I recently had the distinct pleasure of attending the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Wow! It was simply incredible to hear a legend like Paul McCartney and dance the night away to The Killers and MSTRKRFT.
Coachella was nothing like my experience at a Radiohead concert last May where weather complications prohibited the use of technology, forcing my friends and I to wonder aimlessly in the pouring rain sans cell phones. Coachella’s weather was perfect. Not only were we able to use our cell phones, Coachella was also completely up to speed in its use of social media. From an official Coachella iPhone application to a live Twitter feed, concert-goers were always in the know with updates and information. I even recently added Coachella as a fan page to my Facebook profile.
Corporate sponsors were also very visible to concert-goers. “Meet me at the Heineken beer tent,†became a popular phrase during the three-day extravaganza. Coachella will be forever ingrained in my head along with visions of sunshine, palm trees, mountains and the Naked Wizard? Yes, probably the most talked about event from the concert had nothing to do with musical acts. Now a viral sensation, the Naked Wizard definitely gives credence to Andy Warhol’s insightful prediction many years ago that everyone in the future would be famous for 15 minutes. I’m hoping my 15 minutes are dramatically different than the Naked Wizard’s.
Coachella aside, another recent event was the perfect move for a brand trying to connect with consumers via music.
This T-Mobile-sponsored affair is reminiscent of when Ferris Bueller sang “Twist and Shout†through the streets of downtown Chicago, except this is real life. As the media landscape continues to change and evolve, brands would be smart to follow the lead of Heineken, T-Mobile and others that incorporate themselves into consumers’ everyday lives in unique and engrossing ways.
Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia editor.
