Summer brings with it a whole host of festivals; from Glastonbury to the Leeds & Reading Festival and the Secret Garden Party, there’s something to suit every music fan. There’s also a product sampling opportunity to suit every brand.
Music festivals have long been considered one of the most desired destinations for big brands and for product sampling campaigns. Why? Because they represent a large gathering of people with similar tastes. This means that if you find the right festival for your brand, you’ll have a lot of your target audience in one place, in good spirits, and hopefully, open to trying new things.
If you have a mind-blowing new product to test, it’s time to start thinking about which festival would best suit the campaign. For example, if you’re after 16-24 year old energy seeking males, your brand may align with Board masters. However, if it’s environmentally aware families you’re after, Womad Festival would be your best bet. For foodies, there’s the Taste of London and for the younger end of the market, you could target V festival or Lovebox. Here’s a list of the festivals happening in 2015, to help you decide where to launch your product sampling campaign.
Creating an Experience
Once you’ve decided on a festival, you’ll need to work out how you’re going to execute your product sampling campaign. Needless to say, it isn’t enough to leave your samples on a table and call it a day. It’s about creating a personal experience for attendees.
Music festivals are more than a destination for live music; they’re a place for festivalgoers to make memories. By integrating your brand into the experience, you can also integrate your brand into festivalgoers’ minds.
A great example of this was from American brand Garnier Fructis, who partnered up with Bonnaroo to give out complimentary shampoo and conditioner samples to attendees of the Bonnaroo 3-day Music & Arts Festival, which took place in June last year, on a remote 700-acre farm in Tennessee.
Knowing that the 80,000 attendees would be outside day and night, Garnier Fructis saw an opportunity to enhance the festival experience for them by giving away complementary samples and providing them with practical services such as free hair-washing and styling in a 40- by 40-foot air-conditioned tent.
It went down a storm. After all, it was hot; fans had been dancing and sweltering in the heat for 3 days. Who wouldn’t want to get clean while camping out in the Tennessee summer heat?
Finding a solution to a problem is a smart way to create a powerful connection with potential customers. Not only do people like free stuff, but when you provide for them at a time of need, you’re making an even bigger impact.
Hotcow is a non-traditional creative agency that specialises in experiential marketing that goes viral. Our campaigns generate buzz through crowd participation, PR and content sharing. Contact us on 0207 5030442 or email us on info@hotcow.co.uk.
