Award-winning creative brand experience agency, N2O, has designed an American gas station-style festival experience for LA-born make up brand, NYX Professional Makeup.

Born out of the brand’s desire to get its community back together in real life, the neon pink and yellow gas service station activation features festival makeover stations, convenience store-style fridges packed full of NYX products and a hydration station. ‘Content creation areas’ will give festival-goers the opportunity to pose for the ultimate festival shot.

Clare James, Chief Operating Officer at N2O, said: “We’re set to bring NYX Professional Makeup back IRL with this disruptive festival set up. With massively sharable elements, it will be a one-stop shop for all festival-goers to have a makeover, nail art or a minute to pose for a photo in the NYX interactive gas station.”

Rachael Easterbrook, Senior Brand Manager at NYX Professional Makeup, said: “This whole activation is about bringing our community back together. This is the first time ever NYX Professional Makeup has activated at festivals in the UK, and we’re so excited with what N2O has come up with!”

N2O’s NYX activation will be at Brighton Pride (6^th – 7^th August), Black Pride (14^th August), Creamfields (25^th – 28^th August) and Sundown (2^nd – 4^th September).

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Award-winning creative brand experience agency, N2O, will deliver an immersive touring pop-up food festival in partnership with Tesco to inspire customers and colleagues in the lead up to summer.

The multi-brand experience will be touring selected Tesco stores across 100 days, offering people hacks, hints and tips for their picnics, parties and BBQs, helping the nation to make the most of the Great British Summer (whatever the weather!)

The line up will host 28 brands each offering their own free experiences, sampling opportunities and inspiration for those celebrating events including Father’s Day, Wimbledon and the late summer Bank Holiday weekend.

A demo theatre will feature masterclasses on everything from BBQing for a crowd and reducing food waste to sun care tips, recipes and much more.

The brand line-up includes Tesco Fire Pit and Tesco Finest picnic ranges as well as Kopparberg, The Vegetarian Butcher, Starbucks, Evian, Nivea, Hellman’s, Jaffa Oranges, Costa Coffee, Baxters, Magnum, Gordon’s, Mr Kipling and many more.

Clare James, Chief Operating Officer at N2O, said: “The pop-up food festival is all about celebrating being together with loved ones and feasting with friends. Working in partnership with Tesco, we’re helping customers elevate their everyday with an immersive experience full of hacks, hands-on demos and opportunities to try the products in a really engaging way.”

Lauren Horton, Campaign Manager at Tesco, said: “We’re very excited to be delivering our free, pop-up food festival at stores this summer with N2O. We want to offer Tesco customers the chance to sample delicious food, great atmosphere and help them feel inspired for the season ahead – all for free!”

The touring summer-long pop-up food festival is running from 31^st May to 7^th September.

For more information and to find a store near you see www.tescosummer.com

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Amplify has been tasked with helping Sipsmith Gin develop a festival presence inspired by the gin palaces of the 1820s.

The activation, which runs at three festivals over the summer including Wilderness, recreates an opulent gin palace where festivalgoers can revel in an on-going raucous jazz party.

The activation will next appear at Big Feastival between 23rd and 25th August.

Designed to accommodate up to 120 people, the activation is housed in a yurt-based Orangery with Sipsmith’s signature aesthetic. Although resplendent with Victorian iconography, the palace feels thoroughly contemporary thanks to cutting-edge design notes that reflect Sipsmith’s ‘old meets new’ appeal.  Once inside, the festivalgoers can, in addition to soaking up jazz, enjoy bespoke cocktails or join one of the many masterclasses running each day.

May Kirkby, Senior Brand Activation Manager at Sipsmith’s, said: “Amplify’s impressive audience insights have shaped a highly memorable experience that will resonate strongly with our audience. The experience fully reflects the Sipsmith brand by transporting festivalgoers back to the gin palaces of old, whilst simultaneously creating an iconic and utterly contemporary look that’s full of Sipsmithery.”

Jonathan Emmins, Founder of Amplify’s, added: “Drawing on the best of the past but with a firm and innovative eye on the future, Sipsmith is an iconic and timeless brand.  So naturally we’re chuffed to again collaborate with them on their summer gin palace festival activations. Thanks to Sipsmith’s big vision, identity and meticulous attention to detail, we’re able to create an ownable, premium and most importantly fun festival experience that connects the brand to its discerning audience.”

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Experiential agency TRO has been working with Japan Tobacco International UK (JTI UK) to design and build “Logic Steamtown” – an interactive consumer installation made up of industrial, steam-powered machinery and anachronistic inventions. The visually stimulating, all-encompassing set provides the perfect backdrop for adult smokers and vapers to learn about JTI’s Logic Compact e-cigarette brand.

The festival environment creates an excellent opportunity for adult smokers and vapers  to take time out during the festival and visit Logic Vapes Convenience store where they can trial and purchase Logic products.

The interactive “Engine Room”, challenges visitors to weave their way around a series of steam pipes without getting buzzed while visitors get to rock out to their best tunes at the “Steam House Tavern”.

Steamtown Residents will also be in attendance, bringing the stand to life with fire performances and costume characters, immersing guests in a theatrical show.

Logic Steamtown has already toured Isle of Wight, NASS, Latitude and YNot festivals and will be visiting Boardmasters, Lost Village and Sundown in the coming weeks.

Lynn Bardsley, Activation Director at TRO, said: “Working with JTI our objective was to create a stand out Logic destination and hub that delivers unique trial and engagement experiences to all those who visit. Competition between brand experience spaces within festivals  has never been higher and we knew that to achieve our objective we needed to create something that stood out from the crowd. Steamtown has a Logic brand and product inspired identity and is like no other stand.”

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Experiential marketing agency N2O is once again inviting brands to get involved in its innovative festival pop-up, All Out Beauty. The multi-brand fashion and beauty experience lets brands capitalise on the marketing opportunities of the festival season.

Following massive success in 2018, when All Out Beauty debuted as the first multi-brand beauty activation at UK festivals, brands are once again being offered the opportunity to reach hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers. All Out Beauty gives each brand its own branded space, where they can showcase their brand and engage customers with experiences including free hairstyles, makeovers, mini fashion shows, sampling and retailing.

Last year, participating brands included L’Oréal, Beauty Bay, Lynx and Lancaster. Exit surveys revealed that over 60% of attendees engaged with All Out Beauty, and 97% said they look more favourably on the participating brands after engaging with them at All Out Beauty.

In 2019, Schwarzkopf, Superdrug and more have already signed up with All Out Beauty to visit Brighton Pride, Fusion and Barclaycard presents British Summer Time.

The experience-led pop-up was created when N2O identified a gap in the market for brands to activate at festivals.

Clare James, Commercial Director at N2O, said: “We have incredible access to numerous beauty brands, and with it, their insight. We knew that these brands found it tough to have a presence at festivals for various reasons, so we wanted to create an unforgettable experience within an experience; a fashion and beauty pop-up within festivals.”

Rachael Rowland, Head of Marketing at Henkel Beauty Care (whose brand portfolio includes Schwarzkopf), added: “We’re delighted to be joining All Out Beauty at BST this year, offering our styling services to the public. It’s the perfect partnership!”

Brands can get involved with opportunities at All Out Beauty within skincare, male grooming, retailing, accessories, hair and personal care. To be part of the success story, get in contact with N2O.

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Co-op reveals plans to continue its partnership with Live Nation and open a 6,000 ft. pop up shop at six UK music festivals this year.

The deal with Live Nation builds on last year’s partnership, such was the success of these festival shops in terms of customer engagement and participation, that Co-op has added two more acts to the line- up with Creamfields and The Isle of Wight Festival.

In 2018, Co-op built a 6,000 square foot store at four Live Nation festivals – Download, Latitude, Reading and Leeds – which proved to be hugely popular with festival goers. They were able to buy all the essential items on site, rather than having to carry them in and could top up with fresh food and drink throughout the weekend. Customers were often found dancing in the aisles at 2am as the in-store DJ kept the party going.

Amanda Jennings, Director of Marketing Communications at Co-op, said: “This summer we are really excited to build on the success of our festival stores, continuing to get closer to customers with our unique convenience offer. Last year was our festival debut with Live Nation and the vast range of products available in the shop was a pleasant surprise to many festival goers. This year, they’ll be expecting to see us and rely on Co-op to provide the essentials to lighten the load, and with the two new festivals, we’re making our performance bigger and even better than ever.”

Jim Campling, President of UK Marketing Partnerships at Live Nation, said: “Co-op has seen tremendous success connecting with fans at our live music events by providing value and convenience authentically, and when the fans need it most. By expanding our partnership to include two more festivals, Co-op has the opportunity to leverage the power of live at an even greater scale.”

Co-op’s festival partnership with Live Nation has also been recognised at number of industry awards, including the Festival Supplier Awards, European Sponsorship Association Awards and the UK Sponsorship Awards.

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Ben Bestford, Director at BAM Agency Ltd shares his thoughts on the benefits of brands targeting young people throughout their festival experience.

For the youth of today it is all about experiences. Traditional marketing routes and channels simply do not have the desired effect on this generation, they have almost become immune to it. Brands wanting to capture this lucrative market need to capitalise on experiences and key moments in their lives to truly engage and connect with them.

To keep up with this ever changing demographic, brands need to think outside the box and find new and creative ways to market the youth. Festivals in particular offer a unique opportunity to connect with them. They are growing in popularity across all generations, but have always been and always will be popular with the youth. A whopping 30.9 million people attend festivals and gigs every year in the UK, of which The UK Festival Report revealed that 57.4% of attendees were aged 16-34. So for any brand wanting to target the youth audience, festivals are a key event to capture this mass audience.

Attending a festival is an exciting time and something youths will always remember, and brands have a chance to be a part of this experience. Of course you have the standard sponsorship or onsite stall at festivals, however due to the high demand, brands will have to dig deep to secure these options. There are however, other ways to be a part of, or enhance the festival experience.

At BAM, we are always on the lookout for new and exciting opportunities for brands to get involved in this brand new opportunity available.

For example, in 2019, National Express will be providing goodie bags to every passenger travelling from the Glastonbury and Boomtown Festivals, that is 28,000 goody bags! This is an amazing opportunity for brands to get their product directly into the hands of a captive audience. Click on the image below to download the media pack!

A flyer will simply not cut it. Brands need to get into the psyche of these festival goers. Festival goes would have had an action packed few days, and as they board the coach they will not be looking forward to what is likely to be a long journey home. So how can brands capitalise this?

Brands need to think about how to make this part of their festival experience better and more enjoyable. Think sweet treats, energy drinks, hangover cures, earphones, refreshments, breath freshener, wet wipes. These are just some ideas of freebies that these passengers would be delighted to receive. For a brand to provide something of value to them, they will immediately create a positive relationship with the youth by improving their journey and creating a memorable moment of their experience. As a direct result brands can expect to leave a lasting impression on this audience, connecting with them at a time when they are open and grateful to receive this form of marketing.

BAM has a unique opportunity to place your brand into the hands of 28,000 festival goers this summer. If you think you have an awesome addition to the goody bags that will enhance the festival experience and want to find out more about taking advantage of this unique opportunity, please get in touch with the team at BAM today.

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IPM Members, Electric Live, have a number of exciting updates regarding this years Fusion Festival.

Fusion Presents which will take place on Friday 30^th August, will be headlined by American, alternative rock band, Kings of Leon; who will be performing a UK festival exclusive set, with songs from all seven of their albums, in the heart of Liverpool.

They will be supported by a line up of talent including Franz Ferdinand, Echo & The Bunnymen and BRIT award winning artist Sam Fender; with more to be announced.

Event Director, Damien Sanders says: “Liverpool is an iconic city, entrenched in music heritage and we’ve wanted to launch a new event for the last couple of years. The biggest challenge has been finding the right artist for the job. We’re over the moon that we were able to secure one of the world’s most successful rock bands to launch Fusion Presents and we cannot wait to see them perform in our new home, Sefton Park.”

Tickets for Fusion Presents will be on sale from 9am on Friday 8^th March 2019. Pricing will be;

• General Admission – £54.50 + BF (£4.95)
• VIP – £165.00 + BF (£9.95)

Tickets can be purchased from The Official Ticket Store – www.fusion-presents.com

Local residents in post codes L8, L15, L17 and L18 will have access to a limited number of General Admission tickets at half price – £27.25 + BF (£2.95).

These resident tickets will be available on a first come, first served basis. To purchase the half-price tickets, please use promo code RESIDENT2019 on the following link www.fusion-presents.com/residents

If you or your brand want to reach a fun-loving audience predominantly made up of 18 – 35 year olds celebrating the very best of pop music in the North West, then Jack would love to speak with you at on 0207 751 2722 / 07720 840 384 or at jack@electric-live.com

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Independent Scottish brewer, BrewDog, will be hosting Metro Mayhem, its first London-based beer festival, set to take place on Saturday 10th November 2018 at The Copper Box Arena in East London. Brand experience agency, Amplify, is delivering the creative and technical production of its beer extravaganza. The event promises to be a riotous celebration of great craft beer from 17 world-renowned breweries, food and music from the likes of Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes, and Everything Everything.

Inspired by BrewDog’s legendary Annual General Mayhem (AGM) in Aberdeen, tickets for Metro Mayhem were initially made available to its 90,000 Equity Punks who have invested in the brewery. BrewDog also recently announced it would be offering free tickets to those who work in the beer industry, as well as two free beers to try. Following overwhelming demand, the brewery then  made tickets available to the public.

Doors will open at 2pm at The Copper Box Arena, in Stratford, East London, and beer fans can enjoy up to 9 hours of beers, food and music before doors close at 11pm.  The Scottish brewer will be showcasing its range of beers, including unveiling new beers from its sour beer facility, Overworks.

The line-up includes a further 17 breweries from around the world who will be running bars, and hosting exclusive panels and tastings. Beyond the craft beer offering, BrewDog’s backed brands Hawkes Cider and LoneWolf Spirits will also be putting in an appearance.

Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes said: “Metro Mayhem is going to be one to remember. We’re honoured to be playing at the inaugural festival and we’re looking forward to bringing the house down on 10th November.”

Everything Everything added: “Great music and great beer is an ideal match. We’re looking forward to playing BrewDog’s Metro Mayhem on November 10.”

James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog commented: “Our AGM has achieved legendary status over the past 8 years, so we wanted to bring a taste of that Mayhem to London with this new beer-fuelled blow out. London is home to thousands of our Equity Punks and has been key to our growth. We’ve got ten bars across the city quenching London’s thirst and we’ll be opening more next year.

“Music has always been the beating heart of BrewDog, so we’re thrilled to have such epic headliners as Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes and Everything Everything performing as part of Metro Mayhem. We’ll be adding more awesome acts in the run up to the big day so watch this space.”

Tickets for the festival can be purchased here.

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What happens to the festival industry in a year when the greatest show on earth, Glastonbury, takes a year out, asks Orla Ryan of ignis

When Glastonbury, a festival the size of Southern England’s seventh largest city, takes a fallow year, you would think that the rest of the festival calendar would reap the rewards – but has it?

Yes, some of the events have filled their fields, some have even hit record numbers. Others have struggled, some have even fallen by the way-side. By no means has it been a bumper year for the industry. So where have the Glastonbury masses gone? And how do you ensure your brand is  investing in an event that is going to deliver?

With 135,000 tickets on offer and two million applicants, each year’s Glastonbury show brings disappointment to roughly 1,865,000 people. That’s a lot of people who have gathered to plan and plot their festival attendance. Having collectively bought into the concept of the festival experience, all it takes is for one of the group to ask, ‘so where now?’ and plans are re-plotted elsewhere. In a year without Glastonbury, these fledgling festival plans never got off the ground, and the disappointed masses were simply not there to be absorbed.

So, what does it all mean for next year? We have digested the 2018 season, beyond the promoter stats and demographics, to analyse some of the trends when considering brand investment in festivals in 2019.

It’s a sell out! (or is it…?)

The true attendance figures of each festival are always difficult to unpick. No show ever wants to admit that they have under-achieved. Having rattled around festival fields for a few years now like we have, you get the feel (and the data) to tell you when an event is under-performing, and 2018 has seen a few of those.

As a brand, how do you know whether or not to believe in the audience figures that are being sold to you? The only answers I can give you are knowledge, experience and a view of the wider picture than the individual promoter is selling you. Be sure of the credentials behind new events, beware of exaggerated growth claims and consider whether the event is delivering ‘best in class’ in the genre in which it exists.

With the disappointed 1,865,000 back in the mix and with so many great events on offer, 2019 has all the credentials to be a booming festival year.

Does the experience outweigh the effort?

Emerging onto the scene in 2004, Bestival and Secret Garden Party were refreshing new concepts – music festivals that were not about the music.

Now, 14 years later, Secret Garden Party is no more, and Bestival has been refreshed after a few tough years. But why? What went wrong for these festival pioneers?

I don’t believe that the concept of putting on a fabulous party is, or ever will be, dead. It’s more that the rest of the festival industry caught up with the realisation that a festival is about experience, and so there are now more events than ever delivering truly great experiences, and the competition is fierce.

In essence, in order to attract the audiences, it comes down to whether the experience is worth the effort of the festival hardships: the travel, the weather, the tent, the port-a-loos… The cons list is long.

When you are no longer the stand out and most unusual event of the year, you need to remove obstacles to remain relevant. For example, in order to survive, Bestival removed one significant obstacle – the Isle of Wight ferry – by shifting location from the island to the Lulworth estate in Dorset!

Urbanisation

One genre of festival that cuts out a number of the festival obstacles is the urban festival. For those less keen on the idea of three days of camping and with more attainably-priced day tickets on offer, urban events become a more accessible option.

With articles on ‘how to ace a one-day festival’ appearing in this year’s Time Out festival guide, you get a real sense of the growth of these events.

The ‘promoter chess’ (which has seen Wireless move to Finsbury Park, Lovebox to Gunnersbury, Field Day to Brockwell and All Points East stake a claim in Victoria Park) just shows how much competition and appetite there is.

London is not the only city hosting these Urban shows – TRNSMT, Parklife and Tramlines are increasingly popular events held in Urban spaces across the country.

These urban parks are also playing host to a wide array of events, aside from pure music festivals. Melas (from the Sanskrit for a gathering, festival or fair) delivering culture and creativity, and festive shows taking winter residencies, provide colour and choice to the event space. The diversity of events on offer provide distinct audiences and an array of opportunities relevant to different brands.

With a reduced initial outlay, and fewer days to budget for, the on-site spend at these events is often much higher, which can make them an attractive option where sales are a factor.

Outstanding in their fields

So which events looked tipped to thrive in 2019?

From the Michelin stars and champagne bars of Wilderness to the immersive theatrical spectacle that is Boomtown, these events are producing true ‘best-in-class’ offerings. Creamfields is another event that has a single-minded purpose in delivering the best EDM (Electronic Dance Music) experience going.

These events attract wildly differing audiences, but they know what they stand for and strive to produce the best in what they do.

Reading and Leeds, on the other hand – with a diversified line-up – missed the mark this year. Their line-up, still an important factor for most music festivals, was found lacking. The traditionally Rock’n’Roll based pair of festivals branched out into a much more Urban scene this year which, rather than attracting a more diverse audience, left it confused. I am sure these festival giants will be back on track next year, but it just shows that even the big events can get it wrong some years too.

Do it different

So how should a brand engage within the festival arena for 2019? It is about fitting in and standing out at the same time.

Find a fit with the festival-going human and be relevant to them. Don’t, however, slavishly follow the standard festival format. Expecting consumers to hunt out your allotted 10 X 10 space is not going to give you the return that you are looking for.

Look to stand out. Do different. Think about how the audience will engage, and what your brand offers that is unique. Consider how you can generate a buzz about your brand, not just about the brand space that you could create.

Hot

Immersive events – the experience is everything

Urban events – making the festival experience more accessible

Whatsapp – the unglamorous glue that holds a festival squad together

Not

Middle of the road – know what you stand for and be the best at it

Secondary ticketing – the rebellion against over-priced tickets is on

Single use plastic – Glastonbury has banned plastic water bottles in 2019

Orla Ryan is Head of Experiential at ignis, a multi-award winning independent brand experience agency based in Fulham. Over its 29-year history, it has worked for a wide range of clients ranging from Jameson Whiskey, Sheraton Hotels and Fuller’s, to Betfair and Cuticura. A member of the Institute of Promotional Marketing, ignis won two Gold trophies and a Silver for its #JamesonBeOriginal360 experience work for Pernod Ricard Travel Retail and Jameson in the IPM Awards 2017; the same campaign then went on to win a Silver and a Bronze in the pan-European IMC Awards.

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