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The greatest party that never happened
- ewil0047
- Nov 7, 2021
- 2 min read
A successful viral marketing campaign that flopped spectacularly when it could not deliver on its promise.
What could have been a stroke of marketing genius, turned into a nightmare for Billy McFarland and party go-ers attending the #FyreFestival in 2017. For some, that meant going to jail for fraud, and for others that meant a cheese sandwich and a refugee tent.
Three basic criteria must be met to create a successful viral marketing campaign: the right people need to get the right message under the right circumstances and CEO and founder Billy McFarland definitely missed the mark on that one...
Fyre media may have sold tickets to 5000 guests who had paid between $500 and $12,000 for their tickets within 48 hours but blew their entire budget making that happen. Using influencers as a channel for distribution of your message is a smart move, but using high profile influencers and celebrities with over 160 million followers to sell a few thousand tickets is an over the top and bloody expensive way to go.
Perhaps the return on investment would have been greater by working with micro influencers. A cost of $180 per post when compared to $250,000 per post could have saved Fyre Media the money they needed to make the Fyre Festival a reality. And still sold out.
Never mind being wrong, the message was a total lie. Fyre Media sold a luxurious music festival on a Bahamian island, which could be seen to be memorable and interesting, if it were true…
Instead attendees were met with disappointment followed by disappointment, stranded on an island with the bare essentials to survive, let alone a luxurious villa with food catered by celebrity chefs.
Fyre media hoped to capture the millennial market and by promoting a unique experience through Social Media platforms using high profile influencers, they achieved that. But not without deception and fraud.
The exponential hype for a party that didn’t exist and the sheer power of influencer marketing expedited the impending failure and made sure it was the most talked about failed event of its time.
Does this make it a marketing success or disaster? If you are selling a lie and break the law in an attempt to con people into your fantasy, are you really successful?
Billy McFarland is still sitting in jail, I doubt he feels very successful.
Wanting to end on a happier note? Why not check out the success of Dollar Shave Club?
Hi Emma,
I really enjoyed the post, and remember watching the documentary of this event thinking why didn't they stop this before people ended up in tents on a runway (I'm sure the location looked like a plane runway) stealing mattresses!
They definitely achieved their outcome of attracting the millennial market and promoting a high-end experience through social media by using influencers and models.
Do you think there should be more ethics and laws around content that is uploaded on social platforms by either a business or an indivdiual like an influencer?
Aimee
Hey Emma,
really intriguing blog! Straight to the point tone which clearly outlines what the campaign did wrong and links directly to the reference to go into further detail about your point. After reading your piece I felt that I had a clear understanding on how to create a successful marketing campaign. And thank you for allowing readers to end your piece learning more about a successful virtual marketing campaign.
Thanks for sharing!
Sarah Ramantanis @sram0052
Great post Emma! I remember watching the Fyre Festival documentary thinking what an absolute train wreck and PR nightmare! One of the things it got me thinking about was should influencers who get paid to promote different brands or events on their social media channels be doing their own due diligence to ensure what they are advertising is in fact legitimate? It almost seems to easy for them to accept the pay check and wash their hands clean afterwards when it all goes pear shaped!