How to Work the Festival Circuit, From Choonimals

Another helpful post in our series of tips from the experts, Chad with Choonimals talks us through the best way to use festivals to promote and market your brand, and have a little fun while you’re at it.

Since Choonimals was founded in late 2007, we joined the festival circuit in hopes of building the brand by exposing ourselves to the thousands in attendance. As former attendees of iconic festivals, such as the Vans Warped Tour and the Bamboozle Festival, we used our past experiences, knowledge, and creativity to get the most out of each festival. After nearly 5 years of taking Choonimals Clothing Company on the road, we came up with some quick tips and tricks that helped separate us from other vendors and continues to grow our brand.

Be noticed

Having a unique, eye catching display is invaluable. It might be the first time anyone has ever heard of or seen your company, and it can be the difference between a customer and someone who walks away or to another booth.

Interact with fans

Create an experience that they’ll never forget, and you might turn them into a lifelong customer.

Get ready to network

From the booth next to you, to bands you might want to work with, to the festival staff - large festivals provide more opportunities to directly connect with others. Make friends with everyone!

Content content content

Whether it’s video (Youtube), pictures (Flickr), tweets, Pinterest, Vimeo, or tags on Facebook, creating content that fans can refer to after the festival has ended keeps them interested and will continue to drive traffic to your sites and social networks.

You’re there to work

It’s hard to not want to run around and watch your favorite bands, or party given the atmosphere, but if you want to be successful, plan on sitting in your booth from set up to tear down. We recommend a comfy chair and a lot of water.

As we gear up for this year’s festival season, we can’t help but think back to our first festival and how different it might have been knowing what we know now. That being said, we hope these tips can help some of you not make the mistakes we did. And don’t forget to stop by the Choonimals booth this summer at The Bamboozle Festival or on The Vans Warped Tour!