In a post-pandemic world, it’s great to have one of the staple events on a calendar back and roaring again.
Before the working week ends, and all the chatter of performances, controversies and hangovers takes over your timeline, we wanted to ask ourselves;
How does a major event like Glastonbury use marketing techniques to take over the internet for a weekend? And what can you learn from its undeniable, unstoppable success?
1. Having a Story Matters
Yes, Glastonbury is an event. But in branding terms, what it really is is a platform. Just like your B2B SaaS business, for example.
It generates impact by providing a space and audience for other brands, creators and creatives to take advantage of.
But often enough, due to the nature of being a middleman (or a background operator), platforms struggle to create an interest in their brand as well as their product. But Glastonbury proves that, regardless of your industry, having a solid brand story counts for so much when it comes to generating word of mouth, social media buzz and validation to your mission.
You might be thinking; that’s all well and good, but my platform business isn’t rooted in hippie counterculture and also isn’t the biggest music festival in the world. Fair enough. But you only have to look at something closer to home to see that this method marketing rings true with a lot of successful platform businesses.
This is the first time Glastonbury has opened the gates to Worthy Farm in over two years due to the pandemic, and they’ve made sure to emphasise this in their social content.
On Wednesday, a video went viral on Twitter of Michael Eavis, the founder of the festival and owner of the farm, opening the gates to cheers from punters and press alike.
It made for a picturesque and symbolic moment as the sun shone down on the scene. Immediately, Glastonbury started trending upwards on Twitter and we’ll bet it’ll be staying there until at least Monday.
Glastonbury has always used social media to its advantage. In 2019, they used it to announce the fact that Paul McCartney would be headlining Glastonbury for it’s much-hyped 2020 50th anniversary (which of course never happened), he tweeted an image of composer Phillip Glass, actress Emma Stone, and legendary artist Chuck Berry. Together, their surnames spelt “Glass-Stone-Berry”; a perfect puzzle. And the perfect way to announce a Glastonbury headliner set in 2022.
But perhaps the biggest weapon in Glastonbury’s marketing arsenal is the amplification of their every move through UGC from those attending the festival.
From tonnes of phone-charging stations, to Insta-friendly scenery, this doesn’t happen by accident.
Glastonbury is aware that the fans and punters will take over the internet for them without much more than a little nudge.
It’s a perfect example of where the true power of social media lies; with the user. It’s time for you to think about how you can nudge your own fans to create organic content for your business.
At DATS, we love nothing more than a good stunt. In fact, we live for it. Head to the work section of our site to read about how we’ve used stunts to generate mass coverage and social media buzz for our clients.
And the opportunity to pull a stunt at Glastonbury is every PR team’s dream. It’s the perfect storm; a rebellious atmosphere, tons of space and thousands of punters ready to be impressed by a crazy idea (and share it to their socials).
From Glastonbury’s own tricks (secret underground piano bars, Banksy paintings, etc) to brands buying their way into some of the most attention-soaked real estate in the world (the EE bull, the Greenpeace ship,) stunts and controversy are weaved into what Glastonbury is about.
Have you thought about how you can make your next stunt internet-stopping? If you need some help, why not get in touch at hello@downatthesocial.co.uk.
4. Organic and engaging > paid and boring.
Given the fact that we’re writing a blog article about marketing at Glastonbury, it’s interesting to note that it seems as though, year in year out, the festival spends exactly £0 on paid advertising.
There’s no billboards, TV spots or paid social campaign.
Any guesses as to why?
It’s because they don’t need it.
And this is a hill we’re willing to die on…
Whilst paid marketing has its uses, it’s so crucial that you make sure your organic content is engaging first. Once you start putting budget behind things, you’re committing yourself to using a crutch rather than forcing yourself and your business to do more with less.
Glastonbury knows that they don’t need paid marketing, and it’s a great starting point and creative exercise for your business, whatever the size.
Remove budget from the table, whether you have it or not; what can you do to grab your business a slice of people’s attention?
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