When music festivals go wrong: How can organisers reengage with confused consumers? 

Hong Kong has seen quite a number of physical mega events coming to the city after the pandemic, including S2O Hong Kong Songkran Music Festival, a party music event held by HSBC’s PayMe over the weekend that combines electronic music with Thailand’s annual New Year celebration, Songkran.

Don't miss: PayMe creates refreshing experience for HKers with Songkran music festival

However, the sudden withdrawal of Swedish DJ Alesso from the event lineup has copped flak over the past weekend. Media intelligence firm CARMA saw that over 1000 mentions regarding S2O as of 6 August, with 59.8% negative sentiments and 500 comments, of which some attendees expressed their disappointment and demanding refunds, as Alesso's performance was a significant factor in their decision to purchase tickets.

In response, the organiser of the event released a statement on Sunday expressing its regret to announce that due to severe weather conditions and flight disruptions, Alesso was unable to make it to Hong Kong for the performance. Alesso had already rearranged his personal schedules specifically for S2O Hong Kong. 
 
“For those who choose to continue to attend and support the festival, each person will receive complimentary drink vouchers upon entry, please redeem at main bar. S2O Hong Kong will proceed as scheduled […] We understand the disappointment, S2O is feeling the same, refund process is arranging, and will be announce once we are ready together with the update performance schedule.”

Communication is key during a crisis 

The quick response from S2O organisers have definitely won praise from netizens, as well as industry players MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke to, as they believed speed is critical during a crisis.

Joyce Lee, APAC account director, Montieth SPRG said this response showed the organiser has been monitoring comments on social media and reacting quickly, which also showed customers that "they care". She added that organisers could also consider using multiple communication channels, such as email to reach a wider audience.

During a crisis, obviously communications is key, from the moment the event is announced, preparing for ticket sales, to the moment of selling ticket, pre-event to the date of event, said Janis Tse, a veteran PR professional and former global marketing director of Plaza Premium Group.

She added that audience often miss details from mass comms channel and miss reading T&Cs on their tickets. She added:

Multiple communications channels direct to consumers or via distributors are important through the entire event marketing period. Though communications is key, if there is no practical info on a seamless experience puts everything in vain.

How can organisers reengage with confused consumers after the crisis? 

Organising a huge music event requires ample preparation time and effort but sometimes it is impossible to manage the expectation of every attendee at the event. When a music festival is experiencing a PR crisis, how organisers can reengage with consumers afterwards, is a million-dollar question. 

David Ko, managing director of RFI Asia, took The NextWave beach music festival at Discover Bay for example, of which the organisers of the event admitted their deficiencies and promised to do better next time.

Don't miss: TheNextwave's organisers reveal challenges and insights behind the HK$15m event

He said this may not be enough to appease the angry and dissatisfied customers, suggesting that the organisers need to show more sincerity and accountability and take concrete actions to address the issues and complaints. “For example, they could offer an apology letter […] They could also conduct a survey or a feedback session to understand the customers’ needs and expectations better and improve their service quality accordingly,” he added.

Another way to reengage with angry consumers is to share more “good” side of the event, sharing photos of individual/group attendees and more behind-the-scene videos may inject more positivity, said Plaza Premium Group’s Tse. She added: 

Another way is to invite the audience to be part of the task force through surveys or polls for better experience in future, and of course, an incentive (of future event discount or pre-sale invite) could be icing on the cake.

On the other hand, a PR professional who wished to stay anonymous, said the Hong Kong event industry is facing a challenge of lacking experienced team leaders and crews. “A successful event is always based on the experience and feeling of the participants, starting from the most minute details. A strong and experienced team is of course the most important. However, learning from the mistakes will lead to succuss next time,” she said.

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