Clarion & Co.

ACTIVATE · 01

In-Store Activation

We make a shelf you already have actually do something.

Start eight to ten weeks ahead · Designed to the store

Winning the shelf and making the shelf work are two different jobs. Product can be sitting there and, if nobody stops walking, the space is as good as empty.

This service is about making something happen in front of it. We design it and we run it on site.

You'd use this when

  • You're listed, and nothing is happening at the shelf
  • A launch or seasonal date is set with no team on the ground
  • The retailer has asked for in-store activity and there is nobody to run it
  • The trip is too short to justify sending someone, and too important not to

How it actually runs

[ 01 ]Approvals first8–6 weeks out

Retailer approval usually takes a month and a half. Where mall management approves separately, add another two weeks.

Those two things decide the entire schedule. Which is why rebuilding the timeline is the most common first meeting.

[ 02 ]We design to the store6–4 weeks out

Traffic flow, shelf position, neighbouring brands, when that store fills up.

Same brand, different store, different design.

[ 03 ]We build and ship4–2 weeks out

Print, fixtures, samples and giveaways, produced and delivered to site.

Anything facing customs moves earlier than this.

[ 04 ]We brief the people1 week out

Field staff are trained on the product and on what to say. Store staff are told in advance what will be happening.

[ 05 ]We're on the floorduring the run

One of us runs the site. We don't direct it remotely.

[ 06 ]We write it up1 week after

What happened and how it landed.

What informs the next decision is this record, more than the result.

Four formats

They differ in scale, duration and staffing. The store and the goal decide.

  • [ A ]Display· We rebuild the shelf itself. No staffing, and it stays.
  • [ B ]Sampling· People try the product. Run in weekend blocks.
  • [ C ]Demo· Method and reason explained by trained staff on site.
  • [ D ]Booth· A separate structure at the storefront or in the mall concourse. The longest lead time of the four.

What you're left with

  • 01The record: what was done, under what conditions, and what came back
  • 02Footage and stills from the floor, cut for reuse
  • 03Relationships with the store and the retailer contact
  • 04A line between what to repeat and what to drop
  • 05Source files for everything produced, so nothing gets rebuilt next time

What we need from you

  • 01Stock, and when it lands
  • 02The retailer contact, and how far we're cleared to speak with them directly
  • 03Rights to the brand assets: logo, imagery, claims
  • 04Where there's tasting or demonstration, the applicable rules. F&B carries separate health regulation

What counts as success

Before anything starts we put the goal of this activation into one sentence. Awareness, trials, or sales in that window — each one produces a completely different design.

Chase all three and you usually catch none. What to give up gets decided here too.

A new store opening is Grand Opening Activation.

A separate space outside the store is a Distributor Pop-Up.

When this isn't the right service

Four weeks out is difficult. We won't simply say no — we look for what's possible inside the window, or we work the calendar backwards with you.

With no shelf yet, the order is different.

If the goal isn't settled, we don't start with execution. A result you can't read isn't worth producing.

Questions we hear often