Olle Stenbäck has received a planning grant of SEK 90 000 to write an application for funding for a project on how the sponsor relationships between brands and music festivals are changing. Besides being visible with a logo, companies and brands are now appropriating the physical space itself at festivals.
Within the field of retailing music festivals are an attractive place to be seen. Festival sponsorship in terms of having a logo on a flyer or brands selling products on festival grounds are nothing new. But festival sponsorship is now rapidly changing into appropriating the festival grounds itself. One example is the Swedish clothing chain Weekday, who is aiming to create a kind of symbiotic relationship with the Gothenburg music festival Way out west. During the festival the physical stores are linked to the festival in a number of ways, for example through discounts and in-store performances by artists. In what way does this relationship affect brand, image, identity, sales, customer relationships and the recruitment of new customers?