Top Brand Activations Of Coachella 2022

News & Views

  • Tamara Olori
  • 14 March 2023
  • 5 Min Read

Following two years of COVID-related cancellations, the legendary Coachella music festival made the ultimate comeback last month in sunny California.

From major headliners like Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, and Swedish House Mafia to a star-studded crowd packed full of celebrities and influencers, the event is one of America’s biggest and most profitable festivals, welcoming over 200,000 guests.

But Coachella isn’t just Coachella, it’s also a playground for other mini festivals and parties – one example being Revolve. Hosted by the popular LA-based clothing brand, Revolve festival is one of the most exclusive events for influencers and celebrities. Strictly invite-only, social media revealed the presence of popular A-listers such as Post Malone, Kendall Jenner and Noah Beck this year.

As such, it’s no surprise that brands across the world continue to want to get involved in the action through increasingly elaborate brand activations, pop-ups, and parties both on and off festival grounds, and Elevate was thrilled to help bring some of these to life.

Spotify’s K-Pop café 

As the exclusive streaming partner of the event, Spotify launched an interactive Blend-themed smoothie bar to help bring to life the popular fashion, beauty, food and music of Korean culture.

Two of Elevate’s brand ambassadors were on hand to hand out various Korean-style beverages and ice-creams to attendees looking for some much-needed respite from the intense Californian heat.

The perfect partnership: Hawkers x Revolve 

Renowned for its show-stopping festival fashion and impressive social media presence, Revolve is a brand that’s loved by models, celebrities and influencers across the world.

To celebrate their new partnership, Revolve invited Hawkers sunglasses to be the official eyewear partner for the event. With the help of three Elevate ambassadors, Hawkers handed out over ten thousand pairs of sunglasses to festival attendees, securing a powerful brand presence across some of the most high-profile Instagram accounts.

Venmo’s high-flying carnival ride

American mobile payment service Venmo sponsored a striking vintage-style pink carnival swing at the event, offering attendees a 360° view of the festivities and the perfect Instagram snap.

As part of the brand activation, Elevate ambassadors were on hand to help Venmo raise over 5k for Girls Inc, a charity that provides hundreds of young women with life-changing support through its education enrichment program.

Zip’s exclusive lounge experience

Buy now and pay later service Zip Pay provided festival attendees with a much-needed lounge area to relax and unwind from the celebrations.

A striking purple wisteria canopy created a shaded area for sitting and socialising, while Elevate brand ambassadors were on hand to support bar staff with serving ice-cold margaritas.

More brand activations that rocked

We loved supporting brands at Revolve festival, and we also wanted to shine the spotlight on some of the other fantastic activations that took place at the main event. From entering the metaverse to elaborate NFT launches, here are our favourites.

Absolut Vodka mixes virtual and reality

Absolut has been the official vodka of Coachella for 10 years in a row, and this year it decided to delve into the virtual metaverse.

Accessible to fans across the globe, Absolut.Land provided a colourful virtual world that allowed them to explore the space and the brand’s products through avatars, including a garden, Pride tunnel, museum, dance floor and virtual mosh pit. Meanwhile, festival attendees on-site could visit a bar-based activation that mirrored the central one in the metaverse.

American Express lounge

American Express also hosted a lounge this year that gave attendees a chance to take part in various activities, including acupressure ear seeing, astrology readings, and a crystal bar, while also enjoying snacks and drinks.

Within the lounge itself was an artist pop-up shop that gave card members exclusive access to limited-edition festival merchandise from performers like Billie Eilish and Conan Gray.

The return of Neon Carnival

One of the biggest and most popular events at Coachella is Brent Bolthouse’s Neon Carnival, hosted by Levi’s and Tequila Don Julio.

The event includes various carnival-style games, rides, and music from world-famous DJs. Guests also received their own branded Don Julio bandana to protect themselves from the desert wind.

Ray-Ban Stories 

Another brand embracing virtual technology this year was Ray-Ban. For its Coachella activation, the prominent eyewear brand showcased its limited-edition collection of smart glasses, created in collaboration with Meta.

Attendees were invited to put on a pair of glasses and immerse themselves in a multi-sensory experience that would make them feel like celebrities. The activation also included an after-party lounge, a photo op, and a reactive tunnel.

HP’s Antarctic Dome

HP brought back its Antarctic Dome to the festival this year, a 360-degree audio visual experience within a giant projection dome. Celebrating digital artistry, attendees could experience a short immersive film that showcased powerful graphics and processing. The brand also launched its first NFT into space.

Thinking about how you can get involved in the action? We’re a people-powered agency that recruits, trains, and deploys premium event staff worldwide with a high focus on brand experience, upselling and capturing data. We would love to take you through our capabilities and share our top-line thoughts on your immediate challenges. Please contact your local Elevate office to see how we can take your festival campaign to the next level.