Guest blog from Ian Bushell, founder Posto Six and Ian Bushell Consulting

Category: Festivals

I’m currently launching a new music festival into the market and when talking to brands over the last few weeks have been surprised by the desire of some people (a minority admittedly) for an old style/traditional sponsorship proposition (how many banners at the event, how many ads on the screen, logos on promotional materials, how many tickets, etc) when the real value of association with such a platform clearly lies elsewhere. I know because I’ve been in the slightly unusual position of working for both brands and rights holders over the years, bringing the two together in order, I hope, to maximise the effectiveness of the partnership all round.

Of course it’s only natural to want a simple and easily understandable solution, particularly in the world of music and entertainment that is, at best, a ‘fluid’ environment in which to market brands. But in our era of fragmented media where mass delivery of a message is no longer a viable option its more important than ever to communicate in a relevant and authentic fashion. This means hard work, time, effort, energy - reflecting a brands passion and values in whatever way they choose to activate. It also means much greater effort from festival promoters. Ultimately though they are rewarded with long-term brand partners that their audience accept as a natural part of the event experience and indeed add to that experience. As cynical and savvy consumers, our audience today is far too smart to accept anything less.

My festival is inspired by the surf world with great eco credentials so there are obvious and natural brand fits and as much as I’m eager to make the event a commercial success its seems pointless to me to pitch to inappropriate brands let alone consider partnering with them. This is the long-term road to failure for a festival platform often fatally damaging its credibility.

The holy grail for brands should be a partnership that delivers a compelling and relevant event experience, provides decent multi-media content available pre and post event as well as during the event itself, guarantees significant reach beyond the event – via the web, TV, retail, experiential activation – whatever is the most effective channel for a given brand, but most importantly of all one that offers a way of reflecting a brands passions, building on its values and communicating with its desired audience in an authentic and believable manner. This connection isn’t a commodity it’s an emotional relationship and thus its needs to be treated appropriately.

Music and especially live music events remain one of the best environments for relevant brands to market, communicate and build affinity but get it wrong and it will be less Summer of Love more Summer of Dread.

Ian Bushell – Biography

Ian Bushell has been working in the music and entertainment industry for over 20 years and is widely recognised as a leader in his field.  He has created some of the biggest and most successful multi-media entertainment platforms of the last ten years.

In senior management roles at Ministry of Sound, Ignition, Jack Morton Worldwide and Universal Music Ian has produced global campaigns and properties for leading brands such as Nokia, Bacardi, Samsung and LG as well as rights holders such as Formula One.

In 2010 Ian launched Posto Six, a boutique agency that creates, promotes and delivers music and entertainment platforms. He also continues to consult for brands and rights holders around the world.

For more information: www.ianbushell.com, www.postosix.com