Inside Coalchella, The Minecraft Music Festival that had Brands Everywhere (Sort Of)
By Sara Shaw • October 17, 2018In late September, nearly 3,000 people logged on to their Minecraft accounts and got ready to party. The world-building video game organized a full-scale concert completely within the gaming platform. With no more promotion than a few tweets on the organizers’ personal Twitter pages, Coalchella drew in 27,000 listeners over its 8 hours across various streaming platforms.
As if a full-scale two-stage concert “venue” isn’t enough, the event organizers also scattered brands and logos throughout the virtual site. An IHOb restaurant, a giant Bass Pro Shops Pyramid, and an overhead IKEA blimp were among those featured. Only there was a catch: None of the brands knew their logos were being used for the event — they were mostly plastered around Minecraft as cultural touchstones.