Communications

Journal

F A Y E W E L L M A N


Executive Summary
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a two-weekend music festival that
occurs annually at the Empire Polo Field in Indio Valley, California. Musical genres
include electronic, indie rock, alternative rock, hip-hop, R&B, and pop. The festival was
founded in 1999 by Paul Tollett, president of Goldenvoice, a Los Angeles-based ticket
promoter and festival organizer. Goldenvoice was later acquired by global entertainment
company AEG, leading to Coachellas mass expansion. What began as a couple stages, a
dance tent, hot dog stands, and $65 tickets evolved to VIP packages, gourmet menus, and
tickets starting at $375. In recent years Coachella has become a destination for fans and
brands because organizers deliver compelling lineups of diverse and unconventional
musical acts. (Cohen, 2014).
Today Coachella attracts 150,000 fans annually and is arguably the most
successful music festival in the world. In 2015 tickets sold out in record time- a mere
forty minutes. In recent years, Coachella has become more than a music festival, but a
cultural destination. With onsite camping and glamping experiences, multiple targetaudience geared activities, celebrity- filled events, retail outlets, craft beer tents, and
diverse culinary options, festival attendees experience a weekend of bohemian bliss.
Because music and fashion go hand-in-hand Coachella and its attendees have
become major influencers of spring fashion. Megan Reynolds, senior shopping editor for
Harpers Bazaar states, People have Instagram accounts just for Coachella fashion.
This is a result of Coachellas brilliant niche marketing tactics, which target a very
specific audience: young, hip millennials with money to spend. Retailers have taken note
leading to the 2015 Coachella line by H&M. Like H&M, dozens of companies have

hopped the Coachella bandwagon resulting in endless PR opportunities for the Coachella
brand. Tom Julian, director of merchandising and retail consulting firm The Donegar
Group states, The festival circuit becomes as important as an ad campaign or socialmedia campaignIt just gets back to: This is where the millennial is, and this is a way to
connect.
In conjunction with an eclectic line-up and multitudes of partnerships, much of
Coachellas success can be attributed to its strategic and fan-focused social media
strategy. While researching Coachellas communications I found they use multiple social
media channels that cross promote one another and contain content such as photos,
playlists, and videos that foster peer-to-peer conversation. In addition to social media and
PR, live streaming through YouTube and cable television are additional media outlets
Coachella utilizes.
Despite my lack of brand following and festival attendance, when April hit
Coachella filled my newsfeed making it an event I couldnt ignore. Coachellas broad
social media reach, rapid growth, and overwhelming success is ultimately what led to my
evaluation of Coachellas communication strategies.
Context Analysis
Customer Context
Coachella customers are young men and women ages 18-30. These millennials
are typically music, fashion, and/or festival enthusiasts with high disposable income.
Female consumers flaunt flower headbands, denim cut offs, and crochet blouses, while
male consumers are stereotyped as attractive men with washboard abs and board shorts.
However, due to the diverse music and art showcases it is argued Coachella attracts a

wide range [of] multicultural [and] multi-background fans whom gather to one exciting
place for music, art, and short films (Cohen, 2014).
For consumers, purchasing a Coachella ticket is a high involvement purchase due
to ticket cost, travel expenses, accommodations, and the 3-7 day time commitment.
Consumers are motivated to purchase Coachella passes because they seek musical and
social experiences. Because of the hype surrounding Coachella via celebrities, peers,
artists, and diverse social media accounts, consumers want to be a part of this hip and
exciting event. They strive to experience sophisticated festival culture while surrounded
by fellow like-minded millennials.
When contemplating ticket purchase Coachella consumers compare line-ups of
other music festivals. Location, ticket cost, and event dates are also taken into
consideration. Coachella dates, ticket prices, accommodations, and line up can be
gathered from the Coachella website.
Business Context
Coachella built a loyal audience by connecting with their target consumers
wants, needs, and interests in fun, innovative ways. With chart-topping music, eyecatching art, bohemian fashion, and a friendly sun-filled environment, Coachella
embodies its brands uniquely California attitude. By building a strong brand persona,
catering to consumers, and engaging in multiple partnerships, Coachella has built a
festival-empire unlike any other.
Competitor Analysis
Coachellas competitors include Outside Lands, Bonnaroo, Lollaplooza, Burning
Man, and Governors Ball. After evaluating all festivals Bonnaroo Music and Arts festival

was identified as Coachellas major competitor due to diverse Bonnaroos diverse line-up
and overall audience size.
Bonnaroo attracts around 90,000 attendees annually and takes place in Manchester,
Tennessee. The festival is organized by New York and San Francisco based
entertainment company, Superfly, and Knoxville music promotion company, AC
Entertainment. The Bonnaroo lineup includes indie rock, classic rock, world music, hiphop, jazz, americana, bluegrass, country, folk, gospel, reggae, pop, and electronic music
acts.
Bonnaroo, a word meaning really good time was chosen for its literal meaning and
to pay homage to Louisiana music tradition. Since Bonnaroos introduction in 2002 their
brand identity has shifted from 60s psychedelic to neon colors and graphics. Ultimately,
the festivals brand identity has evolved with its audience: people whom not only love
classic rock and jam bands, but raves and electronic dance music.
Bonnaroo uses Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, and an official
website to connect with consumers. Social media content includes photo, video, and
audio. Like Coachella, Bonnaroo cross-promotes their social media channels and has
partnered with YouTube to stream the event. Bonnaroo as also formed strategic
sponsorships with various companies and non-profits. Partners include Ford, Garnier
Fructis, Miller Lite, Teva, Fuse, Angry Orchard, Sweet Water, Sierra Neveda, Lagunitas
Brewing, Maestro Dobel Tequila, Martin & Co., Relix, Jambands.com, JamBase, and
Steelys. Bonnaroos local, national, and global non-profit partnerships include: The Art
of Living, Calling all Crows, Eat for Equity, EWG, Food Policy Action, Global Citizen,
Global Zero, HeadCount, Isha Foundation, Non Toxic Revolution, Keep Coffee County

Beautiful, Kidz Jam, KSEC, Love Hope Strength, Mountain Goat Trail, ONE, OXFAM
America, Plastic Pollution Coalition, Represent.us, Rock the Earth, Shelter Box, Sierra
Club, SOCM, Stop Hunger Now, Strings of Hope, Tennessee Clear Water Network, To
Write Love on Her Arms, VSEC, and We are Neutral.
Bonnaroos lineup, branding, and partnerships are a clear indication of target
audience differences. With folk roots, jam bands, and electronic music integration,
Bonnaroo attracts true festies: middle-class men and women ages 18-30 who have an
average amount of disposable income. From the surface Bonnaroo festies and
Coachellas fashion-centric, hip millenials seem like opposing forces. However, music
and festival culture draws these two segments together.
When observing Bonnaroo and Coachellas branding and communication strategy
three things are apparent: 1) Bonnaroo fails to capitalize on brand nostolgia 2) There is
less peer-to-peer conversation 3) Coachella offers a level of class and sophistication
rarely matched by its competitors.
Internal Context
Los Angeles concert promotion company, Goldenvoice, is the sector of Anschutz
Entertainment Group (AEG) that organizes Coachella. AEG is compromised of more
than 50 divisions (AEG, 2015) and is building state-of-the-art facilities around the
globecreating one-of-a-kind live entertainment experiences [and] distributing unique
content to international audiencesgiving fans access to world-class performances,
transforming events into peak life experiences (AEG, 2015). AEGs guiding principle is
to give the world a reason to cheer (AEG, 2015). The Goldenvoice work environment
is a small family feel, fun and exciting, with lot of perks such as going to concerts

(Glassdoor, 2015). However, Goldenvoice cons include low pay, poor upper
management, and no formal training (Glassdoor, 2015).
External Context
Coachellas partnerships are abundant and a key component of the festivals success.
Coachellas 2015 sponsors include Absolut, American Express, Cupcake Vineyards,
Glasses.com, H&M, Heineken, JBL, MIO, NRG, Samsung, Sephora, and Spotify.
Coachellas additional relationships include YouTube, AXSTV, Uber, DUBS, Third Man
Records, Artisanal LA, and GroupMe. Former Coachella sponsors include Red Bull,
PlayStation, Fruttare, Smashbox Cosmetics, and True Religion Denim. Other brands such
as Lacoste, Adidas, Guess, Diesel, and Armani Exchange have involved themselves by
throwing lavish, celebrity saturated parties at nearby venues. Currently, Coachellas
clearly indicated partnerships are with Heineken and H&M.
Heineken, Coachellas official beer sponsor for the past 12 years, brings innovative
consumer experiences to the festival. For Coachella Heineken created Heineken
Domes, which are air-conditioned and wifi enabled tents that host DJ acts and let those
staying onsite store their beer in a personal cooler that is only accessible by their own
finger print (Bolz, 2015). Attendees also have the opportunity to control visual content
displayed in the domes using iPads to create their own artistic light show courtesy of
Heineken Light (Bolz, 2015).
Like Heineken, H&M has also been a long-time supporter of Coachella. To honor
their sixth-year of sponsorship H&M launched the H&M Loves Coachella spring
collection. On March 26th, 2015 H&M released their Coachella collection internationally.
H&M Loves Coachella embodies the aesthetics of the Coachella culture (Le, 2015) and

consist of items for men and women priced from $4.95-$49.95. In correlation with instore and online purchasing experience, items can be found at this years event via the
H&M pop-up shop tent.
Marketing & Communications Goals and Positioning
Corporate Objectives
AEG does not have its corporate objectives listed on their official website,
however their guiding principle is to give people a reason to cheer (AEG, 2015).
Communication Objectives

Inform consumers about upcoming events, ticket presales, artist lineup, package
options, and pricing

Highlight event activities

Sweepstakes

Wristband activation and tracking

Foster peer-to-peer communication resulting in greater brand recognition through

social media shares and WOM

Engage consumers by posting their branded photos, allowing photo tagging, and
hosting Q&A events with artists

Build brand loyalty and community through engagement, increasing repeat

purchase

Create brand nostalgia through content influencing future ticket purchase and
enhancing consumer engagement

Promote artists, sponsored products, and Coachella merchandise

Segmenting, Targeting, & Positioning (STP)

Coachellas target market is young, hip millennials with high disposable income.
This demographic is addressed through artist selection, sponsors, on and off-site
activities, and social media content. The festivals communications focus on Generation
Y, men and women ages 18-30, by implementing a dynamic and holistic social media
strategy. What differentiates Coachella from other festivals is its location- a polo field
surrounded by palm trees- and superior parties. Ultimately, Coachella has positioned
itself as a sophisticated festival experience that embodies California culture.
Marketing Communications Strategy
Coachella utilizes the pull strategy to create brand awareness, festival preference,
consumer engagement, and calls of action such as pre-sale ticket purchase, sweepstakes
entry, and wristband activation. Coachella differentiates itself by utilizing brand nostalgia
to activate emotional engagement, affecting consumers purchase decision.
Message and Creative
Coachellas overall message is the following: Experience a music festival the
Californian way: dress your best, hear great music, party all night, and most importantly,
have a weekend youll never forget. This message is consistent and found across all
media.
Coordinated Communications Mix
Coachellas communication strategy involves six media outlets:
1. Official Website
2. Mobile App
3. Email Newsletter
4. RFID Wristbands

5. Cable Television Live Streaming

6. Social Media
a. Twitter
b. Facebook
c. Google+
d. YouTube
e. Instagram
f. Spotify
g. Tumblr
h. Vine
i. Foursquare
j. Fan discussion and content on Pintrest and Reddit

Coachella excels at utilizing photo and video content to build hype around
individual performances, keep people informed, capture memorable moments as they
occurred during the event, and help attendees reminisce by posting photos after the event
[comes] to an end (Johnson, 2012). Photos shared on Facebook, Tumblr, Google+ and
elsewhere included the Coachella logo for additional branding. On Facebook,
Coachella enables tagging so fans could tag themselves in the photos they identified
with, spreading the word about the festival even further (Johnson, 2012). Coachella also
utilizes an official event hashtag allowing attendees and fans to follow conversation and
photos about #coachella and #coachellalive performances. To determine what social
media content is gaining the most attention:

Coachella consistently used bit.ly URLS so they could track how many people
clicked on a piece of content from which channel, and additionally used Google
Analytics on their Facebook apps, website, and blog to know what content drove
what action. Bit.Ly was incorporated into the RSVP Facebook application that
encouraged users to spread the word about which weekend theyd be attending.
The bit.ly URL showed each time a user shared, their preferred weekend was
clicked 22,440 times (Johnson, 2012).
Coachella also utilizes cross-promotion of social media channels. Coachella used the
strength of their 400K Facebook fanbase to help draw people to their Instagram account
to help it gain a total of over 40K followers, and used Twitter to get people to engage
with their Facebook photo albums (Johnson, 2012).
By investing in a mobile app Coachella now has the opportunity to send vital
notifications to attendees devices. The Coachella app allows attendees to create custom
festival schedules and view a map of the festival grounds which highlights attractions,
stages, bathrooms, bathing facilities, ATMS, water stands, food and beverage booths, and
first aid centers. The Coachella mobile app also allows consumers to create digital
memorabilia such as postcard that they could share via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or
email. By giving attendees the opportunity to create digital memorabilia event buzz is
spread with little effort while catering to consumer interests.
One of Coachellas major strengths is their focus on peer-to-peer communication.
Their on-site forum and chat room allows Coachella newcomers to ask questions about
event intricacies and Coachella alumni to answer. The chat room also provides an outlet
for attendees to reminisce after the event. By hosting peer-to-peer conversation Coachella
has greater visibility into direct feedback, peer advice, and suggestions for improvement
next year (Johnson, 2012).

Communication via smartphones is a notorious issue at music festivals due to the

multitude of users in one given area. To address this issue Coachella partnered with
GroupMe to help attendees stay in contact during the event. GroupMe is a texting app
that allows users to stay in contact even when cell bandwidth is overloaded. In 2011
Coachella attendees began using the texting app to stay in contact and find one another,
enhancing safety and social networking opportunities.
Live Streaming through the web and cable television is another way Coachella
has reached mass consumer segments. Coachella joined forces with YouTube and
StateFarm to capture performances, encouraging users through advertisements to Relive
Coachella. Additionally, in 2014 Coachella paired with AXSTV to stream live footage
through cable television, adding Coachellas media mix.
Scheduling & Implementation
Coachella heavily posts to social media one-month prior to ticket sales and the
upcoming Coachella event. Otherwise, they typically post every few days with past
performance photos, fan photos, music videos, and/or playlists. Content is most heavily
pushed via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Issues
One issue with Coachellas current communication strategy is its sole appeal to
English speaking consumers. The single translated piece of media I found was on their
official website, which targeted people traveling to the festival from Mexico. Considering
the immense amount of Spanish speaking people in California and neighboring countries,
I believe Coachella should find ways to make their communication strategy globally
friendly, resulting in a broader audience reach.

Evaluation & Control

As a consumer, I find Coachellas communications extremely clear. They know
their brand identity along with their target audience and are constantly finding attractive
ways to translate the Coachella essence. Additionally, their messages are consistent.
Coachella uses the same content on each media channel resulting in strategic brand
consistency and cross promotion.
Feedback
Data is unavailable as to how Goldenvoice tracks Coachellas social media
success, but it can be assumed four ways include social media likes, followers, shares,
and views.
Conclusion & Summary
Coachellas communication strategy basks in music, fashion, California culture,
live experience, and brand nostalgia. In a recent interview Bruce Fessier, reporter for The
Dessert Sun, explains the festivals marketing and communication success:
Coachella became iconic because it was the first festival promoted with an
understanding of the concept of niche marketing. Co-founder Paul Tollett of
Goldenvoice understood that radio and television had become media of lowest
common denominator programming in their attempts to reach the largest possible
mass audience. That meant a lot of great music was not getting played on
commercial radio. Tollett booked the best of those bands that were being ignored,
and a few headliners that had come up through the alternative ranks of indie
rock, hip-hop and electronic dance music, and he attracted enough followers from
those niche tribes to create one massive audience per weekend. When the Internet
became a more efficient tool for young people to find great music than radio and
MTV, Coachella became the flagship for a new generation that has continued to
remain relevant by its mix of great music and use of a unique concert
environment (Moran).
He later states:

Tollett [Goldenvoice CEO] doesnt believe he discovers great new acts, he

believes audiences discover great new acts and he pays attention to audiences
(Moran).
Based on Coachellas original approach, booking the best bands that were being
ignored, paired with Tolletts philosophy, fans discover great new acts, Coachellas
next move is to extend their brand through emerging recording artists, making music
itself an additional communication outlet. By utilizing this strategy Coachella has the
opportunity to be more than an event, but an outlet for artists to create and be recognized
on a global level. Modeled after Converse Rubber Tracks. Coachella would create a
community-based recording studio in Los Angeles, CA. Emerging artists, selected by
Goldenvoice and Coachella fans could apply for free studio time and the opportunity to
perform at Coachella. Coachella would create live overdubbed music videos, a
compellation album, and playlists adding to their social media content and media mix.
Physical copies of the Coachella Artists compellation album would be distributed through
an exclusive retailer such as Target, adding to Coachellas strategic partnerships and
growing global brand recognition.

Works Cited
AEG Divisions. (2015, March 1). Retrieved March 16, 2015, from
http://www.aegworldwide.com/about/divisions/divisions
Bolz, B. (2013, May 17). Six Brands, One Festival: How to Leverage Branded
Engagements at Coachella. Retrieved March 20, 2015, from
http://waggeneredstrom.com/blog/2013/05/17/six-brands-one-festival-how-to-leveragebranded-engagements-at-coachella/
Bonnaroo. (2015, March 1). Retrieved March 19, 2015, from
http://www.bonnaroo.com/
Bonnaroo vs. Coachella. (2015, February 1). Retrieved March 17, 2015, from
http://music-festivals.wanderbat.com/compare/6-78/Bonnaroo-vs-Coachella
Coachella Festival Tickets Sell Out in Record Time, But Many Questions Still Remain.
(2015, January 10). Retrieved March 15, 2015, from
http://www.inquisitr.com/1744930/coachella-festival-tickets-sell-out-in-record-
time-but-many-questions-remain/
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. (2015, March 1). Retrieved March 20, 2015,
from https://www.coachella.com/
Cohen, S. (2014, April 19). Coachella's young audience a marketers paradise. Retrieved
March 17, 2015, from http://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/music/coachella-syoung-audience-marketers-paradise
Germaine, D. (2014, March 1). On Sponsorship and Brands at Coachella. Retrieved
March 19, 2015, from http://artscom.tumblr.com/post/48625695731/on-sponsorship-andbrands-at-coachella
Goldenvoice Reviews. (2015, January 1). Retrieved March 17, 2015, from
http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Goldenvoice-Reviews-E496728.htm
Johnson, S. (2012, May 3). 9 Event Marketing Lessons From Coachella's Social Media
Strategy. Retrieved March 16, 2015, from http://www.exacttarget.com/blog/9-event-
marketing-lessons-from-coachellas-social-media-strategy/
Krasny, J. (2015, March 20). What It's Really Like to Work at Coachella. Retrieved
March 23, 2015, from http://www.inc.com/jill-krasny/food-vendors-dish-on-musicfestivals.html