What We Can Learn From Fyre Festival
“Fyre will be defined by its ability to connect”
A line lifted straight from the original Fyre proposal for investors. Too bad we were all connected by how much of a sh*tshow it all turned out to be.
With the news agenda focusing on Fyre Festival, it’s easy to forget that this wasn’t even the main product on offer — Fyre was an app touted as a booking platform that would tear down barriers between consumers, celebrities and brands through live experiences. And with so many influencer agencies crowding the market and promising to deliver big name influencers for brands, a simplified process was bound to be welcomed by the industry.
The Fyre talent network boasted names such as Queen Latifah, DJ Khaled and Iggy Azalea, and with a simple three step process to book some of the biggest talent around, it all sounded very promising. However as the Netflix and Hulu documentaries are anything to go by, Billy McFarland wasn’t afraid to bend the truth a little, so there’s no telling how much of his ‘talent network’ could have been fabricated.
The event itself can teach us a host of things about planning an event such as ensuring basic infrastructure and amenities are set up prior to guest arriving (or you may be asked to do some unspeakable things for some Evian), but what does it teach us about the influencer market?
Vetting
Billy’s ‘Fyre Starters’ were his original influencer network, all posting the same orange tile on Instagram to launch the festival. The group consisted of mega influencers such as Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski amongst others. But for a group who act like walking billboards, promoting everything from watches and face cream to appetite suppressant lollipops, why should we take everything at face value? There’s no vetting on either side when it comes to the current influencer model, if the price is right, they’ll pretend to use it. There’s no authenticity to be seen. Brands and agencies need to invest the time in aligning themselves with influencers who share the same core values that they’re trying to convey, and influencers should only accept offers from brands that they would realistically use. Instead of a revolving door of influencers, brands need to focus on developing valuable long-term partnerships with relevant ambassadors.
Inspiration vs Aspiration
Most social media sites — Instagram especially, are geared towards igniting a feeling of aspiration. Feeds are full of models, beach getaways and perfect cakes, and the reason that Fyre sold so many tickets is that their marketing strategy succeeded in convincing tens of thousands of people that they could have the Hailey Baldwin or Nick Bateman lifestyle for a weekend. All they needed to do was fork over a few thousand dollars.
But it’s not just Fyre, big name brands are acting like we can have a Kardashian-like flat stomach if we buy some detox tea. We’re being told that all we need to do to be as ripped as Marcus Butler is to buy some Calvins. And whilst it may drive a few short-term sales, there’s no real engagement or relationship formed and it can be damaging in the long run for all involved.
What we really need to trigger is a sense of inspiration, something to mentally stimulate an audience and to make them feel something. Go Pro are a prime example of inspiration done well, content isn’t overly branded or promotional, instead we’re seeing incredible travel photos taken by the community. It doesn’t ignite the wish to imitate, instead it sparks an inner feeling of creativity and wanderlust — if they sell a few cameras along the way, that’s just a bonus.
It’s a shame that the festival and app ended up the way that they did, because done right, it could have been something really special.
If you fancy having a flick through the original pitch document that Billy used to dupe his investors, we’ve got a treat for you below 👇
If we’ve piqued your interest and you want to have a chat about content marketing or social media, feel free to get in touch; sam@wearecommit.com.
