For its 12th year as the Official Vodka of Coachella, Absolut set out to do more than just show up—it aimed to redefine how a brand connects with global audiences through immersive innovation and cultural relevance. With many global brand fans unable to attend the festival, the challenge was clear: How could Absolut bring the Coachella experience beyond the desert and into the hands of fans worldwide, while still creating a unique experience on the Coachella grounds?
At the heart of this ambition was Absolut’s “Born to Mix” ethos—a belief in connection, inclusivity, and the blending of cultures and experiences. Absolut sought to drive mass reach, shift brand perception, and boost consideration by reimagining the festival experience both in real life (IRL) and in virtual life (IVL)—ensuring no one was left on the sidelines.
Simultaneously, Absolut aimed to revive the iconic Cosmopolitan cocktail—once a symbol of pop culture—by infusing it with fresh relevance for a new generation of festival-goers. This wasn’t just about a drink; it was about reinvigorating a drinking ritual and embedding it into festival culture.
To meet these objectives, Absolut reintroduced Absolut.LAND, its metaverse experience, offering global audiences interactive mixology, music, and surprise rewards. On-site at Coachella, a mirrored physical space seamlessly merged IRL and IVL worlds, creating surprise-and-delight moments that transcended traditional brand activations.
Ultimately, the campaign’s goal was to elevate Absolut’s presence at Coachella into a global, inclusive movement—sparking conversation, igniting cultural relevance, and surpassing previous benchmarks in engagement, media coverage, and brand love.
Strategy
For Coachella 2024, Absolut’s strategy focused on maximizing global reach, fostering inclusivity, and reestablishing cultural relevance for the Cosmopolitan cocktail. The plan involved an integrated approach across physical, digital, and content platforms, ensuring that both festival-goers and global audiences could engage with the brand meaningfully.
Strategic Approach:
Repositioning the Cosmopolitan as a Cultural Icon:
At the campaign’s core was the revival of the Cosmopolitan cocktail, repositioned as the festival drink of choice. Absolut leveraged its heritage while modernizing the cocktail experience through innovative variations like the “Sliving Cosmo” with Paris Hilton. This created a new ritual that merged nostalgia with current festival trends.
Global Accessibility via Digital Innovation:
Absolut reimagined Absolut.LAND—a virtual platform offering immersive digital experiences. Features included interactive mixology classes, a gamified Journey to the Cosmos, and access to exclusive content, enabling non-attendees to participate in festival culture. This ensured brand inclusivity beyond physical borders.
Content-Led Cultural Conversations:
The Mixing It Up: Cosmos & Culture digital podcast series was a strategic content pillar. Hosted by Matt Rogers with guests like Chrishell Stause, Wayman + Micah, Paris Hilton and Miss Vanjie, the series centered cultural conversations around the Cosmopolitan cocktail, touching on music, fashion, and festival culture. This approach created organic dialogue across audiences while reinforcing the Cosmo as a cultural connector.
Influencer & Talent Integration:
Absolut strategically selected talent to authentically reach diverse communities: Paris Hilton, Miss Vanjie and Matt Rogers drove media attention and audience engagement. Hilton’s tent appearance alone generated over 237.6M impressions, while influencer collaborations ensured sustained visibility and reach across platforms.
Immersive On-Site Experience:
Absolut’s physical footprint was designed to maximize festival engagement.
A high-impact entry tunnel that encouraged immediate social sharing.
Glam stations and live DJ sets to extend dwell times (averaging 16+ minutes) and increase in-tent engagement.
The activation drew 23,000+ attendees over both weekends.
Execution Highlights:
Phased Rollout: Weekly content drops from the Cosmos & Culture series sustained buzz leading into the festival.
Real-Time Social Amplification: Partnered influencers provided live updates, driving immediate online traction and press coverage.
Digital & Physical Synergy: Absolut.LAND’s design mirrored the on-site experience, creating a cohesive brand journey across touchpoints.
Challenges included: A less-than-optimal footprint location risked low foot traffic. To overcome this, we strategically scheduled surprise talent appearances and DJ sets, drawing crowds and enhancing on-site engagement. Accessibility to Absolut.LAND proved challenging for some users, prompting us to optimize mobile functionality and integrate YouTube streaming. Reviving the Cosmopolitan cocktail—often seen as nostalgic—required a cultural shift; partnering with trendsetters and creating the “Sliving Cosmo” repositioned it as a festival must-have. Coachella is crowded, breaking through media clutter was crucial. A phased content release and diverse influencer strategy captured sustained media attention. Balancing IRL and digital engagement proved complex, but a mirrored physical-digital experience ensured global inclusivity. Finally, maintaining momentum pre- and post-festival was addressed through consistent influencer-driven content, ensuring lasting cultural relevance.
Results
The Absolut x Coachella 2024 campaign exceeded every objective, achieving record-breaking results across media coverage, digital engagement, and on-site activation.
Unprecedented Media Reach:
Secured 81.2B total media impressions (+39% YoY), surpassing benchmarks and dominating cultural conversations.
Achieved $18M+ in media value from over 53 top-tier press placements (including People, Billboard, Us Weekly, and NYLON).
Paris Hilton’s involvement alone generated 237.6M impressions, making her collaboration the most successful Absolut partnership to date.
Digital & Social Media Breakthroughs:
Across owned and partner channels, the campaign amassed 1.5M+ reach, 63,736 engagements, and 434K+ video views.
The Mixing It Up: Cosmos & Culture series drove 295K video views and 264K reach, creating cultural conversations with the Cosmopolitan at its core.
Influencer collaborations yielded 247M+ impressions through 40+ posts and stories.
Immersive Experiences that Drove Real Engagement:
The Absolut tent attracted 23,000+ festival attendees over two weekends, with an average 16-minute dwell time—far exceeding festival norms.
Absolut served 12,000+ cocktails on-site, with the reimagined Cosmopolitan emerging as the top-choice cocktail.
Digital extension through Absolut.LAND had a 19% return rate and over 31K total plays.
Cultural Resurgence of the Cosmopolitan:
Media and consumer intrigue around the Cosmo skyrocketed, fueled by Paris Hilton’s “Sliving Cosmo” and targeted influencer content.
On social media, posts featuring the Cosmopolitan cocktail achieved some of the highest engagement rates across festival activations.
