MARCH | COVER FEATURE
which means everything from transportation to
shipping. It was either arrogance
or ignorance. Or both.
“Some festivals bring in agency
to do site managing and leave their
own team to book acts and run
the festival. Overseas you’d need a
totally separate strategy to handle
the location. I don’t think the Fyre
managers could’ve put on a festival
down the road from their house, let
alone in that location.
“They thought that, if you
throw money at something, or
are important then it will happen
around you. But no one cares who
you are. You still have to fill out the
paperwork, do the due diligence.
It’s about putting together a
proper team. It’s about curation
and doing your homework. It
comes down to perception of
value: it’s only successful if the
customer perceives it as so. This is
true whether it’s a £10 or £10,000
ticket.”
Initials’ Bateman adds that
her biggest learnings from the
documentary are: to always
meet the expectation set; to fully
scope the reality before engaging
investors and definitely before
Top left, clockwise:
launching publicly. And, finally, to
Madden, Bateman,
know when to pull the plug.
Gentilli, Andrew
“The writing was on the wall, a
long time before the first festival-
goer landed on the ‘island’,” she
adds.“Don’t give the car keys
to someone who’s never driven
before, Billy’s lack of experience
demonstrates all too well what the
results might be.”
PREVENTION
“We were a little naïve,” Fyre
Festival founder Billy McFarland
It’s safe to say Fyre Festival
didn’t meet consumer
expectations. But, with that
uncontroversial comment out of
the way, what sort of insurance
and budgeting could have been
actioned?
“It’s a common thing, but
you can get event cancellation
insurance. Most promoters would
have it, but looking at what they
were promising and where, it
would be a massive premium,” says
Wasserman’s Chapman. “Insurers
are normally pretty good if you can
promote due process and diligence
in event planning and assess them
– but because he wasn’t listening
to his production team, the
insurance company would have
walked away.
Eyal Gluska, co-founder and
co-CEO, Setoo adds that the Fyre
Festival fiasco serves as a warning
for organisers regarding the
possible impact of disappointing
consumers – Millennials in
particular. “This bar is constantly
being raised, placing additional
pressure on organisers to deliver
the ultimate experience from
start to finish. One of the ways
event organisers can enhance
the customer journey is through
automated, activity-specific
insurance policies relevant to
the needs of each individual.
Organisers can offer options that
protect attendees against incidents
that could ruin their experience,
such as rain or a no-show act.”
Emmins breaks it down further,
noting that margins are often tight
in an industry with huge third-
party costs. “Some of the most
successful events only hit profit
when they reach 80% capacity,
and that’s when they’ve budgeted
correctly.
“By launching without a full
scope, the team might have been
more aware of an $8m shortfall,
from the $4m estimate to the
$12m+ reality. We often talk
about ‘budget versus ambition’.
Creative-wise, we think laterally
and pragmatically to find ways to
crack briefs with maximum impact
and cost efficiency. But to deliver
a $12m+ event on $4m would need
Harry Potter on the team.
“We know that expertise
comes at a price whether it’s the
team internally, freelancers or
specialists we bring in. Whilst
Fyre may have paid a little more
for experienced event organisers,
it would have saved them millions
in the long run (still not enough to
keep the dream afloat, but millions
none the less).
“How do you know the true
cost of a stage if you’ve booked it
through Google Search? And even
the 20-something talent booker
was fully aware he was paying
twice as much as market rates for
talent, but his lack of experience,
reputation and a looming deadline
meant the agents had a field day.
Maybe the agents too should have
been more questioning. If it’s too
good to be true, it usually is.”
Hopefully we can all learn
something from Fyre’s failure.
Fires need to be started properly,
controlled carefully, and it’s always
wise to have an extinguisher on
hand, just in case.
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