Promoting Your Brand at Music Festivals
It’s festival season. Well, it’s festival line-up announcement season. This past week a flurry of festivals, some established, some popping up out of nowhere, took to social media and gave their lists of bands to a salivating audience of Millennials who now have to decide which festivals they’re going to this summer, or, more appropriately, which festivals they can afford to go to this summer. From the annual kick-off staple Coachella in the desert just east of Los Angeles, where Hollywood types go to act Hollywood in a dryer setting, to the borough-neutral Governor’s Ball on Roosevelt Island in New York City, millions will flock to see their favorite bands, in good weather and bad, to escape from the real world for a few glorious days.
With all of these eyes, gleaming with positivity and good vibes, it’s also an amazing opportunity to put your brand on display in a receptive environment. Scattered amongst the throngs of people are booths that line that stages of the festivals. This is where your brand can make an impact. It’s a tradeshow without the tradeshow. A promo without the confinement of a bar. It’s the Millennial demographic at their rawest and most willing, ready to adapt to a new brand… and adapt to a free pair of sunglasses. These kids love free sunglasses, especially in the summer. How can your brand make the best impact?
Just like any promo, you need to find the festival that has the right vibe for your brand. While many boast the same headliners, with legendary hip-hop group OutKast being the most consistent, headlining 40+ festivals across the nation, they all have a different vibe. The aforementioned Coachella is packed with tastemakers and trendsetters with high Klout scores. Bonnaroo is 90,000 hard core music fans brought together by a love of positivity and the bravery to rough the elements of camping in the June heat of Tennessee. There are smaller festivals like Shaky Knees, a mix of ex-frat bros and qusi-hippies who aren’t quite bold enough to camp so they take their festival in a metropolis setting (Atlanta). You need to find where your brand fits best. The eyes will be there, just make sure it’s the right eyes for your brand.
Once you decide which festivals make the most sense for your brand, make sure you hire the right people to promot your brand. The right brand ambassador can go a long way at a festival. All too often you find them getting caught up in the festival and putting your brand on the back-burner. A professional brand ambassador at a festival is the right mix of music lover, outgoing rep and people person. Someone who can mingle amongst the crowd, still have a blast and fit in, but also keep their wits about them in a sometimes raucous environment to ensure that your brand still shines.
At CMT Agency we can help you plan the most effective way to capitalize on the opportunity that music festival season presents, and put the right people in place to represent your brand. We did wonders for TomorrowWorld. Let us do wonders for you.