Activation

Pitchfork Music Festival

Manifesto, Social Concepting, Social Strategy, On-Location Production

The ask

Concept around a Spa activation at the PitchFork Music Festival, promoting our new Lincoln Common Club.

And build it out.

And shoot it for social.

The Equinox creative team had never led a remote activation before. My art partner and I were the first.

The concept

The space was basically a translucent tent in the VIP area, as you can see above.

VIP festival-goers could drop by for quick massages, cupping, cool eucalyptus towel, ear crystals (??), and express facials. Basically—they could recharge from a busy festival.

My AD and I helped pick the furniture, pitched dozens of looks-and-feels, and partnered with the regional Chicago marketing department to help it all come to life.

The plan

After the concept sign-off, I created an entire 3-day plan for our social channels.

We were tasked with going to Chicago shooting it ourselves.

We hired a local influencer to take us around her favorite places in Chicago.

Then we fired her.

Then we decided to use our local, Group Fitness talent.

The run of show

Pitchfork goers are generally a little older than your Coachella crowd, and a little more discerning.

In order to pull off an organic activation, we hired a local artist to screen print custom canvas bags (you can see Devin wearing one on the right) and handed them out in the crowd.

Every day was a full schedule—switching from assisting our marketing partners at the pop-up and filming. We went as close to my plan as possible, occasionally filming in the crowd or going remote (just avoiding the Bean).

The first day was more of an intro: focusing on Devin and the activation itself. On the second day, Allie took us around Chicago to her favorite food spots. And the third day had them both, wrapping up the festival and going to see a few of the acts.

At the end of each day, we put together a few coherent IG posts and stories, shot them via text to the social team and the CMO, adjusted as needed, and posted directly to Equinox’s instagram account.

The only act we saw in full was the Isley Brothers. Not complaining.

The results

Excellent engagement, baby. 21% over our average reach, 20% more than our average impressions, and 35% better than our usual exit rate.