On August 15th 1969 over 400,000 people came together in the town of Bethel, New York for a monumental gathering that brought exposure to an entire culture. The ultimate in marketing events known as Woodstock not only promoted the ideals of those involved; it showcased a significant springboard for nearly every act involved. Whether it’s for a live event or a webinar audience acquisition is a top marketing priority. With that in mind the question is; how did they do it?
Word of mouth was essentially the social media of the late 1960’s and attendees using payphones accounted for the much larger than anticipated audience. Word spread rapidly through channels of people who shared similar interests and beliefs. Creating such a stir caused news media to cover the event in droves, documenting nearly every moment of the 4 day festival. The impact and influence of distribution channels cannot be underestimated and the exposure gained through networking, evangelism and social channels still holds true today. The collaboration between artists and managers fueled a historic event that still brings recognition to all of those involved.
With 32 acts ranging from Janis Joplin to Jimi Hendrix the Woodstock producers put together a show of supreme quality and logical variety. Many of the acts involved were not yet main stream but still had a solid backing because of the quality of their performances. Woodstock had a little something for everyone while maintaining an overall vision of the theme and perception of the event. With hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world traveling to see the show, if the acts had been subpar it would not have had the global impact it continues to have. Marketing is much easier when you’re promoting a quality product that everyone in your company believes in.
Although there was a wide variety of acts performing at the festival there was a central demographic that the producers were trying to appeal to. Hyper focused efforts to spread the word about the festival through the younger generations preferred channels resulted in a demand that far exceeded any reasonable expectations. The message of peace, love and music resonated with a niche market and provided a platform for them to share their ideals. By targeting a specific demographic Woodstock became synonymous with an entire movement of people. Bands were also given an opportunity to spread their music among an extremely large group of their target audience. The popularity of the musicians who performed skyrocketed after the event received unheard of media exposure.
Founded in 1990, Winn Technology Group is a leading provider of global, multi-channel marketing solutions for the technology industry. For both direct and channel sales, Winn supports demand creation, account-based marketing, channel management, digital marketing, social media, teleprospecting, lead nurturing, event marketing, database services, and inbound response management.
