Coachella has been a major stage for brands across all industries to tap into a key cultural moment with the help of creator partners.
For example, Revolve is a well known Coachella participant through its exclusive “Revolve Festival'', where it brings in top creators to enjoy exclusive experiences and performances. And, more recently, Neutrogena has earned some buzz by scoring the title of official suncare sponsor of Coachella, two years in a row (check out #neubff to see what this year entailed).
But as the popularity of the festival has grown, so has the cost of participation for consumers, creators, and brands. Has Coachella become oversaturated with creator and brand content?
In an analysis of creator data, we found that interest in Coachella may be waning. Beyond that, interest in a different music festival — Stagecoach — is rising. Keep reading to get the data and learn why Stagecoach might be the next best place for influencer marketing activations.
Behind the Data: Is Stagecoach the new Coachella for Influencer Marketing?
Coachella was the perfect venue for brands to experiment with some truly interesting marketing activations. They brought creators, creativity, and experiential marketing together to develop some truly innovative campaigns.
However, it’s possible that both creators and consumers are beginning to show some fatigue.
Overall mentions of Coachella by lifestyle influencers in the US has decreased YoY (comparing Jan - April 29 2023 vs Jan - April 29 2024:):
- -29% active influencers
- -26% posts
- -53% engagements
- -33% video views
Is this the end of the Coachella craze? Maybe, maybe not. The likelihood that creators and brands stop working on marketing activations surrounding this music festival is fairly low. However, this dip in creator activity and audience engagement might indicate that brands shouldn’t bet as big on this one event.
So where else should they bet? Our data suggests that Stagecoach, an annual country music festival held in Indio, California, might be a contender.
Mentions of Stagecoach by lifestyle influencers in the US has increased YoY (comparing Jan - April 29 2023 vs Jan - April 29 2024):
- +113% active influencers
- +126% posts
- +198% engagements
- +296% video views
Aside from there being a large uptick in lifestyle influencers posting about/going to the Stagecoach festival, they are also tying it to fashion — similar to what happened when Coachella was on the rise.
Mentions of Stagecoach with fashion terms, comparing YoY (comparing Jan - April 29 2023 vs Jan - April 29 2024):
- +91% active influencers
- +112% posts
- +122% engagements
- +203% video views
Country and cowboy fashion has started making some buzz in the US, and seems to be somewhat paralleled by moves made by some other large cultural tastemakers (Cowboy Carter anyone?). Brands should keep an eye on this trend and consider dipping their toes into the Stagecoach water, if they haven’t already.
Speaking of, some brands are already testing out marketing activations here. Brands that were featured prominently in creator Stagecoach content in 2024 were from a diverse group of industries, including Toyota, T-Mobile, Patrón, Pretty Little Thing, Shein, Tecovas, and more.
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Methodology
For this article, Traackr analyzed a sample of 86,453 influencers located primarily in the US and Europe that produce content and have audiences interested in common categories including beauty, fashion, and lifestyle content