If you are like me, you love live music. One of my favorite music festivals is a relatively new one called BUKU. It started in 2012 with only a small fan base and a goal to get lovers of electronic music together. After only four years, they have managed to have two years of sold out tickets and even have gotten performers like Kid Cudi, Flaming Lips, Bassnectar, and many more. Out of the all the music festivals I have seen, BUKU does the best with branding. Some of their biggest partners are Monster Energy and Bud Light. But the most impressive thing BUKU does is how they market themselves. They have stepped away from just being a music festival and now highlight the idea of BUKU being a “lifestyle”. They call this #TOOBUKU. This hashtag is used for referring to your experience at the festival, to the art, and to even the food you eat there. They even use their own ticket as a way for music lovers to stay in contact. Before the festival begins, everyone must register their wristband online. Then, it connects you to the festival by linking your social media accounts through an API. By doing this every time, you go to a new stage or set. They ask that you scan your wristband in. So, that later you can see where you were during BUKU and even get photos sent to your email. You can even allow it to send out tweets automatically using their BUKUapp. For example, if I was seeing Kid Cudi, all I would do is tell the app and it would tell my followers that I was seeing Cudi. To me this idea is amazing and has really shaped what BUKU is all about. However, with that said the only thing I would change would be how they interact with their consumers. I have seen other festivals take an interest in feedback, especially concerning who people want to see at the festival next. I think within the next few years BUKU will get better about this and start to take it into account.
alexisbratton 