Beauty & Wellness Briefing: Brands are betting big on Coachella proximity marketing

Thanks to headliners like Lana Del Rey, Tyler, The Creator and Doja Cat, as well as the nostalgic reunions of brands including No Doubt and Sublime, the Coachella annual music festival is predicted to bring more than 125,000 concertgoers to Southern California’s Coachella Valley each day over its two-weekend run. 

For the first time in its 25-year history, the festival failed to sell out both weekends in 2023, which left some critics weary of its long-term viability. This weekend’s festival, however, is sold out, allowing the marketers who are banking big on its popularity to feel more than optimistic.  

For beauty and wellness brands heading to the desert this weekend, including SuperGoop, Liquid I.V., Facile Skin, Joanna Czech, CoverGirl, Dove and TangleTeezer, among others, the name of the game is proximity marketing. 

For example, Liquid I.V. has taken on the title sponsorship of Neon Carnival, an unofficial, invite-only Coachella afterparty known for drawing celebrities and influencers to the desert, whether attending Coachella or not. The event is thrown by L.A. nightlife and hospitality veteran Brent Bolthouse at the Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, a 15-minute drive from the Empire Polo Fields where Coachella is held. 

Neon Carnival, which kicks off at 10 p.m. this Saturday, will feature an open bar, DJs, carnival-style games, a ferris wheel, bumper cars and other amusement park-inspired moments. Though wristbands are notoriously hard to procure, the event is expected to host 10,000 attendees, all vetted by Bolthouse’s team. 

“Neon Carnival is the most iconic afterparty of festival season,” Stacey Andrade-Wells, vp of Marketing for Liquid I.V., told Glossy. “After a long day of enjoying festivals and music and movement, it’s a perfect opportunity for us to showcase the power that comes with a science-backed hydration product.”

When arriving at Neon Carnival, guests will be greeted with Liquid I.V. mocktails and slushies, Andrade-Wells said. They can also partake in product distribution at a grab-and-go hydration station. In addition, Liquid I.V. will host a branded mocktail bar, lounging area, gift bags and a two-story interactive photo booth within a water tower allowing it to capture email addresses. 

Outside of Neon Carnival, Liquid I.V. will widely message the power of its hydration packets to concertgoers with paid content activations with attending TikTokers Jalen Noble and Robyn DelMonte. Also this weekend, the brand is running geo-targeted social media ads, hosting in-store demonstrations at Whole Foods locations throughout Los Angeles and Palm Springs, offering DoorDash coupon codes for $2 off in-app Liquid I.V. purchases and distributing more than 30,000 three-count samples to regional hotels. 

Tangle Teezer is also a Neon Carnival sponsor, which includes hosting a custom whack-a-mole game allowing guests to win brushes and other merch. 

Other brands betting on proximity marketing are CoverGirl and Dove. Both are sponsors of the Gallery Desert House, an experiential pop-up thrown by Gallery Media Group, the lifestyle publisher behind PureWow and social sites @moms, @cocktails and @recipes. 

“We kicked off this whole idea of ‘gallery houses’ last year [to bring] together amazing creators and influencers, and our own internal content creation teams, for invite-only events that are culturally adjacent to major moments that matter,” said Chris Anthony, chief revenue officer at Gallery Media Group. This has included pop-ups at Art Basel, SXSW, F1, Pride, Coachella, Stagecoach and the Hamptons over the summer. He said the pop-ups have been appealing to brands thanks to the access they provide to influencers and the large amounts of content they receive allowing for weeks of promotion. “The goal for these pop-ups is to get amazing content out of them,” he said. 

The Gallery Desert House will host pool parties and feature musical performances by Chantel Jeffries, DJ Millie, Austin Millz and Viva Latina. 

Influencer partnerships will be a mix of paid and organic, with several paid influencers staying overnight at the house through the weekend. The house will be outfitted for content creation moments with a strong focus on CoverGirl’s Clean collection and Outlast lip stain. 

“Makeup artists will be on location getting all the influencers ready for nighttime events with CoverGirl products,” Anthony told Glossy.

Dove’s Serum body wash collection, which launched earlier this year, is also a focus. It will be featured in its own wellness-focused oasis complete with cold plunges, saunas, slides, IVs and smoothies. Other sponsors include headline sponsor Patrón el Alto tequila, plus Delta, Infiniti and Frye, among others. 

Additional proximity events include the Revolve Festival, this year thrown 30 minutes from the Coachella festival in Palm Springs. It will feature its own musical lineup including T-Pain and Ludacris. Brands popping up at the Revolve Festival will include Joanna Czech, which will be offering facials to attendees, as well as Rhode and SuperGoop!, the latter for the second year in a row. 

Supergoop is also investing in a six-influencer press trip, which includes transforming a motel into a content creation hub and advertising on billboards around the desert. 

Brand sponsors of Kourtney Kardashian Barker’s Camp Poosh event, an “exclusive adult sleepaway camp” for select influencers that will be open to more than 800 invite-only guests on Saturday afternoon. It will feature drinks, DJs, food trucks and activations from brands like Facile skin care and Wella — the former is also popping up at the Revolve fest. 

Meanwhile, at the actual Coachella Festival, American Express is popping up on the grounds for a “Get Ready With Me” glam bar, in partnership with influencer @InYourDreams. Card members will be able to choose between glam services including hair bow stacking and chrome body glam. 

Executive moves:

• Ulta Beauty announced Paula Oyibo as the company’s new chief financial officer. Oyibo previously served as the svp of finance and replaced Scott Settersten, who had been with Ulta Beauty for nearly 20 years and retired as of April 1. 

• Jen Atkin announced Rachel Jonas Gilman as the new CEO of her hair-tools brand, Mane. Gilman previously served as president of Pattern Beauty. 

• Dexter King has been appointed svp, global gm of Tom Ford Beauty. King has been with the brand for nine years, most recently serving as svp of global marketing and strategy.
  
• Claudia Marcocci will become the president of L’Oréal Group-owned Valentino Beauty effective May 6, as reported by Vogue Business. 

News to know:

• Sparxell, a 2-year-old startup that develops biodegradable, vegan color pigments for cosmetics, has raised £2.5 million from backers including L’Oréal Group.
  
• After months of speculation, family-owned Spanish beauty conglomerate Puig has announced plans for an initial public offering. Puig owns brands including Charlotte Tilbury and Byredo.
  
• L’Occitane Group has sold its majority stake in Australian skin-care brand Grown Alchemist.
  
• In its latest earnings call, on March 28, leading U.K. beauty and wellness retailer Boots announced market share growth for the 12th straight quarter and a 16% increase in retail sales from the same time last year.
  
• Steve Madden has partnered with Parlux on a new fragrance launch. Parlux currently owns the licenses for fragrances made with Billie Eilish and Paris Hilton. 

In the headlines:

Serena Williams launched Wyn Beauty, a new 10-SKU inclusive makeup line debuting in 680 Ulta Beauty doors. Speaking of celebrities, Rita Ora is entering the hair-care game with a new line called Typebae. Meanwhile, everyone is talking about the power of female athletes and who may buy Space NK. 

Need a Glossy recap?

Private investigators and emerging tech are helping to crack down on beauty’s organized retail crime problem. Splashy water company Liquid Death is collaborating with beauty brands. Vacation is shaking up the world of sun protection. Dark & Lovely is making gaming more inclusive for players in The Sims. Clearstem is bringing acne care into the hair-care category with its new launch.