Special Report: Music Festivals

Special Report: Music Festivals

April 2010

Welcome to our second Special Report of 2010. This time we've chosen to look at music festivals and the increasingly sophisticated approach that brands use to exploit them. According to eFestivals founder Neil Greenway, there are 630 festival-type events taking place in 2010. With so much choice, variation and fragmentation of the audiences for these, Pearlfinders has been investigating how brands choose between them and their plans to leverage involvement with them.

For the music industry, the "festival season" kicks-off at the beginning of May with the Camden Crawl and The Great Escape (both currently sponsored by Gaymers), but the marketers we spoke to have been planning from last September and were able to tell us about their goals for 2011 and beyond. We've been talking to apparel brands, banks, charities, alcohol and energy beverage companies and telecoms providers, about current strategy and the areas they'll need help with in future.

Experiential, PR and events are all disciplines typically associated with music festivals, but we've found opportunities for digital, advertising, social media, NPD, market segmentation, brand design and CSR, as brands aim to bring festival campaigns and partnerships seamlessly into the marketing mix. There are a number of themes in the conversations we've had: -

Differentiation
It's a major worry for brands sponsoring these types of events. Glastonbury offers the biggest potential audience but with so many brands involved it's difficult for marketers to see the value if "lost in the crowd". Many brands are focusing marketing spend behind smaller and less demographically diverse events such as Wireless, T in the Park, Rockness, Lovebox or V Festival. We've confirmed the key demographics, and in many cases the new audiences, each of the brands is looking to reach.

Ownership
Not everyone can "own" the festival space or music itself so exclusivity, or even having your own festival, allows a greater control over brand experience and engagement. This includes special editions of products, splinter events, social media campaigns and branded tents.

Invisible Marketing
Something most brands had in common was a desire to connect with fans in credible ways. For some this was about being inconspicuous - being seen as a trader at the festival rather than a corporate sponsor. For others it meant adding value through the physical environment of the stage they manage or quality of celebrity brand partners they can bring on board.

To read the reports in full, simply follow the links below: -

Virgin Media - V Festival

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