August is almost upon us and music-festival season is currently in full swing! When people think of music festivals, images of bands, DJs, dance tents, mud, wellies, alcohol and camping all come to mind. However, businesses (and festival organisers) should consider the fact that music festivals, with their hoards of carefree and impressionable attendees, are the perfect place to stage experiential marketing events.
Experiential marketing, also called ‘engagement marketing’, ‘event marketing’, ‘live marketing’ or ‘participation marketing’, places emphasis on consumers taking an active role in the marketing process, not just a passive one. It often involves getting passersby to take part in an event or trial.
In a study by New York agency Jack Morton, it was revealed that a staggering 93 percent of participants agreed that experiential marketing generates advocacy and word-of-mouth recommendations.
Why Are Festivals Ideal?
A survey conducted by the Association of Independent Festivals found festival goers spent £213m in 2012, with an average spend of £382.49 per person.
A similar survey conducted by MSN for the website Gigwise found that the average age of a festivalgoer is 36 years old and they spend an average of £420 per festival, including the ticket, travel and food and drink expenses.
Put simply, people are willing to spend money and invest time in attending and making the most of festivals.
In an environment where people bring only the essentials (due to space restrictions and security reasons) people love being given free sample products and free services.
What Successful Experiential Campaigns Have Been Done in the Past?
- Kommando’s experiential marketing campaign for battery brand Duracell helped the company reach out to festival goers through an on-site battery charging station and exchange.
- Drink brand Jagermeister appears at various festivals with its ‘Deep Freeze’ ice bar.
- Kellogg’s ‘Kraving’ campaign at festivals focused on promoting their new ‘Tunes and Spoons’ campaign for their Krave cereal. The cereal was promoted as a convenient yet healthy option and whilst consumers were choosing from two types of cereal, music was playing in the background. Kelloggs were ultimately targeting young individuals who are known to skip breakfast.
- Sleek MakeUP set up ‘Shades of Summer’ pop-up shops at Wireless and Lovebox festival. Beauty consultants and trained brand ambassadors offered free makeovers to festival goers whist educating them about the benefits of the Sleek MakeUP range. This campaign delivered over £45,000 worth of sales and increased Sleek MakeUP’s consumer database by over 17,600 people. The campaign resulted in an average of £16 spent per transaction.
- Watch a video below of Sleek MakeUp’s experiential marketing campaign at various UK festivals!
Things to Think About…
The key to executing an experiential campaign at a music festival seems to be having engaging, enthusiastic and extremely professional promo staff, and the promotional staff from Breeze People have had experience working at festivals across the country.
Make sure to thoroughly consider what products and services people at festivals will truly appreciate and engage with!
