Marketing Lessons from the Newport Folk Festival
Every July for the past eight years I’ve taken a pilgrimage to Fort Adams for the Newport Folk Festival. For the uninitiated, NPFF is a three-day music festival located in Newport, Rhode Island, which gained infamy in 1965 as the place where Bob Dylan “went electric” for the first time. Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to bear witness to a slew of similarly iconic performances, from surprise guest Dolly Parton accompanying The Highwomen in 2019 to Roger Waters unexpectedly joining the end of John Prine’s 2017 set and most recently, the triumphant return of Joni Mitchell.
But amazing, career-defining performances aren’t the only thing you’ll find at the Fort. NPFF works hard to juxtapose its storied history with progressive activism and innovation. For instance, following the 2016 presidential election, the festival installed phone booths for concert-goers to call their elected officials. This year, indie band Illiterate Light partnered with Rock the Bike to bring an environmentally conscious stage — powered by attendees riding stationary bicycles — to the festival.
NPFF’s participating vendors and organizations are equally committed to advancing this commitment to ethical innovation — which naturally extends to their marketing efforts. As a result, NPFF is one of the best places around to find effective marketing strategies in the wild. In the name of leading by example, let’s take a closer look at some of the campaigns that impressed me most this year.
The power of well-positioned product marketing
Just because QCC isn’t in the business of product marketing, doesn't mean I can’t appreciate when it’s done right! And nobody at this year’s festival did product marketing better than sparkling water brand, Nixie. In addition to blessing dehydrated concert-goers with free (!!!) seltzers all weekend, the Nixie crew were handing out colorful coozies and fun stickers. Not only does this generous approach capitalize on humanity’s inherent love of free swag, it also gives people the chance to try — and appreciate — the product in question. After relying on crispy cold Nixies to regulate my body temperature during the sweltering weekend, the brand has certainly earned my trust and loyalty.
Content marketing in the wild
As you might imagine, I was even more excited to discover the variety of effective content marketing campaigns on display at this year’s festival. With attention primarily focused on the music, it can be difficult for brands to cut through the noise — but several organizations provided enough interest and value to draw a near-constant stream of visitors to their booths.
Music publication Relix offered attendees a classic content marketing principle — give me your email, I give you exclusive content — but with their own brand-aligned spin. If you signed up to the Relix mailing list while attending NPFF, you received a mix tape selected for you by the music aficionados manning the booth.
Voting registration organization Head Count is always on-hand at the NPFF. Last year, if you registered to vote or signed a petition, you received a free “Save the Vote” pin. This year, Head Count enticed attendees to check their voter status with free pieces of Tony's Chocolonely. Saving democracy, one sweet treat at a time!
Marketing an experience
I was too busy listening to the music and eating my body weight in Matunuk oysters to take pictures of the countless other vendors deploying similar marketing techniques at this year’s fest, but whether they were promoting mental healthcare or the U.S. Postal Service, the common denominator was the power of an authentic, engaging experience. Collecting an email doesn’t have to be boring! Spreading the word about your seltzer doesn’t have to be a hard sell! With a little creativity, and a lot of passion, it’s possible to promote your offerings in a way that will naturally attract interest. This certainly isn’t anything new — especially when it comes to effective content marketing — but it was a nice reminder of the power of fun.
