New consumer brands are targeting young people’s music festivals

Since the end of last year, music festival culture has been heating up, and some new consumer brands have bet on music festivals. Entering April and May, the popularity of music festivals is even greater than before, and a large-scale consumer market has been derived. Why are major new consumer brands keen to enter the music festival market? The author of this article will reveal the secrets for you.

It is hard to find a job, life is stressful, and food, clothing, housing, transportation, mortgages, car loans, and even cat and dog food are all borne by young people. It is difficult for young people to make money, and it is also difficult to make money from young people.

Image source: MANNER official Weibo

At the same time, in order to cope with social pressure, young people are becoming more and more addicted to things that can relieve stress and bring them self-pleasing experiences.

Young people who try to find joy in adversity shout the slogan "Enjoy life while you can" and fill their lives with movies, talk shows, musicals, escape rooms, archery, camping, music festivals, etc.

Therefore, brands have to find various ways to advertise, do marketing, and collaborate, as if the closer they are to young people’s hearts, the closer they are to their wallets.

Under the slogan "Love and work are troublesome, love is not as good as live!", music festival culture is becoming more and more popular, and some new consumer brands are betting on music festivals. Summer, grass, singing and soda, while embracing the youth of young people, have also quietly mixed in the ambitions of brands.

01 This generation of young people is crazy about music festivals

The end of the epidemic has unlocked people's bodies, and the revival of various activities has unlocked people's minds. Since the end of last year, the number of concerts and music festivals has skyrocketed.

How popular is the music festival? Scalpers are probably the ones who know the market best. A music festival ticket that originally costs 400 or 500 yuan is often sold out within the first moment it goes on sale. After being passed around a few times, the price of the ticket can increase several times, soaring to thousands of yuan.

Starting from March this year, there are more than 30 music festival events every month.

From February to March this year, there were more than 100 music festivals on sale on the Damai platform, with a total of more than 290 performances. The box office scale increased 11 times compared with the same period in 2019, and the number of ticket buyers increased 9 times year-on-year.

Image source: Maoyan screenshot

As April and May approach, music festivals are more popular than ever before, and have spawned a huge consumer market.

According to incomplete statistics from 21st Century Business Herald, there were 40 music festivals across the country during the May Day holiday this year, involving 17 provinces or regions. According to the China Performing Arts Industry Association, according to preliminary calculations based on the comprehensive driving index, during the May Day holiday, the comprehensive consumption scale of transportation, food and accommodation, etc. driven by music festivals and concerts alone, in addition to the box office, has exceeded 1.2 billion yuan.

It is worth noting that some consumer brands have also personally organized "cross-border" music festivals .

During the May Day holiday, Yuanqi Forest invited singers and bands such as Pu Shu, Wang Sulong, Guo Ding, and Travel Group to hold a "Yuanqi Forest Music Festival" in Chengdu, while Mixue Ice City held an "Ice Cream Music Festival" in Wuhan. Sumida River Coffee hosted the "Sumida River Trendy Coffee Music Festival" in Hangzhou on May 20 and May 21.

Image source: Yuanqi Forest Official Weibo

During the May Day holiday, the median ticket price for a single-day performance at music festivals across the country was between three hundred and four hundred yuan.

Among them, the Cactus Music Festival has the highest ticket price, with single-day pre-sale tickets, full-price tickets, and VIP tickets priced at 680 yuan, 980 yuan, and 1,380 yuan respectively, while the two-day pass costs 1,800 yuan.

Tickets for music festivals are getting more expensive. On Weibo, some netizens joked: "For high-premium music festivals, consumers who hold back are victorious," and "If you don't buy, and I don't buy, the price can be reduced by 200 yuan tomorrow."

According to incomplete statistics, the average ticket price for this year's music festival is about 100 yuan higher than in previous years.

Data monitoring results from the ticketing system collection and service platform of the China Performing Arts Industry Association also show that the average ticket price for commercial performances across the country during this year's May Day holiday increased by 12% year-on-year.

Mixue Bingcheng, which has always been known for its low prices and high cost-effectiveness, also gave a conscientious price this time.

The Ice Cream Music Festival, which includes pop singers such as Chen Chusheng, Wang Sulong, and Xu Fei, as well as bands such as Mr. Turtle, Big Wave, and Mirror, has a single-day ticket price of only 199 yuan. Netizens commented that "the price of the Wuhan Ice Cream Music Festival has been lowered" and "it is worthy of being the Snow King".

However, although the ticket prices of music festivals have been rising, the organizers still lament that it is "too difficult."

According to statistics, about half of the music festivals in my country are organized by the government, and only about 20% of them are profitable.

The cost of a music festival ranges from millions to tens of millions, mainly divided into personnel expenses and facility and venue expenses.

For offline music festivals with a scale of around 10,000 to 20,000 people, travel, accommodation, and labor costs of performers and staff account for about 60% of the total cost, while the costs of stage engineering, facilities and equipment, venue construction, etc. account for 40% of the cost.

An industry insider revealed that the performance fees of artists are the bulk of the costs. A lineup of a popular traffic star plus several central Chinese musicians would cost about 7 to 8 million yuan in performance fees.

So, why do new consumer brands such as Mixue Bingcheng and Yuanqi Forest do such thankless tasks?

02 Music festivals become a new front for brand marketing

In fact, as early as ten years ago, consumer brands were already frequent sponsors of music festivals. Brands such as Heytea and Tsingtao Pure Brew have cooperated with the Strawberry Music Festival.

In this regard, Mixue Bingcheng is at the forefront of many brands.

In addition to this year's Ice Cream Music Festival, in 2015 and 2016, Mixue Ice City became the only official designated beverage by sponsoring Mayday and Jay Chou's Zhengzhou concerts respectively.

In May 2019, Mixue Ice City hosted the "Mishe Ice City Ice Cream Music Festival", with a lineup including 20 well-known musicians such as Wang Sulong, Asi, Nanzhengbeizhan, etc.

Music festivals have become the code to "call" young people.

As of now, on Weibo, the topic #蜜雪冰城冰淇淋音乐节# has been read 69.32 million times, and the topic #王苏泷武汉冰淇淋音乐节# has been read 11.121 million times, which shows the high market voice of related topics.

Image source: Mixue Ice City official Weibo

Data from the "2022 China Performance Market Annual Report" shows that young people aged 18 to 34 account for more than 76% of ticket-buying audiences, while women account for more than 66%. This shows that young people are the main consumer group for music festivals and other performances. The booming development of music festivals in China is inseparable from the driving role of young people.

This group of people is precisely the customer group that major new consumer brands pay the most attention to. The overlap between the two naturally leads to the new consumer brands' enthusiasm for music festivals.

Music festivals have become one of the most popular activities among contemporary young people, and have therefore become an excellent place for brand exposure and promotion.

By means of title sponsorship or becoming the organizer, brands can get a lot of exposure in a short period of time and enjoy the full long-tail effect, which is very helpful in increasing the brand's popularity among young consumer groups.

At the same time, relying on the fan effect of singers and artists, brands can increase their popularity and favorability among fan groups, thereby promoting sales conversion.

For brands, the music festival is a three-dimensional promotional space. Event logos, stage venues, promotional materials such as banners and roll-up banners, facilities such as parasols, and peripheral products can all serve as promotional media between brands and consumers. At the Snow Ice City Ice Cream Music Festival, the 8-meter-high Snow King inflatable model and the dancing Snow King puppet were eye-catching enough to frequently cause cheers from the audience.

Music festivals also allow brand products to directly enter the scene and integrate into the consumer population.

For example, there are many Mixue Ice City product placements in the Ice Cream Music Festival. At the festival, audiences can buy peripheral products of Mixue Ice City, Lucky Coffee and related brands, extending the consumption chain of brand products.

Image source: Mixue Ice City official Weibo

When a music festival becomes a marketing battlefield, the brand’s voice becomes the factor that directly determines the marketing effect.

Generally speaking, a music festival will have multiple sponsors, and the size of the sponsorship amount becomes a direct determinant of brand exposure. Competition between sponsors and conflicts between sponsors and organizers may greatly reduce the marketing effect.

Therefore, some mature brands will choose to directly become event organizers to take the initiative to the greatest extent possible.

Only when the brand becomes the organizer can the brand’s characteristics be better reflected. For example, the reason why Mixue Ice City can set a lower price for the “Ice Cream Music Festival” is because Mixue Ice City has full control over the planning and execution of the event.

Rebellious and playful young people today need a more direct and energetic communication language. At a music festival full of singing and dancing and youth, brands can convey unique brand concepts, establish a youthful brand image, truly reach out to young people, and complete two-way communication and interaction.

Based on this, even though most music festivals cannot make a profit, there are still a large number of brands eager to participate.

03 As consumption upgrades, brands should establish spiritual resonance

Nowadays, young people who beat electronic wooden fish and play bodhi bracelets seem to be going against the principle of "don't seek outside", and are increasingly keen on using consumption to relieve social pressure.

It is worth pointing out that this generation of young people has a unique consumption concept .

Compared with blindly buying things, young people are more interested in reflecting their personal philosophy and lifestyle in their consumption.

What is different from the past is that fast, good, and cheap are no longer their core pursuits. What young people care about most is whether they can meet deeper needs.

Some people like to stock up on goods during shopping festivals such as Double Eleven, enjoying the sense of security brought by hoarding, while others share their "Diary of Decluttering" on Xiaohongshu to reduce their lives; some people block advertising links, while others collect a bunch of "must-buy lists" and "grass-planting strategies"; some people share the ultimate money-saving plan on Xiaohongshu, while others shout "carpe diem" and become moonlighters...

Diverse consumption concepts contain a consumer market full of potential.

The keyword "self-pleasing" is being mentioned more and more frequently.

The 2022 China Modern Consumption Development Index shows that consumption is not just an activity to meet basic physiological needs, but also reflects people's pursuit of life, personality, emotions and sociality, and can provide rich emotional and sentimental values. Generation Z, who focus on individual expression, also seeks self-value in consumption.

Tmall data shows that in addition to the four traditional popular categories of beauty, fast-moving consumer goods, consumer electronics, and clothing, the categories that consumers pay the most attention to include toys, pets, jewelry, and sports and outdoor products. Blind box toys, Chinese aromatherapy, Chinese style tea, co-branded medals and other non-essential consumption that can bring a pleasant experience often do not have practical functions and value, but have exquisite appearance and can bring consumers a pleasant spiritual experience.

Image source: Taobao screenshot

Against the backdrop of increasing social pressure, "stress-relieving consumption" has also become a new consumption highlight.

According to statistics, the sales of decompression toys, including fidget spinners, stress relief cubes, fluid bears and other products, have increased sharply. From 2022 to the present, the overall sales growth rate of decompression toys on Taobao Tmall has been nearly 40%.

Besides toys, young people are being attracted by various activities.

According to Meituan’s offline decompression consumption insight analysis report, activities such as archery, live house, petting, land surfing, Muay Thai, and immersive spinning have become the most popular activities among young people.

According to Tianyancha data, as of 2022, the total number of companies whose corporate names, business scopes, products and services, and trademarks contain "解压" is 810. In 2022, there were nearly 100 newly registered companies related to "解压", a year-on-year increase of 94.59%.

In addition, driven by cultural confidence, the national trend style has been praised by more and more people.

According to Baidu search, the market volume of words related to "Guochao" has skyrocketed from 2011 to 2021, with the search popularity increasing by 528%. According to the "Guochao Brand Young Consumer Insight Report" released by Xinhuanet, the majority of the audiences of Guochao style are "post-90s" and "post-00s", and these young people account for about 74% of the market share.

Consumption is also a medium for young people to socialize. Products such as Keep medals, trendy blind boxes, and the joint milk tea between Heytea and Fendi all have their own communication hotspots and social attributes, which can stimulate people's desire to share.

Around these products, young people can express their individuality while finding a sense of belonging to a group.

Just like the music festival, new consumer brands are eagerly looking for ways to resonate with young people.

Ultimately, people's consumption patterns have shifted from subsistence consumption to sophisticated consumption. Only brands that can give consumers a sense of value and meaning on a spiritual level can truly stand out from the homogeneous market.

References:

[1] "From sponsorship, title sponsorship to hosting, why are brands keen to join music festivals?", Music Herald, April 12, 2023

[2] “Why are brands flocking to music festivals?”, Winsales, May 22, 2023

[3] “Have music festivals become a carnival for brands?”, Bohu Finance, May 15, 2023

[4] "Mixue and Yuanqi have joined the game to grab a share of the excitement at the music festival | Marketing Observation", 36Kr, May 4, 2023

[5] “Music Festivals That “Break the Circle”: “Price Assassinations” on One Side and Business Marriage on the Other”, 21st Century Business Herald, May 6, 2023

[6] "When the ticket price of a music festival rises to 988, but it still doesn't make money? What's the way out?", Entertainment Capital, October 11, 2021

【7】 “Music festival tickets cost up to 1,800 yuan, only enough for one night in a hotel”, China News Service, May 1, 2023

[8] “Performance market to boom in 2023: number of performances in February and March increased significantly compared to 2019”, China Youth Network, April 13, 2023

[9] "How to capture the Z generation of college students and conduct campus brand marketing", Xiaoguo Campus Marketing, September 16, 2022

[10] “Data shows the new consumption trends led by young people”, Xinhuanet, May 4, 2023

[11] "How can brands accurately penetrate the "circle" of college students?", Everyone is a Product Manager, March 31, 2022

[12] “Young people’s new consumption trend”, China Economic Net, May 5, 2023

Author: fong

Source: New Consumption Think Tank