When you think of a music festival like Coachella, do you imagine free-spirited 20-somethings roaming the grounds and swaying to the tune of their favorite artist, free from The Man to do as they please all weekend long?
It’s a clever disguise that Coachella has managed to make into its brand, but underneath the cropped peasant tops and wide-brimmed hats is a whole lot of money, with major corporations banking on this faux-subculture image.
Vine recently debuted a Coachella channel to test expanded storytelling. Popular users Devon and Cody participated by connecting videos together to create a timeline and a much more engaging story than their typical six-second clips.
But the video app isn’t the only company that’s jumped on the flowerchild music-loving bandwagon. Coachella sponsors include industry giants like Spotify and SiriusXM, as well as other big names like American Express, Samsung, and Absolut Vodka.
Jealousy of those who saw Drake and Marina & the Diamonds during the first weekend sparked my interest in condemning Coachella as the second-most excessively commercialized event of the year (the first is the Superbowl, but who am I kidding, I would die to go to both).
Sun goes down and the party god don’t stop pic.twitter.com/CxvKT4sCsP
— Coachella (@coachella) April 19, 2015
One of the ways I’ve noticed exorbitant commercialization is indirectly, and not related to the festival’s music. It’s the clothing style. If you’ve ever seen pictures of Vanessa Hudgens and Kendall Jenner at the event, you know the look is laid-back, hippie, and artsy. The 16-year-old festival has been a trendsetter within the past few years, bringing back vintage style, floral headbands, and fringe… so much fringe.
Why is Coachella so influential? This is largely due to its social media marketing. Marketers can really benefit from the festival’s strategy by observing the way they talk to and engage followers. Festival-goers wore wristbands linked to their Facebook accounts, allowing them to write about their favorite artists and share photos while at the event.
This is not just a music and arts festival, it’s an image, a state of mind. Coachella has personality and attitude, like the people who attend every year. This brand has earned the loyalty of millennials across the country by communicating in a relatable voice.
In a time when millennials are highly suspicious of any company trying to sell to them, a brand like Coachella is most successful when its influence is huge, stylish, and subtle.
