Coachella 2024: Top 3 Influencer Marketing Activations We Love

Some may say Coachella is like the Olympics for those in the influencer marketing industry — with many creators and brands looking to make a splash to kick off festival season. 

With Coachella Weekend 1 in the books, let’s take a look at some of the top influencer activations we’re seeing this year and discuss what they’re doing right. Take inspiration from Revolve, Poppi, and Google to launch your own memorable influencer marketing campaign this festival season and beyond. 

Revolve

The Campaign

It wouldn’t be Coachella without Revolve Festival — though the two events have never been officially affiliated. 

As a pioneer in the influencer marketing space, fashion retailer Revolve developed Revolve Festival back in 2015, inviting select influencers to enjoy its curated experiences while sporting Revolve’s trendy brands, in exchange for branded content and organic social media exposure. Over the years, Revolve Festival has taken on a life of its own, complete with carnival rides across a sprawling venue and exclusive concerts from A-list artists. 

Cutting its guest count to 1,200 this year, down from 5,000 at its peak, this year’s Revolve Festival was scaled down to be a more intimate event — but still jam-packed with fun activations for influencers to enjoy. Activations included musical performances from artists like T-Pain and Ludacris, delicious food trucks, and fun pop-ups from brand partners like Kendall Jenner’s 818 tequila, Haily Beiber’s beauty brand Rhode, and sunglass brand Quay Australia.

These Instagrammable activations provided the perfect backdrop for influencers to create content before, during, and after Revolve Festival. And by inviting influencers with devoted audiences, Revolve Festival generated millions of social media engagements and built a huge buzz online — with viewers commenting things like, “This outfit is amazing!” and “I have never felt so much FOMO in my life.”

The Takeaway

Here’s what we love about Revolve’s annual Coachella campaign, and what you can learn from Revolve Fest. 

• Invest in your community. Community building is what has allowed Revolve to become much more than just an online retailer. The brand not only sends influencers free products, but also provides them with special access to invite-only events like Revolve Festival and its extravagant influencer trips. And while the average customer is not necessarily going to snag an invite to Revolve’s exclusive events, the brand still makes an effort to make their customers feel like they’re part of an exclusive community. The UGC hashtag, #RevolveMe, encourages Revolve customers to create and share their own content in Revolve clothing. To replicate this strategy, lean into community-building initiatives, from adding your most valuable community members to your brand’s Instagram Close Friends list, to hosting cool in-person events and pop-ups. 

• Provide value, not just stuff. 78% of consumers prefer experiences over products. When it comes to influencer activations, don’t just give stuff away — make sure you’re actually delivering value in different ways, whether it’s by providing entertainment, educational resources, or festival necessities. By doing so, you can forge deeper emotional connections and create lasting memories with your creator partners, fostering brand loyalty far beyond the allure of tangible goods. This is key to not only differentiating your brand, but also catalyzing word-of-mouth marketing, amplifying brand reach and impact. 

Poppi

The Campaign

Soda brand Poppi exclusively partnered with TikTok’s “It Girl,” Alix Earle (6.6M followers) for Coachella Weekend 1, which also coincided with the launch of its latest lemon-lime flavored soda. 

Calling it “CoachEARLEa,” Poppi housed Alix in a mansion decked out in Poppi’s latest lemon-lime branding and merch. Alix was free to bring her closest group of friends (who also have significant social media followings), including makeup artist Patrick Ta (1.7M TikTok followers), sister Ashtin Earle (439K TikTok followers), and best friend Kristin Konefal (331K TikTok followers), to stay at the Poppi house.

Needless to say, Poppi was featured prominently in the background of each of their photos and videos.

In a standard sponsorship, Poppi most likely would’ve had to pay Alix hundreds of thousands of dollars alone for the amount of content she created over Coachella weekend. But by providing Alix and her friends with a hyper-personalized brand experience, Poppi was able to reap the benefits of increased awareness and organic branded content throughout the weekend. Not to mention, this experience likely boosted Alix’s (and her followers’) affinity for Poppi, paving the way for a long-term relationship with the popular content creator. 

The Takeaway

Here’s what we love about Poppi’s partnership with Alix Earle, and what you can take away from it. 

• Give influencers creative freedom. By the looks of Alix’s TikTok feed, she was able to create her Coachella content with no strict guidelines from Poppi. While you should communicate your content expectations and provide some inspiration, having creative freedom is the key to influencer marketing success today. So, give creators more autonomy in their content creation process — it’s the only way they’ll produce branded content that truly resonates with their audience and still feels aligned with the rest of their feed. 

• Work with groups of influencers who are associated with one another. Research suggests that consumers need to see a brand at least 7 times before making a purchase. The good news is that this can easily be achieved through influencers. Most influencers have friends in the same profession, and audiences frequently follow everyone in the friend group. By taking these influencer friend groups on brand trips and fun events, you can make multiple touchpoints with the same audiences and encourage them to check out your brand — just as Poppi did with Alix Earle and her group of influencer friends. 

• Lean into lo-fi content. Consumers today want to see content that is entertaining, educational, and most of all, authentic. That’s why Alix’s casual day-in-the-life vlogs and #GRWM (Get Ready With Me) videos over the weekend racked up millions of views and engagements, seamlessly giving Poppi organic exposure as well. 

Google Pixel

The Campaign 

Coachella is no longer just about music and art. With the rise of social media, Coachella attendees each year are eager to document not only their favorite performances, but also their festival-ready outfits, iridescent makeup, delicious (albeit overpriced) food, and more. To capitalize on this social media frenzy, Google Pixel partnered with several mid-tier and macro-influencers to showcase how to use the Google Pixel 8 Pro to capture the perfect content during Coachella weekend. 

Complete with branded hashtags like #TeamPixel and #GiftFromGoogle, Google’s influencer partners posted a series of real-time images and videos throughout the weekend — with their audiences commenting things like, “Okay the quality is actually really good” and “This camera quality! Undefeated. Look at you making converts out of all of us!”

According to one of Google Pixel’s creator partners, Francis Dominic, the brand provided them with a beautiful resort stay, VIP wristbands and shuttle passes to the festival, as well as payment, in exchange for their Coachella content. 

The Takeaway

Here’s what we love most about Google Pixel’s Coachella campaign, and what you can take away from it. 

• If you have the budget, work with macro-creators. While nano and micro-influencers have high engagement and lower rates, macro-influencers provide wider reach and high exposure. Plus, because these larger influencers are often more experienced content creators, they can produce high-quality, high-converting branded content that you can leverage across all of your branded channels. 

• Compensate influencers fairly. Whether it’s their full-time job or a side hustle, influencers spend a lot of time engaging and building relationships with their audience — relationships that your brand benefits from in terms of brand awareness and sales. So, make sure you’re providing fair incentives for creators to work with your brand. Remember, influencer marketing is a relationship game. Creators will be more inclined to go above and beyond for your brand if you treat them well — and they’ll also be more likely to partner with you again in the future. 

Leverage creators this festival season

As we reflect on Coachella 2024, it's evident that successful influencer activations hinge on authenticity, creativity, and community engagement. From Revolve's extravagant Revolve Festival to Poppi's exclusive partnership with Alix Earle, each campaign offers valuable insights for marketers seeking to make a splash in the digital landscape. The common thread among these activations is the emphasis on building genuine connections, providing value beyond products, and empowering creators with creative freedom. As you look ahead to future campaigns, draw inspiration from these exemplary brands to build meaningful relationships, captivate audiences, and drive impact for your business.

Learn how the world’s leading brands are leveraging creators to grow their business in our guide, The Secret to Efficient Growth. 

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