What Can We Learn From Coachella?
Lessons from the US festival, a revival of a classic jingle, plus a direct line to the Dragon’s Den.
Hello. It's been a while. We've dabbled in some new email formats this year, but we're excited to bring back the monthly wrap. Our goal is to keep you informed twice a month - once with an in-depth article and once with a casual update on what's happening here at Bolster HQ and across the marketing world. This is the latter.
To kick things off, it is impossible to ignore the current state of live events, especially with news of Splendour In The Grass’ cancellation (alongside MONA FOMA and a slew of others). Splendour has been a long standing client of ours, and we’re really feeling for the entire team of hard working and passionate individuals.
Sadly, many of the challenges we’d highlighted in our Ticketing State of Play Report are hitting home right now (note: the third edition is currently underway). As for explanations, everyone's got their take. Without pointing fingers, let's just say we're not sold that “kids are too soft” or that “brands hold the key to salvation”. As Music Australia chief Millie Millgate said, its the confluence of a range of issues.
“When we look at rising costs, extreme climate, insurance premiums, regulation, difficulties with headliners, currency fluctuations, there are multiple, complex issues. Would it be different if we had one or two of those in isolation? Or are we really at a breaking point because they are just compounding ... we’re looking into this really seriously.”
It's also important to recognise that these challenges extend well beyond Australia. Our recent follow up to the Ticketing State of Play shed light on similar issues in the UK and Ireland, which has seen considerable cancellations and consolidations since the pandemic. Not even the US’s Coachella, which took place last month, was immune from a lag in ticket sales. That said, the festival was still widely regarded as a success, both from a music and a marketing standpoint. Let’s start there.
Brands At Coachella
While brands alone can’t solve the festival industry's challenges, they undeniably play an important role within the ecosystem. And Coachella serves as a prime example of what we might see in activation spaces closer to home later this year, with complex layers of partnerships enhancing brand visibility and impact.
Partnerships within partnerships
Numerous brands engaged in sub-partnerships this year, combining co-marketing efforts with other brands or leveraging artists to enhance reach and relevance.
Collaborations like Absolut and Ocean Spray at the Absolut Bar, or celebrity endorsements such as Renee Rapp with American Express and Bad Bunny with Adidas, effectively expanded the target audience and strengthened each brand’s credibility in music and lifestyle spaces.
Platforming purpose and utility
Effective activations appeared to underscore the core purpose and utility of the brand on show.
Pinterest's ‘Manifest Station’ helped attendees style their festival looks, aligning perfectly with the use-case of its platform.
American Express created a VIP space offering special perks for attendees, emphasising the brands focus on luxury and exclusivity.
Aperol's bar provided a thematic Italian summer escape, aligning seamlessly with the festive atmosphere of Coachella. While simple, it offered both a natural and practical value to festival-goers.
Diary of a CEO GM
Giulia Ballerini, recently appointed as Bolster GM, attended the live show of entrepreneur Steven Bartlett, along with Maddi (Campaign Director) and Rory (Client Lead). The Dragon’s Den investor (the equivalent of our Shark Tank ‘sharks’) and Diary of a CEO podcaster had the following words of wisdom to share:
Skill Stacking: Focus on honing the skills you excel at rather than struggling to improve in areas where you naturally falter — you’ll only ever reach mediocrity. Furthermore, acquire unexpected skills (for example, Steve Jobs studied typography) to craft a completely unique and valuable skillset.
Talent Stacking: Complement your skills by hiring others who possess the strengths that you lack. The core strength of a business lies in its team.
Success: It’s rooted in meticulous attention to detail – those minor 1% improvements really do add up. It also relies on a culture of continual testing, optimisation and learning from failures.
Bolster Group Updates
Here’s what we’ve been up to across our agency Group — Bolster, Going North (NT-based First Nations engagement), Aeroplane (activations and partnerships) and Common State (PR):
We revived a classic jingle for Cancer Council’s Laneway partnership with rapper JK47.
We sourced rental horror stories via Creators Angelo and Lexi Marasigan to launch the The Sims For Rent Expansion Pack.
We fooled fans with a Jameson x Mats Hot Shop product announcement.
We built a Woodstock Workshop at V8 Supercars Taupo.
The Refuelling Station at V8 Supercars Taupo. We developed the 2024 Territory Election campaign (BTS).
We captured the Parramatta Eels’ travels in East Arnhem Land.
We supported RISING’s ambitious program across press, partnerships and media.
We launched Early Bird Passes for MIFF 2024.
We helped Jessica Mauboy close her 23-date tour.
We launched Billie Eilish's new tour, Melbourne Writers Festival, Vivid Food, The Lume, Spin Off Festival in ADL and tours for The Last Dinner Party, TV Girl, Lizzy Mcalpine, Girl In Red and many more.
We started a new fashion-focussed content series with Flex for Warner Music’s Blare platform.
The 411
Our monthly round up of links.
Read
Has the digital age made us aimless? – The New Yorker
Should brands think like place-makers? – MediaCat
What makes an album the greatest of all-time? – The Pudding
What’s happening in Australia’s music festival sector? – Creative Australia
Listen
What drives the con-langs of Dune and Star Trek? – Imaginary Worlds
How does Han Zimmer’s sound library work? – 20K Hertz
What’s killing music festivals? – ABC News Daily