-site cooking classes and free treats. 

• Multi-sensory cues deepen memory and recollection, improving brand and product recall. Activations that delight multiple senses, from beautiful visual storefronts to the scent of coffee and the taste of iconic brand delicacies, spike brand memorability. 

• Bring a sense of play to your activations to deepen brand engagement. IKEA aced this with interactive classes and a fun photobooth. 

11. Taking the digital physical: Spotify 

Spotify took Wrapped, an annual breakdown of top songs and artists, live by building out physical installations that paid homage to its top artists of the year. From Sabrina Carpenter to Lady Gaga, Wrapped featured over 50 artist installations and pop-ups featuring artist integrations.

In NYC, the brand set up an 800-foot, easter-egg-adorned red hair cascade across the tiles of 14th Street-Union Square Station to celebrate Chappell Roan's streaming hit Subway. 

Outfront media shares: 

"NYC played “The Subway” by Chappell Roan 240k+ times on release day, and there’s a millimeter of hair for every one. The hair includes Easter eggs, like postcards from Saskatchewan, stills from her music video, as well as @Spotify Wrapped stats tied to “The Subway,” including that it gets 1M+ plays a day! You can also ride the L train with Chappell Roan’s hair wrapping the exterior." 

Takeaways: 

• No matter how long you’ve kept a marketing campaign in the digital realm, don’t hold back from experimenting with what that same campaign could look like in another form. Which content or campaign could you repurpose for another channel or medium? 

• See where you can build on your most successful campaigns and content. Spotify Wrapped is one of the brand's most popular campaigns — earning its place in the cultural lexicon. The 2025 campaign attracted 200 million engaged users in just 65 hours and racked up over 500 million shares. Turning your already-successful campaigns into activations helps you pre-empt their success, while giving consumers the chance to experience them in a new way. 

12. Bringing zen to busy New Yorkers: MoonBrew

To celebrate the release of their new sleep supporting, mineral-and-vitamin-infused Gummy Snack Packs, MoonBrew gave New Yorkers a little pocket of zen with their Dream Land popup at 213 Bowery. An ambient space complete with mood lighting, snug seating, samples, purchasable products and fun quirks like a strawberry cotton-candy machine — MoonBrew delivered the full sensory experience.

If nighttime chill and peaceful sleep is a “feeling” then MoonBrew successfully captures and mirrors it with their cozy lounge. 

Takeaways: 

• What “mood” is your brand? Does your product deliver a happier end state? MoonBrew’s activation sparks feelings of calm, relaxation and contentment — a state their products inadvertently promise to deliver. How can you architect your brand experience around a feeling? 

• The best activations often offer fun, unexpected surprises. MoonBrew’s candyfloss brings a sense of play to the lounge. 

Great brand activations are one of the best ways to build brand engagement, influence consumer sentiment and impact buying behavior.

Zappi offers a suite of highly-predictive consumer insights tools you can use to test early-stage concepts and ideas — helping you get continuous in-depth insight into how people experience and respond to your brand in-market.