Coachella 2017: How Brands Competed for the Crowd’s Attention

Since it first took over the desert in 1999, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has become an annual pilgrimage for music-goers during two weekends in April.

This year was no different as the attendance exceeded 125,000. With such a large audience, brands at Coachella 2017 competed with bands for the attention of the millennial crowd.

Festival sponsors including Absolut, H&M, and Marriott all vied for the interest of attendees, which included three GreenRoom team members. They share their brand marketing experiences at Coachella below.

HP’s Antarctic Dome offers a chill spot with video

With temperatures over 100 degrees in the California desert, HP gave crowds a break from the heat with its Antarctic Dome. A massive domed projection screen took guests on a visual journey in an air-conditioned, planetarium-style theater. A kaleidoscope light show was all fueled by HP technology and was a hit with the Coachella crowds. Check out our team’s experiences and take on the Antarctic Dome:

Patrick Gevas: “Beyond the stunning visuals and thunderous sounds in the dome, it was a great example of blending the latest tech to create a truly unique experience. The AC was a welcome respite from the heat!”

Jonathan Lubic: “It was an immersive visual experience that provided the perfect addition to an already event filled festival. For 8 minutes, HP and their technology had my undivided attention. This feat in itself is impressive due to all the other acts playing at that time across the festival ground!”

Cesar Paublini: “The Antarctic Dome was one of the most astounding attractions at Coachella. It featured a 360 degree screen on the roof playing videos simulating being launched into space, it was mind blowing and something you would want to experience.”

Heineken House sets the stage for entertainment

This year, Heineken returned for another edition of its Heineken House concept. In addition to serving its signature beer, Heineken created a digital art installation where guests could enter an interactive simulation and create their own artwork using a stencil or tag a selfie with a spray can. The Heineken House featured music lineups both weekends of the festival with acts like Grandmaster Flash.

PG: “They created a very trendy place to not only get a cold beer, but enjoy the music and take advantage of fun games on the back patio.”

CP: “The music, the people and the atmosphere blended so well together that I felt like I was in a movie.”

American Express targets trendy Coachella crowd

The official credit card of Coachella created the American Express Experience where you stared in your own mini-music video. AmEx also incorporated the Coachella app in its marketing by offering AmEx customers $10 after spending $10 at the festival using the app.

JL: “What was fun about this was it had little to do, if anything, with actual American Express credit cards. In fact, it was just a fun ‘music video shoot’ that had AmEx’s name on it – certainly positioning AmEx as a fun, young brand as opposed to a bank that issues credit cards.”

GreenRoom’s tips and tricks to leave a mark at your next event

Large scale events like Coachella provide brands with opportunities to reach its target audiences with personalized brand marketing. Do you have an event coming up? Try these four tactics:

Create a branded Snapchat geo-filter to elevate your presence at the event
Partner with the event or festival organizer to provide branded swag for invitation or ticket send outs
Offer access to your product in exchange for a branded social media post
Give guests the ability to make content they can save and share on their social channels

Remember to keep it in line with the event and allow for guest personalization. Additionally, take advantage of sharing live content of the event to engage with both digital and in-person attendees.

Have you been to any music festivals or events this year? What brand marketing did you notice? Share your experience with us!