We’re all pretty familiar with the various stereotypes surrounding different Australian festivals. Head to the Big Day Out and you’re sure to see a couple of Australian flags, or at the very least, a Southern Cross tattoo. Soundwave? There’ll be checkerboard Vans and black t-shirts aplenty.
But what about your average festivalgoer in 2014? What do they look like? How old are they? How much money do they make? Why inspires them to attend their favourite festival? Are they male or female? It’s these questions that public relations network the MSL Group recently tried to answer with their latest report.
Yes, as part of the corporate world’s latest ploy to inject more branding and youth-oriented product placement into your favourite music festivals, the MSL Group unveiled a new piece of research that attempts to educate brands about how they can benefit from getting into the music festival sponsorship game.
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You can’t say they haven’t been paying attention. Their description of the “festival gold rush” currently sweeping the music industry sounds pretty spot-on to anyone who’s noticed the influx of new festivals over the past couple of years, which MSL say can be utilised by brands to make a “deeper connection” with consumers.
And when they say “deeper connection”, they may be onto something. According to their research, 36 percent of revellers are more likely to buy a sponsor’s product, 65 percent believe brands improve the festival experience, 60 percent interact with two or more brands at festivals, and 85 percent like the brand activations visited.
With that said, just who are the revellers that advertisers are trying to interact with? Well, according to MSL, most of us (almost 50 percent) are between 25 and 34 years of age; 52 percent are male, 45 percent female, and 3 percent other; and embody qualities such as being tech-savvy, socially conscious, affluent, passionate, and interested in what’s new and next.
While it’s arguable just how “affluent” most of us are, MSL Group’s research certainly paints an interesting depiction of how advertisers view their most important demographic. And it’s little wonder they’re doing so much research, the 76.6 million millennials in the world reportedly command $889.3 billion worth of buying power.
