Music festivals are becoming more popular and more competitive

As the experiential economy has become more prominent, music festivals have become more and more popular. Individuals enjoy posting a video of?Harry Styles?from his tour rather than buying an expensive item to show off.

According to a survey of?millennials, 57% prioritize travel and seeing the world over owning a home [1].

Mind you, these individuals make up around 45% of those that attend music festivals.

With the growing popularity of music festivals comes an increase in the different ones to attend; companies need to determine their?marketing strategy?to show how their?music festival?provides the?better?experience compared to others.

According to?Forbes, one of the trends from consumers is feeling special. Consumers want experiences to be personalized to respond to individual needs rather than?mass marketed?like in the past. Not only that, but these consumers also want it fast. They expect quick solutions when solving a need or satisfying a want. In order to take advantage of this new trend, music festivals have been offering more levels of VIP packages, season passes to a set of local events, and such. However, incorporating more premium experiences as simple as VIP restrooms or VIP partnership viewing access could provide an even better experience. Furthermore, consumers may want to see local partnerships with companies in the area to get a unique experience that they can’t get if they go to a different city. As promoters continue to try to make fun experiences at music festivals, they must keep in mind what differentiates their venue from others.

Another aspect to music festivals has been dramatically changed due to?mobile technology. Ticket scanning to get past the gate has become easier than ever before — no need to print a ticket to get in. Furthermore, by having access to the amount of people coming into a certain gate, staff can make quick decisions to reduce bottlenecks, hence creating a better experience for the consumer. Continuing,?mobile apps?designed only for the festival can also help attendees in the event. Having a real-time festival update lineup can help consumers determine when it is most appropriate to come to the venue. Also, understanding wait times at certain food and drink places within the festival can help consumers purchase more during the event. Enabling quick decisions during the?customer journey?helps?music festivals?give consumers the experience they want to have.

Lastly,?social media?has been a huge advantage for?music festivals?to broadcast the experience one can get if they attend. Successful festivals use different?social media apps?to generate excitement and conversation for the event.?Spotify?has allowed people to view events on an artist’s page for?tour?dates. This allows an immersive experience for consumers interested in certain artists.?Eventbrite?calculated that 65% of consumer post to their?social networks?about a?live concert, 56% upload photos of the event, and 31% write reviews of their experience. These different types of?media outlets?allow for online?word of mouth?to spread. One of the most important marketing tactics is to have others, like friends and family, to spread the word to others rather than the company — more legitimacy comes from friends and family. Furthermore, this type of communication provides relevance for future consumers to see what is happening during the event from different points of view; this could cause future consumers to be encouraged to buy tickets for the next festival or parenting festival of the company.

As?music festivals?become a bigger part of the culture for consumers, new ways of providing unique experiences will need to be developed. Consumers want more and more customization while having quick and efficient?customer experiences?in buying the ticket and attending the event. As I have just attended a?music festival?called?Breakaway, I’ll note a few things that could have helped make the experience better:

• Promoting reusable water access?would have been beneficial as it was really hot
• More restrooms?with shorter lines would have been ideal so that I was back at the stages to listen to the live music
• The?venue location?could have been closer to restaurants and bars since once the festival ended (around 11:30pm), it was a long walk to the nearest place to eat
• Promoting the?different business partnerships?at the event on?social media?would have been helpful as I didn’t know what companies were going to be there
• A?mobile app?with wait times for the?music festival, how long until an artist was going to sing, etc. could have helped with when to attend the event
• Partnering with?Uber/Lyft?would have been nice since so many people attended the festival and wanted to Uber/Lyft afterwards, but there weren’t enough of them

Overall, the experience at?music festivals?is the most important part that marketers need to be focused on.

Providing a more unique experience that is hassle-free will continue to bring people back to the event.

Feel?free to read?more below from the sources as they have a lot of great resources to understand the?entertainment industry!

Sources:

[1]?How?Music Festivals?Became Such a?Big Business?| Time

5 Ways Coachella Marketed Itself To An $82.4m Music?Paradise?| by Branding?Los Angeles?| Medium

(47) The Key Strategy for?Digital Marketing?in the Music Festival Industry |?LinkedIn

6 New Trends Impacting Festival and Consumer Events (eventbrite-s3.s3.amazonaws.com)

The?Music Festival?Business: Who Owns What —?The New York Times?(nytimes.com)

A great report on the challenges of staging and playing at a?music festival?—?Alan Cross?(ajournalofmusicalthings.com)

Experiential Marketing?For Businesses: A Complete Guide (marketsplash.com)

The 8 Biggest Consumer And?Customer Experience?Trends In 2022 (forbes.com)