Coming soon, live updates from Newport Folk Festival!

Jansport - Way to bring it full circle!

I thought Jansport did an awesome job at Broo last year. But their effort this year was even better. They said they'd return in 2010 with the custom bags from the community decorated canvas last year, and they did.

Per their press release "This year, JanSport's Reclaimed Canvas will make another appearance at Bonnaroo 2010 from June 10-13 at Planet Roo. In addition, last year's 110 exclusive upcycled rucksacks and totes will be sold on-site for 40 each at the JanSport® tent, located in the Planet Roo section of the festival. All proceeds will go to JanSport's philanthropic partner, Big City Mountaineers, one of the largest non-profits in the country devoted to working exclusively with under-resourced teens by using the outdoors as a transformational element in their lives. Learn more at www.bigcitymountaineers.org."

Ben and Jerry do the Broo

Launching a new flavor, no less. Bonnaroo Buzz.

Odwalla Fresh Lounge Experience

Odwalla had a lower key presence at the Roo last year. They sponsored (along with several other brands) the trash and recycling center.

This year, they had a booth with samples and a crazy upside down ceiling look.

Ford Fiesta Garage

OK, I think this is awesome. The Ford Fiesta Movement has been going on for a few months already, but they did a cool adaptation for the Bonnaroo crowd.

The tent had a cool tech tools that help show the flexibility of the Fiesta - but more importantly, they helped consumers connect with the brand by showing them how relevant American car brands had become.

Add to that, a unique t shit making experience, and 'cool' underground and up and coming artists, and Ford did a damn good job of offering something of value to Broo attendees.

A festival go-ers take on the Ford Fiesta Tent.

No matter what a brand does, there will always be haters. But even this guy relents that they had AC and phone charging. Done and Done.

"It was only a 30 second walk to get into Ford’s Fiesta Garage, which was designed after the stereotypical basement in which American suburban high schoolers smoked weed and talked about music with their friends from the 1960s to the 1980s. As anachronistic top 40 music (Rihanna) played in the background, I saw a bike hanging up on a wall, a bunch of unrelated and beat-up chairs organized around a ratty couch, one odd rug in a corner, some small, old fake-mahogany TVs, old records, an empty guitar case, and dozens of posters. The central couch and surrounding chairs were all oriented towards a central stage, where the likes of Youtube phenomenon Julia Nunes would play a few times a day. There were also two computers and a consistently long line to get a free Ford Fiesta tee shirt. Most importantly, there was a cell phone charging station and decent air conditioning."

Wheat Thins?

"Kraft Foods/Nabisco Wheat Thins is employing the upcoming Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival as a high-visibility platform for its ongoing "The Crunch is Calling" marketing message.

The cracker brand's presence at this year's festival -- held each June in Manchester, Tenn. -- will include a centrally located "Crunch Den" where attendees can relax, sample Wheat Thins snacks and use a digital kiosk to send friends/family video content, as well as both an advance sweepstakes and on-site opportunities to win."

Jim Low, director of wheat snack crackers for Kraft Foods says that artistic/cultural diversity meshes very well with Wheat Thins' emphasis on the "rich" sensory experience of the crackers, he explains."

I'm calling Bullshit on this. I like that big brands are starting to leverage Festivals, but this is a stretch, no matter how the cracker crumbles.

Although Wheat Thins may be a good snack for festival goers, to say the cracker's brand DNA meshes with Festival DNA isn't true.

Give samples away. Have a fun air conditioned space for people to chill. But don't talk to us like we're stupid.

A picture is worth a shit ton of words...

Randoms...

How much did they pay?

Starting Saturday morning, this Champs rep was handing out these 15% off cards, hung on a lanyard (yea, I said lanyard....wanna make something of it?) and looked a lot like access passes to some better party (media, back stage, VIP, etc.)

For the first few hours, they caught people's attention. "What is that? Did you see that guys pass?" Then, the hype wore off and they littered the grounds.

So, my question is - how much do you think Champs paid to be able to hand these out? Please leave a comment if you have an educated opinion on it.

Toyota rules Rothbury

I'm going to take a few minutes to praise Toyota. I think some of their success was good planning and some was a fluke. But either way, congrats to them for a good, useful showing at Rothbury.
They had a hybrid test drive station. As I shared from the field, they reserved the right to administer a Breathalyzer. Smart, but I'm not sure that would catch all the intoxicants some people were using.

They also had bandannas and towels. Here's the part they probably didn't plan. It was dusty and dry in the common areas at Rothbury, so people used the branded cloths to cover their mouths and eyes.

Here's where Toyota nailed it. They had commemorative posters. Started in Austin at sxsw, Billy Bishop and team printed limited run posters on the street and shared them with eager fans as the paint dried.
The jam scene in particular has a long history of hand bill and poster adoration, so this limited edition, uber relevant Rothbury poster- with super subtle, almost unnoticeable branding (we appreciate this Toyota), was a huge hit.

They printed 3,000 posters for for the audience of over 45,000. They were released in quantities of a few hundred every few hours throughout the weekend. A line always persisted, and I saw people making a b line for their cars after they had their prized keepsake.

The posters are being sold on ebay....

Toyota had great useful swag like bandannas and towels and the poster was a relevant and highly sought after token that will be displayed proudly by many of it's owners for years to come.