Things that aren’t really secrets about me:
- I do music stuff.
- Consequently, I frequent summer music festivals across the country.
From my vast experience in the field, here’s a list of things that you’re all but guaranteed to see at a massive music festival that’s doing it right:
- Anheuser-Busch stage sponsorship
- PepsiCo consumer experience
- Local craft brewery vending booth
- Red Bull stage / afterparty / ridiculous thing
- Village Voice media sponsorship
- some music
What you’ll never see, on the other hand: sunblock companies. This seems like a massive missed opportunity.
From my perspective: I, like many of my fest-goer compatriots, am a pasty white kid normally much better suited for sitting indoors hunched over a computer screen. I’ve committed myself to spending the next eight hours outside in the blistering sun (and further, from Coppertone’s perspective, established myself as someone who may very well make that decision again in the future).
A free sunblock sample? You bet.
Pepsi is fighting to sell me a product about which I’ve already formulated a strong opinion. Sunblock is a cheap, discretionary purchase, and I’ve got absolutely no brand loyalty—I’ll take something that’s cheap and has the number 45 or 60 on it. If, of course, I even remember to buy some.
Imagine if Banana Boat got a festival booth, brought out a massage chair, and had cute girls in bikinis rub sun block in for me. I believe this fantasy already exists in the minds of many young males. You do that for me and I’m a customer for life—and the company didn’t even need to implement a crazy interactive contest, or social media support, or anything.
When’s the last time you saw a Coppertone promotion for anything? Maybe I need to start a sunblock company.