Coachella 2018: How Brands Stood Out During a Jam-Packed Weekend

The automotive company partnered with experiential marketing firm Mirrored Media for a campaign that saw 15 BMW iFleets wrapped in a colorful custom design created by Portugal the Man's John Gourley. Social-media influencers then drove the iFleets to the festival, sharing their road trip with followers along the way. 

L'Oreal's YSL Beauty Festival, produced by Enter, kicked off festivities on Thursday night with a performance by Halsey on an elevated stage trimmed with bright LED lights.

Guests found decorative neon lips throughout the space, including in a standalone rectangular-shaped structure that quickly became one of the more popular photo ops of the evening. 

Neon signs enticed guests to try out vending machines stocked with YSL beauty products. 

The men's magazine partnered with Zoē Productions and Brand Allies to produce its first Playboy Social club, a two-day event that took over a boutique hotel in Palm Springs with a happy hour on Friday night and a pool party on Saturday. Classic cars from RMD Garage parked on the street extended the retro look and feel of a mirrored step-and-repeat onto city streets.

Hairstylists were on hand to braid guests' hair and weave pom-poms, metallic rings, and other decorative accents into festival-ready hairstyles. 

Guests could pop inside G-Eazy's mobile barbershop—an Airstream parked outside the venue—for a quick grooming session before hitting up Saturday's pool party.

The sixth annual Bootsy Bellows party was produced by the Narrative Group. Guests could pose for a GIF inside a McDonald's vignette designed to look like a dripping ice cream cone. 

In order to pick up a free PacSun denim jacket, guests had to work their way through an activation that featured the clothing company's logo and products worked into photo-friendly backdrops.

Staffers stood behind a brightly colored wall and slid open small panels in order to hand guests McCafé products or McDonald's smoothies. 

The eight-minute, 360-degree show was centrally located in an 11,000-square-foot air-conditioned dome on Coachella grounds. The immersive experience was a reimagining of the novella Flatland: A Romance in Many Directions. The show featured a musical score from St. Vincent; art direction from Dev Harlan, Sougwen, and VolvoxLabs; and direction from Meta.is.

For the ninth iteration of the late-night outdoor dance party and carnival, event producer Brent Bolthouse shook things up by ditching the traditional airport venue in favor of HITS Desert Park. Familiar touches, like the signature Ferris wheel and other carnival-style games, remained firm fixtures. Guests could also get their hair done at a Batiste Dry Shampoo station, or pick up product samples from the beauty brand.

The event included visual nods to Don Julio 1942 tequila, which provided bottle service for V.I.P. tables and offered guests specialty Palomas from its Airstream speakeasy.

To encourage guests to engage via social media, Pandora partnered with the Visionary Group to create colorful photo ops at every step of a T-Mobile-sponsored pool party. As soon as guests arrived, they could pose for an arrivals post at a branded entryway featuring faux magenta bougainvillea and white wisteria on a graphic step-and-repeat.

Custom ribbon tents stocked with branded pillows and graphic rugs served as seating areas. 

In a nod to Gerald—the piñata that event headliner Dillon Francis often features in his social-media streams—event producers created an eight-foot-tall replica of the creature. During Francis's performance, smoke bombs erupted from the structure, releasing mini magenta Geralds. 

For its fourth annual ZOEasis style retreat, the Zoe Report brought a Marrakech theme to life with cozy floor cushions and a striking array of Arabic style lanterns at the Parker Palm Springs. 

A Souk marketplace featured activations from various brands, including a photo op from Amazon's Echo Look that let guests voice-command the device to snap a picture of them sporting pieces from Rachel Zoe's spring collection. Upon sharing the image and tagging it #EchoLook, participants received the Zoe Report's Box of Style on the spot.

For its second Desert Jam pool party at the Arrive Hotel, the denim brand continued its tradition of customizing Lucky-branded bandanas with guests' names.

A gallery wall decorated with nods to motorcycle culture, denim, and the West Coast helped to visually evoke the brand's ethos.

HP enticed festivalgoers to adopt a hands-on exploration of its products, offering them the opportunity to design a Klean Kanteen water bottle and control the digital blooms hanging from the lounge's ceiling through the use of HP products.

Online clothing retailer Revolve continued to expand its festival presence, this year hosting an impressive roster of musical acts including Chance the Rapper, Snoop Dogg, SAINt JHN, Rich the Kid, and Saweetie who performed on a stage with a colorful surround. 

A swing carousel provided guests with a bird's-eye view of the Merv Griffin Estate, where the festival was held.

To reach a bar stocked with Moët Ice Imperial and Ice Rosé Champagne, guests had to wind their way through a hedge maze decorated with florals from Venus Et Fleur.

The vodka brand's activation on the festival grounds—which was produced by MKG—featured a colorful LED dance floor, a rainbow photo op, and a branded bar. The vibrant space was themed "Naturally Proud," which was meant to evoke both the Absolut Lime brand messaging as well as the brand's acceptance of all cultures, races, and sexualities.

The returning American Express Platinum House, exclusive to cardmembers, was held at the Parker Palm Springs and offered food, drinks, swag, live performances, and art installations by Snarkitecture. SoulCycle founding senior master instructor Stacey Griffith taught morning classes that combined high-intensity workouts and musically driven meditation sessions. Later in the afternoon, crystal energy readings and Reiki healing stations continued the wellness offerings.

Amex also had a presence on the festival fields, where it used R.F.I.D. technology in Coachella wristbands to offer card members access to a tranquil on-site lounge complete with a bar and charging stations, as well as other perks such as a priority lane for Uber pickup, a free Ferris wheel ride, and the chance to have a personal item embroidered.

Google tapped MKG to create photo activations highlighting the tech company's Pixel 2 Smartphone. In a fun twist on photo booths, the creative agency wrapped six of the festival's iconic Ferris wheel pods with an interior graphic to create a fun finish that guests could then snap using the Pixel. A Ferris wheel-adjacent activation provided non-riders with a similar experience. 

At a lavish daytime party, guests took turns lounging or jumping on a Dream Hotel bed as they took in performances by Republic Records artists like Martin Solvieg and Phantoms. 

At a Friday-night party, guests could create a shareable video at an interactive neon photo booth featuring the iFleet wrapped in Gourley's design.  

Marriott gave rewards members the chance to stay at one of four yurts on the festival's campground. A greenery-heavy yurt was meant to evoke the W's Bali hotel, while the others were designed to resemble the chain's Hollywood, Barcelona, and Dubai properties.

JJLA produced a four-day activation that unveiled a new partnership between MoviePass and iHeartRadio. One of the weekend’s events offered a retreat for festivalgoers, with a lawn-garden atmosphere at a property on Lake La Quinta. A vintage Airstream bar served wine and cocktails, and a custom stage floating in the lake saw performances by Big Boi, Spencer Ludwig, and Thomas Jack.

Uber Eats hosted a “recharging” brunch on Sunday at the Rowan Hotel. Food came from celebrity chef Eric Greenspan, and attendees were treated to mini neck, back, and shoulder massages.

A photo booth captured guests in a slow-motion video as they posed with an oversize Uber Visa card and food-theme pool floaties.