Festivals are fantastic opportunities to promote a brand or company. With some of the most popular events in Europe, Spanish organisers make especially good use of this. You often find brand-sponsored activities at Spanish festivals, many of which are extremely creative and interactive.
Festivals attract a community of likeminded people, promoting an enthusiastic and openminded lifestyle. This is a big opportunity for companies trying to get the customer’s attention. For them, it’s all about positioning and getting the audience to talk about the brand. As a result, they are increasingly sponsoring festivals, since it is great exposure. Especially if they do it in creative ways. Providing an experience where attendees can participate and get involved is a big win. As we all know, nothing makes you remember a festival or brand like a wonderful or unique experience.
In Spain, there are many great examples of companies creating a relation with the consumer. These are the most creative collaborations between brands and Spanish festivals.
Primavera Sound & Ikea
At Primavera Sound 2019, Swedish furniture company Ikea installed four large houses for visitors to live in. The houses were inspired by the different music genres of the festival: indie rock, pop, electronic and urban styles. Ikea and Primavera Sound held a contest on social media, in which attendees had to send a video explaining why they wanted to live this unique experience during the festival. After all, it is such a different way for visitors to enjoy the festival in Barcelona. Instead of finding a hotel or apartment in the city centre, these visitors never had to leave the festival. And be honest, who hasn’t dreamed of sleeping in an Ikea room?
Bilbao BBK Live & Jägermeister
The German liquor brand Jägermeister has been sponsoring Bilbao BBK Live for a long time. In 2017, the company came up with a creative idea: the ‘Boat Stage’. Festivalgoers made a boat journey through Bilbao on the Nervion River, while several bands played. The trip was one hour with three concerts of 15 minutes each. Everyone could join the journey, only limited by capacity. Because Jägermeister tries to give visibility to local artists through their Jägermusic program, this was a perfect opportunity to do so. The bands that participated were Rrucculla (electronic), Kaixo (punk) and King Cayman (indie pop). In 2018, the Boat Stage returned to Bilbao BBK Live again.
Mad Cool & Mahou
Mahou has always been the biggest sponsor at Mad Cool, but in 2019, the Spanish beer company took its sponsorship of the Madrid festival to the next level. Last year, they installed bumper cars at the festival, completing the experience. During some very special moments, the place turned into a dance floor for concerts and DJ sets. Mahou decided to give the opportunity to the new flamenco with powerful artists such as Muchachito, Los Chichos or Tomasito. Above all, there was also a surprise concert every day.
Tuents at Spanish festivals (by Tuenti)
We could say that the star of the sponsor world at festivals is Tuenti. It started as a Spanish social network but died in 2013. Since then, it has become a telephone company and the company that takes care of payment tokens at Spanish festivals and beyond. Events like Arenal Sound, Tomorrowland, Dcode and BIME are all working with them. Instead of money, visitors just use tuents to pay. Even better, if there are some left after the festival, Tuenti lets the consumer use them as credit for internet gigabytes, Just Eat deliveries, discounts for events at Ticketea (a ticketing company) or tickets for Love the Tuenti’s Festival.
In Spain, brands are bringing themselves up to date. Creative ideas are out there waiting to be made and consumers are waiting for surprises. This is a great opportunity for brands to connect with the audience and stay in their minds forever. Let’s hope for many more unique experiences.
