Brand Activation at Music Festivals for Sponsors.

Securing sponsorship deals for music festival organisers remains a key part of their overall income strategy. Consumer brands chose to sponsor festivals for a variety of reasons but for many they provide an ideal platform for brand activation. What is brand activation and how can festival organisers leverage this to secure sponsorship deals. 

Large consumer brands often have budgets for live event sponsorship deals and this will always form part of their overall marketing strategy. Getting involved with a music festival gives the sponsor direct access to their target audience with interactive and immersive experiences. Launching a new product brand at a festival can help connect the sponsor directly to festival-goers (consumers) in a relaxed and enjoyable environment. 

Brand Activation. 
For sponsors brand activation at music festivals is all about creating a hands-on experience and direct contact with festival-goers. Activities should create engagement that goes beyond the festival by building ongoing brand consumer relationships. The most common consumer brands that use festivals to activate new product launches are the drinks manufactures although mobile phone providers, financial services, cosmetics, fashion or food brands are not unusual. The sponsor will usually create an environment that allows festival-goers to sample or try a brand whilst on-site. Any on-site activities are usually supported by branding exercises with product names and messages appearing in online content plus on-site branding of stages, signage and lanyards for example. Sponsors will also make pre-event announcements about their participation along with details of the benefits to festival-goers who interact with them during the event. 

Preparing a Music Festival for Brand Activation. 
Festival organisers should make sufficient preparations that make the event attractive to sponsors keen on brand activation activities. Organisers should provide an online platform to sponsors prior to the event that details what is available on-site which may include product sampling. The provision of branded pitch spaces in prominent positions on a site allows sponsors to create VIP lounges and meet and greet opportunities but organisers need to think beyond this by involving artists in immersive brand activations for example. Every blank space on a festival site can be used by brands to make sponsor announcements and incorporate their logos and product designs. Free samples can be given away at entrance gates or included as part of a welcome pack. Organisers may also be able to facilitate artist and influencer endorsements for brand activation during a festival. 

Preparing Sponsorship Packages to Secure Deals. 
Most music festival entities prepare comprehensive sponsorship pitch package presentations for potential sponsors. It is essential that the sponsor pitch pack includes detailed analysis of the festival-goer audience along with their demographics to highlight how festival-goers match a potential sponsor's target audience. Further research by organisers can provide insights into festival-goer behaviour whilst on a site along with analysis on any online activities and engagement. This data can help convince a potential sponsor that there is a good match but organisers will also need to present all the branding opportunities available both on-site and online. For brand activation activities organisers should provide details of opportunities for sponsors to interact directly with festival-goers plus how they can leverage artist involvement to make the brand more attractive. 

Brand activation in a music festival environment provides sponsors with an opportunity to connect directly with its target audiences in a relaxed and friendly environment. There is no perceived sales pitch and festival-goers are more likely to leave events with a positive attitude towards a sponsor and its brand. The sponsor gets direct connections to consumers with instant feedback and the opportunity to collect consumer personal data for future promotional follow up activities. 

For festival organisers planning their next events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics including a dedicated sponsor module. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, site planning, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Image by Rachel Claire via Pexels

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