ACL advertising
At ACL, the walk back is the whole opportunity.
Two weekends in October, a hundred thousand people a day at Zilker, and a long walk between the gates and anywhere you can leave a car. Everybody's feet hurt. That's where we work.
ACL is a different campaign from SXSW and it rewards a different approach. SXSW is about saturation inside a closed downtown. ACL is about one specific, predictable, physically uncomfortable moment: the walk to and from Zilker Park.
Festivalgoers arrive fresh and leave wrecked. They've been standing for eight hours, it's still warm in October, and the distance between the gate and their ride is longer than anybody plans for. A pedicab appearing at that moment isn't an advertisement — it's a rescue. Whatever brand paid for it gets attached to genuine relief.
That's why sponsored rides are the format we push hardest here, and the one we'd recommend before a wrap if your budget only stretches to one. A brand covers the fare, guests ride free, and your driver has a captive and grateful audience for the length of the trip. Try buying that attention any other way.
The second thing ACL gives you that SXSW doesn't is repetition across two weekends — largely different crowds, same route, same campaign. You get to learn from weekend one and adjust before weekend two, which almost no other out-of-home buy allows.
What we've done here
Miller Lite, across the ACL fleet.
We've run Miller Lite branding across carriages working Austin City Limits — panels and full carriage branding on a matching fleet, alongside the festival's own artwork.
Beer is close to the ideal ACL advertiser, because the product is already in the customer's hand and the association is effortless. But the same logic works for anything a tired festivalgoer wants: food, rideshare, hydration, recovery, a hotel bed.
We've also put riders in costume for this kind of work, which at a music festival gets photographed considerably more than a logo does.
The geography
Why the Zilker walk is the entire business case.
Genuinely useful if you're attending rather than advertising — this is the layout that decides how your day ends.
The Barton Springs gates
The main artery in and out. It backs up badly at close, and the rideshare pickup points sit far enough away that the last stretch is walked by almost everyone.
The bridge back downtown
Plenty of people walk back over the river toward downtown or South Congress rather than wait for a car. It's a long way after a full festival day, and it's a captive route.
South Congress
Where a lot of the crowd goes to eat afterwards. A fleet working between Zilker and SoCo catches people twice in the same evening, in a good mood both times.
Downtown hotels
Out-of-town attendees, the group with the most money to spend and the least idea of the geography. The most valuable passengers of the weekend, and the ones most grateful for a ride.
Questions
ACL specifics.
What's the single best format for ACL?
Sponsored rides, on a branded fleet. The walk is the pain point, so solving it is worth more than being looked at. If the budget allows both, wrap the cabs and sponsor the rides — then the same bike is doing two jobs on the same trip.
Should we run both weekends or just one?
Both, if you can. The crowds differ enough that you're reaching new people, and you get to change what isn't working after weekend one. If you can only afford one, take the second — you'll benefit from a week of us learning the routes.
Do you work inside the festival grounds?
Our work is on the streets around the park and across the routes back into the city, which is where the walk actually happens. Anything inside the gates is controlled by the festival — if that's what you're after, ask and we'll tell you honestly what's possible.
How many cabs do we need?
Fewer than SXSW, because the geography concentrates everybody onto a handful of routes. Tell us your budget and which weekends and we'll size it properly rather than guess.
What does it cost?
Depends on fleet size, format and whether you're covering one weekend or both. Call (512) 633-2405 and you'll get a real number.
Get a quote
Tell us what you're planning.
The more you tell us, the more useful the answer. If a smaller buy at a different event would serve you better, we'll say so.
Planning for ACL?
October fills up early. Tell us which weekends and what you're trying to achieve.