How Brands Brought Virtual Marketing to Coachella with Cashless Payments, NFTs, and Metaverse

TG Data Set: A collection for training AI models.
Post Reply
shammis606
Posts: 180
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2025 4:46 am

How Brands Brought Virtual Marketing to Coachella with Cashless Payments, NFTs, and Metaverse

Post by shammis606 »

After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival returned this April, representing an extraordinary opportunity for brands to reach consumers again with in-person marketing experiences. But how are they taking advantage of it?

It seems that this year marketers have embraced the power of digital direct marketing with fantuan database experiences, including cashless payments, metaverse links, NFTs, virtual keepsakes, and more. In-Person Marketing is gaining traction again with the digital world and brands are betting on it like never before.

In this article, we look at how brands are combining virtual and real-life marketing tools at festivals like Coachella to leave a lasting impression, as well as assess the importance of engagement marketing in the post-pandemic era.

Let's get started!

And if you want to receive articles like this in your inbox, subscribe to our interactive newsletter!

Brands are jumping back into festival sponsorships
The live music industry saw a nearly 30% drop in event sponsorship revenue over the past few years due to the pandemic. However, now that summer music festivals are back, sponsorship revenue is on the rise again .

Companies in emerging sectors like crypto and ridesharing, such as Coinbase , are sponsoring festivals like Coachella once again.

Live experiences are powerful and brands know it
Marketers are leveraging the power of live experiences more than ever, combining virtual and real-life marketing tools to deliver a better experience to their audience.


Source: Epic Games
A clear example is the partnership between Epic Games’ Fortnite and Coachella . The game features festival-inspired outfits that players can purchase during the festival. Additionally, music from this year’s Coachella artists will be available on an in-game radio, so players can listen to it while driving their cars.

Metaverse Marketing
Brands are also using the metaverse to bring new resources to life.

Absolut Vodka created a metaverse experience in Decentraland , a 3D virtual world, called “Absolut.Land,” along with an experience for in-person festival-goers. In the metaverse, there’s a virtual replica of Coachella where people can play games, collect NFT wearables, and even win tickets to the second week of the festival. Amazing, right?

OUR METAVERSE EXPERIENCE LAUNCHES AT COACHELLA
The brand invested 10% of its annual marketing budget in the Coachella program and 80% goes to digital, reflecting its efforts to establish itself as an innovative company.

Brands that are finding ways to enter Metaverse Marketing stand out among their competitors as it gives them the ability to offer simultaneous experiences, reaching a wider audience.

Furthermore, the metaverse offers endless possibilities for brands to bring new elements and experiences to life.

The rise of NFTs
Last year was the boom of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) . According to NFT market statistics , in the third quarter of 2021 alone, the value of all global NFT transactions reached $10.7 billion.

Marketers are realizing the potential of using NFTs to build and serve a community, and that’s why they’re bringing them into live experiences.

And Coachella is a prime example. The festival launched three NFT collections that included 10 tokens granting owners lifetime access to one weekend of the festival each April, along with virtual Coachella experiences forever.

But this isn’t the only festival creating NFT experiences. Lollapalooza recently announced that they are partnering with Bored Ape Yacht Club to launch NFT badges called POAP ( Proof of Attendance Protocol ). These are tokens to grant attendance or participation in an event that, in addition to being a virtual souvenir , allows access to certain communities and surprises.

Another brand planning to use POAP at festivals like Governor’s Ball , Stagecoach , and Lollapalooza is Bud Light Selterz . Their primary goal is to leverage these resources to create ongoing customer interactions and increase brand loyalty.

Brands like Cîroc are also using NFTs to market products like their new vodka spritz, giving consumers the opportunity to access virtual events with famous artists to promote the brand, bringing their product to a whole new audience.

And let’s not forget Verizon , which also plans to offer NFTs that can be redeemed for perks at concert venues.

Cashless payments
Cashless transactions have been on the rise around the world and this year they play a major role at summer festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza and BottleRock Napa Valley.

Brands like PayPal and Venmo offer cashless RFID wristbands that contain a chip linked to attendees’ PayPal and Venmo accounts to enable cashless payments. Quick and easy!

Innovate and create meaningful experiences
With the gradual return of mass events and the resumption of in-person activities, brands are betting on combining real life and Virtual Marketing to offer memorable experiences and reach a wider audience.

Innovations such as metaverse links, NFTs, virtual memories and AR filters will be key assets for marketing campaigns in the coming years. While these tools work very well on their own, when combined in an experiential marketing strategy, they have a greater impact: they allow for clear brand identification and reach consumers in a meaningful way.
Post Reply