I recently indulged in the Netflix documentary about the rise and now infamous fall of the Fyre Festival and was fascinated to watch as this comedy of errors unfolded from a marketing standpoint. Here are a few points that came to mind while watching the Fyre Festival fiasco.
First, in case you missed it, a brief synopsis of the Fyre Festival debacle of 2017. Fyre Festival was the brain child of entrepreneur Billy McFarland and Ja Rule. In efforts to raise awareness of the Fyre music booking app, they decided to host a luxury music festival in The Bahamas that aimed to rival the likes of Coachella, targeting the most affluent millennials. Fast forward, this epic music festival turned into an epic disaster after becoming "The Greatest Party That Never Happened."
Spoiler alert: Billy McFarland is facing jail time for fraud.
Let's dive into a few observations I made as a marketer while watching:
1. Social media
The role of social media in both the rise and fall of Fyre Festival has been discussed excessively since. Many blame the celebrity influencers for rapidly building awareness of the now failed festival, arguing these influencers are just as culpable as McFarland for failing to do due diligence and endorsing an event they knew nothing about. It was also done in what some consider a less than transparent manner, that is, the content appeared in their social media channels as organic rather than disclosing to their fans and followers that it was a paid advertisement.
Genius or insanity?
Given how quickly the campaign gained traction, at first glance it seems like a spectacular example of influencer marketing done right, however, like many other aspects of this event, things are not always as they seem. I am skeptical that the use of influencer marketing was a carefully thought out strategy. To me it seemed more a wild manifestation of the glamorous lifestyle McFarland was so desperately trying to fit into.
"Fyre Fest was a spectacular failure long before it was publicly known as a spectacular failure. That’s because among the many things the festival’s organisers didn’t put much thought into was how they’d use influencer marketing." - Influencer Marketing Hub
Consider the outrageous amount of money spent on promoting the event and how they failed to maintain a sustainable cash flow throughout planning to successfully execute the image they promised. In McFarland's obsession with the glitz and glam of it all, he failed to truly understand his consumer targeting and how to achieve the desired results using a cost-effective strategy. It is possible they could have spent a fraction of the funds invested in that initial campaign with the models and still made the impact necessary to sell out tickets. From a business standpoint, the campaign was a poor return on investment.
"That response could have been achieved at a fraction of the cost, using a pool of micro-influencers with greater engagement rates." - Influencer Marketing Hub
Contrary to popular belief, social media marketing is not a panacea. It is a tool like any other and will only be as effective as your marketing strategy. If you have no strategy and no clear vision for how you intend to use social media in your campaign to achieve the results you want, it is likely you will find yourself wasting resources on the wrong audience. There is little point in attracting high traffic to your pages if a significant percentage of said traffic is not your target audience nor are they converting into profitable sales. Be sure you are focusing on the right analytics and stop playing the numbers game, chasing empty targets that will do little in the long-term to increase engagement or sales for your business.
2. Planning
There is a moment in the documentary that stood out to me, when Andy King (an Event Producer and the new definition for going "above and beyond" on the job) points out that to do a proper music festival you should start funding, design, etc. at least 12 months before. He continues by pointing out that the Fyre team had six to eight weeks.
This story brought to mind a common struggle I am all too familiar with and have seen almost everywhere I have worked. I have seen it with clients while I was working in advertising and I have seen it with fellow brand managers (and admittedly myself) from time to time. What is it? Every year there would be a particular holiday or season that marketing has assigned to do intense activities and executions. It happens every year, so they are aware of the relevant lead times to execute said activities. And what happens? Just a couple of weeks before the targeted launch day they are only NOW starting to execute things with month-long lead times. Impossible? During off-season... stressful perhaps, but manageable depending on the team at hand. During a season like Christmas? It is THE busiest time of year depending on where you are and almost everyone is booked to capacity... How did you get here? It happens EVERY year! How did you not plan in advance?
There is a reason why project management is a separate field of study. There is a subtle art to understanding and respecting lead times. It means working back and forth with your launch date and determining when for example things need to go to print, understanding how long it takes you to get final artwork from your graphics team, when you need to book a location, when you need to brief your promotions team, get approvals signed off, etc.
There is also an art to understanding at crunch time how to recognize the "nice-to-haves" versus the "need-to-have". That is, the elements which will make or break your execution versus the elements which would have brought that little extra something had there been more time to prepare.
It is about appreciating how to manage what will be in the best interest of preserving or enhancing your brand image versus the risk of racing a ticking clock to accomplish something that may tarnish its reputation by failing to meet the standard you have set.
Despite the many warnings from members of his team to cut certain aspects to get things to a presentable stage, McFarland insisted on staying the course, pushing his team to find ways to achieve the unattainable. While determination can be an admirable trait in good leaders, in this instance it was arrogant, misguided and an overall poor judgement call. McFarland failed to recognize the ship was sinking, or perhaps if he knew, he failed to act on it. In his delusion, he did nothing to salvage the brand's reputation. Which brings me to my final point...
3. Managing expectations
Don't start a fire you can't quench.
As a marketer it is important to manage your customers' expectations. When you build your brand promise you should take into consideration your operations' capabilities. You must be prepared to fulfill that promise or risk breaking the trust of your team, your customers and other stakeholders. Know the difference between acting with blind faith and taking a calculated risk.
It is better to under promise and exceed those expectations, than to over promise and end up with disappointed or dissatisfied customers when you fail to meet those standards.
Throughout the documentary you hear stories of McFarland ignoring advice about the team's constraints. Issues with the infrastructure they were working with on the island were brought to his attention. He ignored advice regarding the suitability of tents in the Caribbean weather and the fact that they would be a far cry from the comfortable luxury villa accommodation originally featured in the packages sold. He ignored the challenges brought to his attention with bio-waste management and plumbing in the area. He ignored the budget constraints regarding proper catering. He ignored advice regarding the lack of time to complete the tasks being requested, labour constraints, and the list goes on. You gradually saw his frustrated team losing faith and trust as they came to the realization that this seemingly fearless leader was really just delusional in his ambition to achieve his vision.
Days before the event, as the team saw things were not going according to plan, McFarland was advised to manage expectations by reaching out to his customers with an update to let them know that they would not be receiving the luxury experience they signed up for. He decided against it and as predicted the fall out was a lot worse when thousands of customers found themselves trapped on an island with no accommodation, no food and no immediate solution for getting back home.
On some strange level, I could relate. When you are starting a new business, it is easy to get excited and carried away with all the ideas. I have big plans for my brand, and fresh ideas keep presenting themselves. Unlike McFarland however, it is important to me that I take a step back, I assess the situation and then prioritize these concepts according to which makes the most sense in the best interest of my business. I am careful to not take on more than I can handle because my brand and my reputation are at stake. It means a lot to me that I maintain the quality and standard I have set for my brand.
It is important to appreciate that there are some things worth waiting for and building a good reputation takes time and unwavering commitment. Had I been in McFarland's position, I would like to think that I would have postponed the event when I realized I needed more time to meet the expectations I had set. Admittedly, it is easy to say this from the outside looking in.
I understand how tempting it is to want to go all out and launch big, however you should avoid biting off more than you can chew.
It is better to do one small thing really well than to spread yourself too thin over one extravagant affair and risk tarnishing your brand.
Enjoyed this? Sign up to my email list to be the first in-the-know: special offers, exclusive free content and new blog posts to help you improve your marketing.
Need some help prioritizing all those brilliant marketing ideas you have for your business? I am here to help. This is where creativity meets strategy to develop winning marketing solutions. Get in touch today. First meeting is FREE.
Comments