Chad Issaq, 38, leads the sponsorship sales and activation team for the New York-based producers of Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, and the Great GoogaMooga festival. He sees more than dollar signs when he talks to potential sponsors such as Ford, Dell, and Ben & Jerry’s. “Everything we try to do is about experience. Our objective as a business is building community and giving people the opportunity to be inspired,” he says. Issaq works with sponsors to create unique opportunities at Superfly events that work for his company, the sponsoring brand, and attendees.
At Bonnaroo, Ford underwrote the cost of the social check-in program that used Facebook-linked R.F.I.D. wristbands and generated 1.5 million social impressions during the four-day event. The auto company benefited by having its name associated with each of the Facebook posts and by gathering data from more than 65,000 attendees who opted in. For this year’s Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, Issaq inked a multi-year deal with Paypal to provide its Paypal Here credit card readers at everything from concession stands to merchandise booths, eliminating the need for attendees to carry cash and helping Paypal expand its retail strategy and make connections in the music community.
