Fyre Festival Campaign

Maria Ruiz
Image source: https://medium.com/@savissavvy/dont-blame-the-bahamas-for-fyre-festival-18251851c9a8
Issue
● Billy McFarland, CEO and Founder of Fyre Media
○ Hired Jerry Media to manage social media accounts and coordinate influencer marketing
component
● December 12, 2016- Main influencer campaign started on Instagram
○ 63 influencers shared blank, orange posts with #FyreFestival hashtag
○ Failed to disclose sponsored content
○ Kendall Jenner, Hailey Baldwin, Bella Hadid and more
○ 300 million impressions in one day
● March 7, 2017- Fyre Festival announces general admission tickets sold out
○ 5,000 tickets sold
Promotional Posts

Image source: https://www.bbc.com/news/46945662

Promotional Video
Fyre Festival Annoucement

Image souce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz5kY3RsmKo

Audience
● Target audience: Young, rich millennials
○ “Coachella crowd” or “Trust-fund babies”
○ Disposable incomes
● “FOMO”- Fear of missing out
○ The need to be included in an event that was culturally relevant

Image source: https://guestofaguest.com/los-angeles/coachella/the-hottest-girl-gangs-

at-coachella-2018
Research
● Ideal Influencers:
○ Needed to have a large following
○ Had to generate engagement, conversation and set cultural trends
● Orange color:
○ Associated with happiness, sunshine, the tropics, attraction and stimulation
○ Increases oxygen supply to the brain
○ Produces an invigorating effect
○ Stimulates mental activity
○ Highly accepted by young people
■ Perfect choice of color for ads and target audience
○ Bright color captured the attention of young people as they scrolled through Instagram
Objectives
● Promote the festival
● Create a hype
● Generate ticket sales
○ Sell out
● Make it the can’t miss festival of the year

Image source: https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/why-buying-

concert-tickets-is-so-frustrating.html/2/
Tactics
● Social Media
○ Instagram
■ 90 percent of users are under 35
■ Perfect to reach their target audience
○ Paid influencers to promote the event on their accounts
● Positioning
○ Distinguished themselves from other music festivals
■ Promo videos depicted it as a VIP experience with supermodels on a private island
in the Bahamas
 Evaluation
● Marketing strategy captured attention of millennials through use of Instagram influencers
● Promoters’ knowledge of target audience was outstanding
○ Convinced them to buy tickets
● Campaign generated hype and created great buzz
● Campaign was a success
○ Festival sold out

Image source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4457734/Fyre-Festival-

partner-says-time-different.html
Analysis
● Outcomes:
○ Best outcomes
■ Reached their goal of selling out the festival
■ Marketing strategy pulled in millennials by choosing ideal social media platform to
target them
○ Worst outcomes
■ Influencers failed to disclose sponsored content
■ Used majority of budget to pay influencers to promote the festival
■ Failed to make room in budget for performers, staff and infrastructure
■ Advertisements were deceiving
● Festival turned into a catastrophe
Analysis
● Overlooked audience
○ None
○ Successfully captured the attention of their intended audience
○ Kept them in mind throughout the entire campaign
● Why they used the type of research they did
○ Researched the right influencers to promote the event
■ Had to invest money into the right influencers to see a ROI
○ Researched the ideal color to implement into their campaign
■ Had to get the attention of their target audience
● Where the objectives appropriate to the situation?
○ Yes
○ First time that festival would be held
○ Needed to have their brand known around the world
○ Created a hype
Analysis
● Communication Theory
○ Framing Theory
■ Supermodels in promo videos and posts had the power to influence the target
audience
■ Campaign presented the festival as lavish and exclusive making it the can’t-miss
event of the year
○ Key Takeaways
■ Using social media can successfully capture the attention of an intended target
audience
■ Social media influencers undeniably have the power to influence their followers
Citations
-“5 Marketing Truths We Learned From Fyre Festival.” Medium, Triggers Media, 13 Feb. 2019, medium.com/@triggersmedia/5-marketing-truths-we-learned-

from-fyre-festival-ce73ce276c1a.

-“Color Wheel Pro - See Color Theory in Action.” Color Wheel Pro: Color Meaning, www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html.

-Furst, Jenner, and Julia Nason. “Fyre Fraud.” Hulu, 14 Jan. 2019, www.hulu.com/movie/fyre-fraud-e47078f3-1c0e-49a8-9da9-c571a7a20fec.

-“Fyre Festival Influencer Marketing: What Marketers Should Know.” Mediakix, 7 Feb. 2019, mediakix.com/2019/02/fyre-festival-influencer-

marketing/#gs.3l08er.

-“Instagram Behavior for Teens Different Than Adults.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 16 June 2015, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150616155028.htm.

-Hodge, Ann. “The Fyre Festival Fiasco: Marketing Mistakes to Avoid.” Instapage, 19 Sept. 2018, instapage.com/blog/learning-from-marketing-mistakes.

-“The Power of Social Media Influencers: Cultural Trendsetters.” Mediakix, 9 Nov. 2018, mediakix.com/2018/11/power-of-social-media-influencers-

trendsetters/#gs.3l0u6i.

-Vorbrich, Madison, and Vorbrich. “Fyre Festival: The Most Successful Social Media Marketing Campaign for a Failed Music Festival, Ever.” SEO, PPC Digital

Marketing Agency & Specialists in Fort Lauderdale, FL, 29 Jan. 2019, tandem-interactive.com/fyre-festival-social-media-marketing/.
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