In this article:
- Experiential marketing is returning as pandemic restrictions ease after two years.
- Lay’s will be the first food brand to have an experiential marketing activation at Coachella.
- Lay’s will have an activation of “Potatodomes” at Coachella this year.
Lay’s has booked tickets to Coachella.
Coachella is returning to Indio, California for the first time since the pandemic began in 2020. The music festival will take place over two weekends, April 15-17 and April 22-24, 2022, and will include headliners like Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, and Swedish House Mafia x The Weeknd. To celebrate the festival’s return, potato chip maker Lay’s is planning a special activation which will allow festival goers to experience a four-course tasting meal.
The Coachella campaign will feature installations the chip manufacturer is calling “Potatodomes.” In those domes, Lay’s will reportedly serve customers the freshest chips the company has ever made, cooked 24 hours in advance. Lay’s is working with farmers on the West Coast to bring those chips to the table.
Become the best CRMer you can:
CRM Hack: Monitoring the User’s Heartbeat
What Does It Mean to Treat a Customer’s Email With Respect?
To Lock or Not to Lock Customers (into CRM Journeys)
What the Efforts to Promote Responsible Gaming Look Like Form the Inside
The Potatodomes at Coachella will also have a feature called “Speakeasy Spuds,” where people can experience hip-hop, electronic, and pop music. In the Lay’s Crunch Studio, attendees will be able to deejay hip-hop music, while the Lay’s Golden Glow will have electronic music and lights. The Lay’s Flavor Pop will highlight pop music and the Lay’s flavor options.
Lay’s is also using its place at Coachella to promote its new 100% commercially compostable potato chip bags to the typically young crowd at the festival. The music festival will be the first place people will be able to experience the compostable packaging. Lay’s is aiming to make all of its packaging compostable, recyclable, biodegradable, or reusable by the year 2025.
The pandemic has dampened the demand for experiential marketing. But the return of big events like Coachella has sparked a new interest in immersive marketing experiences, like the Lay’s Potatodomes. Lay’s will “be the first food brand to ever have an experiential presence at Coachella,” according to Frito-Lay’s North American marketing director Melissa Miranda.
Frito-Lay isn’t the only brand that will have a presence at this year’s Coachella festival. Adidas, Absolut, American Express, BMW, Coca-Cola, Electrolit, Fortnite, H&M, Heineken, HP, Postmates, and YouTube are among the sponsors of this year’s festival.