INDIO,UNITED STATES — With a multitude of promotional events almost as long and diverse as its artist lineup, Coachella, one of the biggest music festivals in the world, is now an amusement park for influencers and a gold mine for brands.
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, or simply Coachella, has become the tone-setter for the US festival circuit.
Tickets for this edition -- now in its second weekend with pop stars Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and reggaeton artist Karol G at the top of the bill -- sold out last year within four days of going on sale.
With that, organizers were expecting around 250,000 people to come over two weekends at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, where dozens of special events with fashion, beauty, beverage, and lifestyle brands were spread out among the festival's nine stages.
"I love how big it's gotten. I love how more people are open to it," 24-year-old Luz Maura told AFP at an e.l.f. Beauty station.
The pastel-colored space offered lip glosses as souvenirs, slushies to ease the high desert temperatures, makeup artists to touch up glittery festival looks, and hosted multiple selfie corners.
The "e.l.f.scape to Balm Desert" campaign drew a "six-figure audience," said Patrick O'Keefe, the company's vice president of integrated marketing, to AFP.
Promoting a moisturizing lip balm was not just about seizing on the arid, dry desert's climate -- it was also backed by sales data.
"We know that 92 percent of daily makeup users incorporate lip products into their routines," he added.
Its donut-shaped chairs and branded mirrors also serve as irresistible selfie backdrops that in turn promote the brand.