Brands showcase a music and culture extravaganza at Coachella
Although this year’s lineup didn’t match the likes of previous year’s according to many festival goers, Coachella still managed to sell out within a few days and draw a crowd of 70,000+.
Produced by Goldenvoice (part of AEG Live), it was organized in the Empire Polo Fields in the Coachella Valley, idyllically surrounded by mountains and palm trees, a half-hour drive from Palm Springs and a few hours from Los Angeles. In scorching heat and on beautifully kept lawns, it must be the most vacation-like and tasteful looking festival in the world.
Besides the immense lineup (more than 60 acts during three days), the festival also included an impressive display of huge art installations mainly pioneered by the Creators Project; an honorable contribution to Record Store Day with nearly the complete lineup (!) signing records at the ZIA Records Tent; and a chance to spot anyone from Los Angeles celebrity scene, whether it be Kirsten Dunst mingling at parties, Usher hanging out poolside or Danny DeVito singing and dancing (!!) backstage to Robyn’s performance.
As for the brand perspective, Coachella’s location among vacation homes and chic hotels gave rise to numerous offsite-events; this being why Coachella has become just as much about what goes on outside the festival, as inside. Each day was packed with countless parties and most people went through the whole weekend without having to spend a dime. For the brands this meant competing about doing the best event, having the most notable guests, and booking the coolest talent. For some brands this meant hosting over-crowded parties of pumped up people nervously posing by a pool, and dishing out an abundance of (useless) free products, or, for others, trying to achieve the most excellent experience and perfect brand event, where the branding was subtle yet creative, and the production was so professional that anyone and everyone walked away as a huge brand ambassador.
More specifically on how to get this right, this often meant teaming up with the right creative partner and to give them as much creative freedom as possible, as in the case of Adidas partnering with Jeremy Scott, The Ace Hotel and their collaborations with various labels and creatives, and the Stones Throw x Brainfeeder x Badu day party with DipDive and BlackBerry , which easily brought in better performers, unexpected guests and general good times than any of the two brands could have done on their own.
By Eric Welles Nyström, member of the Heartbeats Movement
