The saturation of the music festival market – which reached its peak in 2007 – echoed the mounting problems that arose from the saturation of the sub prime mortgage market of the same period. With live music the lucrative end of the music industry – following the dramatic falling away of the CD market – everyone wanted a slice of the financially satisfying festival pie. But as seen in the mortgage business, short-term gain isn’t always as lucrative as it’s cut out to be. As a result this year started out with the festival sector facing an uncertain future and an entirely plausible festival recession.  Would music fans ever don their wellies again?  Would sponsors pull out on mass? Which festivals would find that their sub prime tent pitch was up for repossession?

The festival sector has undoubtedly seen some natural wastage as strapped for cash consumers become increasingly picky about where to spend their hard earned festival dollars.  We conducted some research into the habits of festival goers this year in the UK – in partnership with Virtual Festivals – and over a third of music fans said they were cutting back on the amount of festivals they were attending this year – with around a quarter not attending at all.  Having said that by far the biggest cut back is in overseas festival attendance, with 88% opting for festival ‘staycations’ as the recession makes even the most attractive line ups abroad financially unpalatable.

The knock on effect of the Credit Crunch clearly hasn’t stopped music fans hitting festivals in their droves, as attendance at UK festivals so far testifies to. Surely it has hit brand involvement though?  Not at all. In fact despite the feared slump, the opposite is actually happening. Brands are investing more in the live space according to a new IEG Sponsorship Report. The spend across North America will increase from the $1.084B injected into the sponsorship of music venues, festivals and tours in 2008, to $1.08B (a 3.8% rise). Notably, in a period where traditional music sales are severely diminished and a global recession is throttling the world’s finances, this is the highest ever recorded sponsorship spend reported by IEG. “The fact that music sponsorship spending is holding its own in today’s turbulent economy demonstrates the growing importance of music to corporate marketers,” states Bill Chipps, senior editor at IEG. Another recent study (conducted by EMI) found that 67% of marketing executives are continuing to invest in live events as part of their branded entertainment strategies.

But what about the music fans, are brands getting their message through to them? A recent study highlighted in Marketing Week suggests they are. It pointed to the fact that 41% of music fans have positive feelings towards the brands that sponsor music festivals, with an equally sizable 40% showing positive feelings towards the brands that advertise at these events.

In our research alcohol brands were far and above the most recalled by music fans, which is good news for those brands that are securing lucrative pouring rights, but it does also highlight how much more can be done on the ground by others in order to ramp up that recall rate. Brands need to realise that simply badging an event isn’t a strategy in itself, and that hitting 50,000 eyeballs isn’t the same as reaching 25,000 hearts and minds. “Festivals are unique in offering a large market share of target audience in one place at one time but you’ve got to be communicating something relevant to the right people in the right way,” says Ziggy Gilsenan, MD Get Involved and Co-founder of Bestival/Camp Bestival. “Quality of audience over quantity is key if you want to achieve a deeper, more relevant dialogue with the consumer.  Many brands still go for the shopping arcade approach of hitting events with big audiences but have no creative appeal to that audience – it  all becomes a bit like Tescos in a green field, soulless,” says Gilesnan. “You cant just drop a shopping mall sampling exercise into a field of 50,000 festival goers and expect to have the same consumer reaction”

On the ground activations from a brand need a proper, considered focus, tailored to its intended market. Which means defining clear goals prior to the ‘big idea’,  nurturing how it is communicated pre and post event, and understanding just what function and value you will ultimately be bringing to the fans experience of the event. “Consumer brands really need to think ‘beyond-the-field’ – just turning up at a couple of events with a bus and some deck chairs may be fun, but it’s going to be tough justifying ROI on these light and ‘idea-less’ promotions when so many brands are building festival activity into a well considered year round programme,” echoes Jack Horner, creative Director, FRUKT.

Experience is everything, give fans a return on their investment and it’s likely that brands will find themselves centre of mind with music fans as they recall the acts that were centre stage.

For more on brand activity at festivals see the FRUKT Music Intelligence Report 002.
 

Read more »