I recently came across another great example of a brand activating a sponsorship effectively, hot on the heels of my earlier post on the No Lays. No Game campaign. The example is Vodafone’s activation of their role as official connectivity partner of the Glastonbury Festival. Vodafone’s approach has tapped into a passion point in a way that brings to life their brand and drives usage, as I explore below.
1. Tapping into a passion point
Vodafone’s partnership with Glastonbury taps into the passion point of music, which is highly relevant to its core target of younger consumers. It goes one step further by focusing on a specific angle, in this case festival going. Festivals have the advantage for Vodafone of being a type of musical experience where connectivity is important. This is in terms of staying in touch with friends on site and sharing photos and videos.
2. Creating real utility – on site
Vodafone’s partnership with Glastonbury is more than just a sponsorship. Rather, it’s about integrating the brand into the very fabric of the festival.
Firstly and most importantly, Vodafone’s network capacity was boosted to the highest level ever, with ten temporary masts placed around Worthy Farm. This ensured that existing and new customers (see eSIM trial later) had a great experience using the network. This was a smart move by the brands given the usage levels of data hungry festival-goers: 225 terabytes of data was consumed, 33% more than in 2023!
Another good example of brand integration was the Vodafone Connect & Charge tent. This provided festivalgoers with free phone charging and Wi-Fi, ensuring they staedy connected and powered up throughout the event. This not only enhances the festival experience but also positions Vodafone as a crucial enabler of connectivity and convenience.
3. Creating real utility – Festival App
The Vodafone x Glastonbury App is a great way of demonstrating Vodafone’s ability to help people connect to the things they care about. The app was downloaded by 226,215 people, with one-in-ten people using it to watch from home. I first came across the app when I overheard a client in a workshop raving about it, suggesting the it might have been so good as to create positive word of mouth. The app was packed full of features that create real utility for users and enhance the festival experience:
- Spotify partnership: by linking their Spotify accounts, fans receive personalised artist recommendations for the festival, based on their listening habits. This means attendees can easily discover new acts or ensure they don’t miss their favorite performers
- Customisable Line-ups: helps users manage schedule clashes by highlighting overlapping performances of their favorited artists
- Shareable Line-Ups: enables fans to see and share who they are planning to watch, making coordination with friends effortless
- Map Pinning: allows users to set waypoints to find their tent, car, or meeting points with friends
- Map filtering: makes it easy to locate favorite food options or buy official festival gear, by filtering the map for food stalls and merchandise stands
4. Driving trial
Vodafone used the Gladstonbury partnership to also drive penetration, through their eSIM network trial. Non-Vodafone users were able to get a free trial of Vodafone’s network. By simply scanning a QR code at the Vodafone Connect & Charge stand or through the app, users were easily able to get 50GB of data, 500 minutes, and 500 texts for seven days. This initiative is a clever way to showcase the reliability and strength of Vodafone’s network, inviting festival-goers to experience it firsthand. Over 15,000 people tried out this offer according to the company.
5. Bringing the Vodafone Brand to Life
The Vodafone brand positioning is about “playing a crucial role in connecting the nation to the people and things it loves”, summed up with the creative platform of ‘The Nation’s Network’. The Vodafone partnership works well to bring to life this positioning. “Over the past 40 years, we have built a network that the nation has come to rely on to keep them connected to the people, businesses and places they care about”, explains Maria Koutsoudakis, Vodafone UK’s Brand Director. “We have built a portfolio of strategic partnerships with some of the most iconic events including Glastonbury, helping the nation connect to these national treasures.”
6. Driving fresh consistency
A final point to note is that Vodafone is committed to a multi-year festival partnership with Glastonbury as Official Connectivity Partner, according to the company’s website. This long term partnership will allow the brand to create ‘fresh consistency’ over time, building distinctive memory structure related to the sponsorship. This is more effective than chopping and changing marketing activity every year, as can be the case with marketing planning.
In conclusion, Vodafone’s partnership with Glastonbury is a great example of going way beyond simply slapping the brand’s logo onto the event and inviting some key customers. Rather, the brand has tapped into a passion point and offered practical solutions and engaging experiences to festivalgoers, showcasing the strength of its network and driving trial.
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