The 2019 edition of Coachella, which took place from April 12 to 21 in California’s Colorado desert, has just come to a close. With a festival attendance estimated by Mediakix at 700,000 and headliners including Childish Gambino, Tame Impala, DJ Snake, Ariana Grande and more this year, it’s America’s most prized and anticipated music festival. And certainly the only one to be as well known for its musical repertoire as for its celebrity crowds and influencer marketing operations.
At Stellar, we’ve taken a closer look at the 6 features that made their mark on Coachella 2019, and for each of them, using our tool and new algorithm, we’ve identified the influencers who generated the most EMV (“Earned Media Value”)* thanks to their content and associated performance on social networks.
How Coachella became a multimillion-dollar brand
Since its creation in 1999, the Coachella Music & Arts Festival has established itself as a major event, raking in some $46 million each year over just two weekends, and in 2017 posting a record gross revenue of $114.6 million, making it the most profitable festival of all time.
Above all, in less than 10 years, it has radically changed its face, transforming itself from an alternative rock music festival into a must-attend event for brands from all over the world in search of buzz and visibility. Every year during the festival, the big names in lifestyle, luxury and high-tech launch exclusive features and events, in which celebrities and influential personalities are invited to take part – as official ambassadors or ‘special guests’. The aim is to win as much inspiring online content as possible, in order to generate interest in the experiential operation, as well as enthusiasm for the brand and its latest products, which, according to Pulse Advertising, see their conversion rate increase during the festival.
The reason is quite simple.
With the advent of social media, Coachella’s reach extends far beyond the festival site. Not only are concerts broadcast worldwide thanks to YouTube, which provided live streaming coverage for the 9th consecutive year, but the Coachella experience can also be enjoyed via Instagram or Twitter feeds continuously fed by festival-goers – the most influential being at the origin of the most widely circulated content.
So, with several hundred thousand attendees and audiences of several million on social networks, Coachella creates unique opportunities for brands wishing to reach, via sponsored events or influencer marketing operations, a market with growing purchasing power: millennials, who make up almost half of Coachella attendees – in fact, according to MediaKix, of the 32 million people attending one or more music festivals like Coachella in the United States, 14.7 million are millennials, whose purchasing decisions are strongly influenced by the online community.
Get your message across in the Coachella microcosm, and it will be amplified worldwide by crowds eager to confirm their presence to their subscribers. GQ magazine recently interviewed two long-time Coachella sponsors who have nothing but praise for the event: According to Daryl Butler, Head of US Consumer Marketing at #HP, “Coachella has a real global impact”, and for Christine Karimi, Manager of Partnerships & Consumer Experiences at #Heineken, it is unquestionably “THE Festival to be at”.
Faced with such a goldmine, it’s hardly surprising that brands are competing to dress and invite influencers from all over the world. And if Mediakix is to be believed, they’d do well to plan ahead: according to the American agency, 8 out of 10 festival-goers buy their Coachella outfits and plan their getaway in the months leading up to the event, making this a crucial time to start collaborating with influencers.
The top 6 collaborations 2019: features and results
More than ever this year, many brands redoubled their creativity and efforts to get the word out thanks to influencers, via sponsored and above all experiential activations at Coachella and the surrounding area. These pop-up events brought them a wealth of “earned media” content distributed on the influencers’ accounts or sometimes even their own official accounts via takeover operations, particularly on Instagram. Content inspired by the most daring looks and hairstyles, and prompted by the most instagrammable backdrops and settings – be they natural panoramas, playful installations or breathtaking villas.
During this 2019 edition, 6 brands caught our attention and, unsurprisingly, 5 of them are fashion and beauty brands, Coachella being the ideal promotion ground for this industry. Discover our EMV ranking by influencer, based in particular on reach and engagement criteria.
1-Revolve: #REVOLVEfestival, the mini music festival in the middle of Coachella
It’s probably the brand we most associate with the Coachella festival. And while the Revolve Party has been attracting the crème de la crème of influencers – led by Chiara Ferragni – and the eyes of the world every year since 2015, it was in 2018 that Revolve set itself apart like never before by launching its own (mini) music festival not far from Coachella: the Revolve Festival. Once again for the 2019 edition the party was in full swing at the V Palm Springs Hotel, which was to welcome over 130 top influencers, artists, models and musicians.
To amplify the reach of its Coachella activation, the brand called on celebrities and influencers to mark their presence at the Revolve festival by wearing the brand’s clothing. Our very own Nabilla (@nabilla) is the only French celeb to feature in our ranking of the influencers who published the highest MVE content. Alongside her are American celebrities such as model Kendall Jenner (@kendalljenner), YouTube star MyLifeAsEva (@mylifeaseva), actress Shay Mitchell (@shaymitchell) and fashion influencers Song Of Style (@aimeesong) and Sincerely Jules (@sincerelyjules).
With 110 posts and 62 stories, the Revolve influencers in our ranking managed to generate €9.8M in EMV, thanks in particular to a reach of 270.5M and a total of 16.4M engagements.
2-Yves Saint Laurent Beauté: fill up on beauty at Coachella with the #Yslbeautystation
Yves Saint Laurent Beauté made its mark this year with a pop-up store in the form of a luxury gas station set up just a few kilometers from the Coachella site on Route 111. The installation seduced with its vintage codes, featuring girly pink gas pumps, vintage cars and an XXL reproduction of the iconic Rouge Volupté Shine. Influencers had the opportunity to give themselves a makeover on their way to the festival, since they could take advantage of a make-up area and purchase, test or personalize the brand’s latest products and emblematic products, via automatic make-up dispensers or virtual mirrors.
Among the beauty queens in our ranking are, unsurprisingly, a host of Frenchies who have honored the French brand by sharing their experiences inside and outside the resort at after-parties. Indeed, although singer Hyun Ah (@hyunah_aa) and top model Kaia Gerber (@kaiagerber) top the ranking, 4 out of 10 of the influencers listed are French: YouTubers Enjoy Phoenix and Richaard, as well as instagrammers and bloggers l’Armoire de SoSo (@larmoiredesoso, larmoiredesoso.com) and Ludivine (@ludivine,
leblogdeludivine.com).
By publishing 49 posts and 49 stories, the 10 influencers in the ranking provided Yves Saint Laurent with an EMV of €2.4M, obtained with a reach of 63M and a total of 5M engagements.
3-American Express: Live the #AmexLife at Platinium House
Like last year, American Express reinforced its influencer marketing strategy and ambassador program with its #AmexAmbassadors campaign, featuring celebrities and influencers enjoying exclusive benefits and experiences during the Festival thanks to their American Express credit card. True to its reputation for exclusivity, and to reinforce the association between an Amex card and a luxury lifestyle, the brand organized a VIP evening in its Amex Platinum House attended by celebrities, influencers and Platinum card members. On the program: DJ sets, a feast for kings and fun, artistic installations.
Like Coachella 2018, the brand has teamed up with a group of celebrities and mega-influencers to promote its Amex Platinum card and Coachella party. Included in our ranking are model Rocky Barnes (@rocky_barnes), singer Cierra Ramirez (@cierraramirez), art directors Patric Janelle (@aguynamedpatrick) and Jones Crow (@jonescrow) and beauty artist Britney Tokyo (@ britneytokyo).
By creating 19 posts and 10 stories, the influencers reached a reach of almost 11.5M and generated 579,000 interactions, earning American Express an EMV of €449,000.
4-Calvin Klein: Welcome to #MyCalvins House
It’s probably one of the most elaborate interactive marketing campaigns of the festival: the #MyCalvins House, a perfect reproduction of the Los Angeles suburban home used in the brand’s Spring 2019 campaign, featuring Shawn Mendes, A $ AP Rocky and Kendall Jenner. The house gave festival-goers, received as real “guests”, the chance to create and share photo memories as they wandered through the various rooms with their retro decor and colors. The most popular, and the one most shared on social networks by influencers, was undoubtedly the bathroom, with its blue tiles and candy-pink walls, where visitors could bask in a (bubble) bath of CK branded balls.
In anticipation of the event, Calvin Klein has teamed up with various Instagram influencers to promote their special festival collections on their website. American supermodel Kendall Jenner (@kendalljenner), Brazilian influencers Nath Araújo (@nanaths) and karol queiroz (@mkarolqueiroz) and Mexican model and jeweler Diego Dom (@diegodomdom) were 4 of the people who shared high-EMV posts during the event. Even rapper Chica (@oranicuhh) made an appearance, dressed all in Calvin Klein, in a clip for her new single – see the video.
Thanks to 76 posts and 32 stories published by the 10 influencers in our ranking, Calvin Klein earned an EMV of €2.2M thanks to 63.5M reaches and 5.6M engagements.
5-NYX Cosmetics: Makeover and glitter playground with #nyxcosmectics
As official cosmetics partner of Coachella, NYX Professional Makeup lit up the festival with its Glitter Trip activation, aimed at promoting its new Glitter Goals Collection range and offering festival-goers powerful digital beauty experiences: Interactive beauty bar, glitter fountain, make-up retouching zone, giant mouth & tongue slide… everything was thought out to encourage the creation and sharing of beauty looks with its community.
The brand’s make-up artists on site were also able to recreate, with the new range of glittering products, the beauty looks that celebrated make-up artist @Nam Vo had invented for NYX exclusively for the Festival.
Among the beauty gurus who responded and shared high EMV publications showing off their glam looks using NYX products: French beauty youtuber Sananas (@sananas2106), Japanese makup artist PONY 포니 (@ponysmakeup), South African diva Nyané Lebajoa (@nyane) and influencer Frankie James Grande (@frankiejgrande).
With 67 posts and 15 stories generating 41.5M Reach and 6.2M social interactions, the 10 influencers in our ranking helped NYX Cosmetics achieve an EMV of €2.1M.
6-Levis: Unique experience and product to #liveinlevis
For this 2019 edition and 4th year, the Levi’s brand kept things simple by turning its device around the personalization of its flagship product, the legendary Denim. Employees, press, artists and influencers from all over the world were invited to the Sands Hotel in Indian Wells, where the program included a poolside party, a private DJ set by Snoop Dog, St. Vincent, Yaeji and Hyphen Hyphen, and above all, an invitation to visit the booths and personalize a piece from the new collection – from embroidery to tie-dye and screen-printing. Levis’ objective was to obtain content that highlighted the product and reflected the brand’s image: simple and relaxed.
Among the evening’s guests and influencers who promoted the brand throughout Coachella weekend: the muse of the iconic 501 jeans, Hailey Baldwin Bieber, but also a large number of influencers featured in our ranking such as models Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) and Candice Huffine or influencers Sincerly Jules (@sincerelyjules) and
With just 19 posts and 12 stories, the Levis influencers in our ranking managed to earn the brand €747,653 in EMV, thanks in particular to a reach of 20.3M and a total of 1.9M engagements.
*Annotations
EARNED MEDIA VALUE (EMV): Thanks to the Stellar tool and its algorithm based on Ayzenberg’s Earned Media Value Index 2.0 ([a]EMVI), brands can accurately and quantifiably estimate the value of their influencer campaigns with monetary data per metric generated for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
