Being Heard Above the Noise - Part II

Just this past Sunday, I attended the Austin City Limits Music Festival. If you are not familiar with it, it’s an annual three-day music festival outside in Austin’s Zilker Park. This festival attracts over 65,000 people each day. With more than 130 bands on 8 stages playing throughout the weekend I couldn’t help but think about our last video blog which discussed how to be Heard Above the Noise. The sounds on Sunday were a blend of music ranging from hip-hop, reggae, rock, folk, indie, Americana, and bluegrass and everyone there was trying to be heard above all the musical “noise”. As my head started spinning with the great example this festival was for this topic I just had to put on my Marketing Professional hat even though I was there to enjoy the bands on my day off and see just how all the advertisers there were getting heard.

The first stop on my marketing inquisition was, of course, the bands themselves. They were given the opportunity to be heard live by an enormous audience of music fans each day during the festival. What a great opportunity to advertise their music to their perfect target audience of music fans!

In the days and weeks leading up to the event itself, the event promoters did a great job of getting media coverage and there were a number of billboards by Budweiser tying the event into their advertising. However, at the event itself, it was an interesting blend of a variety of advertisements that were being used to be “heard”. These ranged from the very casual lawn signs, wind kites and banners to elaborate stage sponsorships by companies like Budweiser and Zync-American Express. The local metro had given themselves a large presence with banners all along the bus lines and by providing “free” bus shuttle service to parking lots. And, Red Bull used umbrellas to literally rise above the sea of people, getting themselves “ABOVE” the noise. I also saw a sign encouraging you to text to “X” company to win highly sought after tickets for next year’s music festival which was a unique way of attracting attention to their company.

Budweiser was a stage sponsor which gave them a great deal of visibility; however, they also managed to have a community message tied to their communications. They chose to focus on recycling and they had a “cool” way of getting the message out: A wooden fan with a Budweiser advertisement on one side and a recycling message on the other side. Becoming involved in local causes like recycling will get your message heard by more people because it speaks to those involved in your cause and those who are looking at your product or service.

Think about the events and causes that are happening in your community – how can you make your company heard above the noise of each of those and become involved and visible on a local level? What creative ideas have you seen or done at large community events and festivals? We would love to hear from you!

Or, if you need help coming up with some creative ways to be Heard Above the Noise, then the BrightBlue Marketing team would love to help you!