Marketing directors planning their 2027 budgets have encouraging evidence that live and in-person activity is attracting investment. Events recorded a net budget balance of +15.1% in the third quarter of 2026, second only to public relations.
The IPA Bellwether Report for Q3 2026 found that UK marketing budgets increased across all seven categories. Overall, the net balance reached +14.3%, its highest level since the second quarter of 2024.
These figures point to growing confidence in marketing expenditure across the board, with events among the strongest performers. For marketing directors, the task is to understand how live activity can contribute to wider business objectives and demonstrate its value alongside established media channels.
Why brand activation is gaining attention
For marketing directors, brand activation agencies offer a route to connecting strategic objectives with direct consumer interaction through product sampling, promotional teams and live brand experiences.
The appeal lies in moving audiences from passive exposure towards product trial, conversation or purchase. A digital impression can establish visibility, but an in-person interaction gives a potential customer the opportunity to ask questions, experience a product and provide immediate feedback.
These advantages matter when unfamiliarity or uncertainty presents a barrier to conversion. A consumer considering a new product, for example, can sample it at a promotional event and ask questions before deciding whether to buy.
However, physical engagement carries production, staffing and logistical costs. Marketing directors need to establish which audiences are worth reaching in person, what behaviour they want to influence and how the resulting activity will support commercial objectives.
What measurable marketing looks like in practice
A credible measurement framework starts with the behaviour a campaign intends to change. For product sampling, that might mean samples distributed to relevant consumers, trial rates, subsequent purchases or retailer sales movements.
For an experiential installation, useful indicators include qualified interactions, dwell time, product demonstrations completed, leads captured and follow-up conversion. Live brand experiences can also generate qualitative evidence through conversations, customer feedback and changes in brand perception.
These measures should be selected before production begins, with baseline data and follow-up periods agreed in advance. Unique promotional codes, consent-based lead collection and retailer sales data can help connect an event with subsequent activity.
The distinction between correlation and causation matters. A rise in sales during an activation does not automatically prove that the event generated those purchases. Comparable locations, previous sales patterns or a control group can provide stronger evidence of incremental impact.
Why cost per interaction differs from cost per click
Cost per click provides a relatively straightforward measure of paid media efficiency, but it records a limited action: someone clicked an advertisement. Cost per interaction captures a different type of contact, potentially involving several minutes of attention, product trial or a meaningful exchange with a trained representative.
The comparison also needs to account for purchase value, repeat business and the cost of converting each lead. Marketing directors should evaluate channels against shared commercial outcomes while recognising that each serves a different purpose.
Investing in live activity without losing balance
The Q3 2026 Bellwether findings suggest that marketers are increasing investment across the marketing mix, not simply moving money from one channel to another. Events reached +15.1%, sales promotion rose to +13.1% and main media advertising recorded a net balance of +9.8%.
This broader growth matters when planning for 2027. Cutting brand-building expenditure to fund short-term promotional activity could weaken future demand, even if the activation generates an immediate sales uplift.
A more defensible approach is to identify where live experiences complement existing campaigns. Digital advertising can introduce a product to a broad audience, for example, while an event provides an opportunity to demonstrate its benefits and answer questions. Follow-up communications can then encourage interested consumers to purchase.
The appropriate allocation depends on the product, audience, sales cycle and evidence from previous campaigns. Events deserve consideration as an area of growing investment, but their budget share should reflect their contribution to the wider marketing strategy.
Briefing agencies around response and accountability
The growth in event budgets also makes the quality of agency briefs important. A brief focused on reach might prioritise footfall, visibility, staffing numbers and interaction volume. A response-led brief defines the target audience, desired behaviour, commercial objective and evidence required to evaluate performance.
It should specify data collection responsibilities, lead qualification criteria, reporting deadlines and the method for assessing follow-up sales. Agency selection then becomes a question of strategic thinking and operational delivery, including whether the proposed experience suits the audience and budget.
Brand activation agencies should be evaluated against agreed objectives, with realistic attribution limits acknowledged. Marketing directors can also request a breakdown of production, staffing, logistics and reporting costs to understand what drives the total expenditure.
This approach gives finance teams a clearer basis for reviewing investment and helps marketers compare campaign outcomes consistently.
Building a defensible 2027 budget
The strongest budget case combines financial discipline with a realistic account of how customers make decisions. Marketing directors should establish a baseline, test activations against comparable audiences or locations and track immediate responses alongside later commercial outcomes.
They should also account for staffing, production, logistics, sampling stock and follow-up costs when calculating returns. Where direct attribution remains difficult, surveys, brand-lift research and matched sales data can provide supporting evidence, although each method has limitations.
The Q3 2026 Bellwether results provide a clear reason to examine live marketing more closely. With events recording a nine-quarter high in budget revisions, the category is attracting increased investment at a time when all seven marketing categories are growing.
The next step is to establish which activities produce meaningful results for a particular business. Consistent measurement, realistic forecasts and clear reporting can help marketing directors identify where live experiences merit continued investment and how they can complement the rest of the marketing mix.
David Prior
David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.
