Is the utilisation of brand advertising in live music events selling out and therefore compromising customer satisfaction?

Abstract

This is a conceptual paper discussing the use of advertising communications at live music events. The paper encompasses two key viewpoints. Firstly, a number of publications have taken a negative stance towards advertising at music festivals, stating that even the notion of marketing at this type of event hints at compromising its artistic principles, and suggests that promoters primary concern is profit. They feel that this is at the expense of creating a USP, which differentiates their event from others in what is becoming a saturated market. However, it is important to note that various academia suggest that consumers should be able to play a key part in the advertising and marketing communications process for these events. Key concepts alluded to in the literature include the creation of positive flow between the consumer and the promoter/sponsor. Furthermore, the use of experiential marketing whereby the values of the sponsored brand correlates with the experience of the attendee could provide another solution to the research problem. On the other hand, there is also evidence that special events and sponsorship campaigns (e.g. The Strongbow Cider House) are tailoring their communications towards the needs of consumers. A knowledge of the motivations behind attendees deciding to visit music festivals, enables the promoter to modify web-based communications, in order to positively enhance the overall consumer experience.

Key Words: Attitudes, satisfaction, decision-making, experience, artistic principles, motives.