Why marketers like HBO and Spotify think dance parties offer good returns on their investment
By Megan Graham
The downtown dance party featuring electronic music by John Summit this spring wasn't the typical all-nighter for Carson Gillaspia, a content creator who enjoys going to festivals and raves. It was still light out. The venue was an event space surrounded by New York office buildings.
It was, in fact, a promotional event for LinkedIn and Spotify. But it worked, according to Gillaspia.
"Even though it was 5 p.m. and people had just gotten off work, and people weren't drinking heavily, it was still just electric," he said.
Brands are hosting raves and quasi-raves that cater to young consumers and content creators. It's a version of the age-old promotional party that replaces passed appetizers and executive remarks with dim lights and high beats per minute.
The LinkedIn and Spotify party was pegged to a new album by Summit, a popular EDM DJ who provided an unusual way to connect electronic music and corporate life. (LinkedIn is the sponsor of CMO Today.)
"John has one of the most unique stories in music," said Ashley Graver, Spotify's global head of artist partnerships. "He was an accountant, and he came out with an album this past April, which happened to be around tax season."
Summit played up his corporate background by updating his old LinkedIn profile with a badge announcing he was "Open to Work." Spotify built the invite list by identifying Summit's top listeners in the New York area, while Summit invited others using his profile. The companies outfitted the event with cubicles, vintage computers and plenty of Post-its.
"Brands are really realizing that they can't simply market off consumers anymore," Graver said. "They have to create real experiences with people who genuinely want to participate in it."
Yvette Segan, a New York content creator and comedian who attended the office rave, said marketers' best events go deeper than an Instagram- or TikTok-ready setup.
"A lot of brand events are designed to be a photo op, because that's the point," Segan said. "This one was so focused on the music itself, and I think that lends to maybe more organic posts."
HBO this year marketed its drama "Industry" with its own version of a rave at a warehouse in Brooklyn. Guests took timed caviar bumps and downed Jell-O shots. Dance-punk artist The Dare went on around midnight.
Some stars of the show, a financial-world drama featuring hard-partying Londoners, spent parts of the night on the main dance floor and behind the DJ booth. The cast earlier that day rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
"That journey for us really expressed a selling point of the show, what makes 'Industry' unique," said Mark Doumet, vice president of originals marketing for HBO and HBO Max. "It's the prestige and the precision of the financial thriller part, but also the emotional volatility of young people pursuing power, identity and belonging."
HBO brought on club promoter and music broadcaster Boiler Room because of its deep roots in nightlife culture and music.
"We always think about it as sort of two audiences -- as folks in the room, but it's also the internet writ large," Doumet said. "We really create what I lovingly call content generation factories with these events. It's compelling content that allows a larger audience through the feeds and the algorithms and the social platforms to experience what the show is, and we leverage the fans as evangelists."
HBO threw another dance party in June to hype the new season of its fantasy series "House of the Dragon."
"The question is never, 'How do you throw a great party? It's, 'What does the series feel like and how can audiences experience that in real life?'" Doumet said. "It's definitely not a rave for rave's sake."
Energy-drink brand Red Bull is a longtime supporter of rave and electronic music culture. Its Music Academy hosted traveling festivals and workshops until 2019, and the company still partners with electronic music festivals, including sponsoring a seven-city Midsummer series this past June.
Toshiki Ohta, a DJ, broadcaster and consultant, isn't surprised at brands' interest in marketing alongside raves. "Electronic music and the culture around it has always been one of the most forward-thinking parts of culture and creativity, so brands were always going to want to be near it," he said, though he noted many fans wouldn't call a brand-sponsored party a "rave."
Brands can also risk seeming vampiric if they appear to siphon off that culture without contributing to it in some way.
Earning their place requires consistent support over the course of years, according to Ohta.
It's not jarring for ravers to see a Red Bull logo near the DJ booth, for example, "because people know that Red Bull have made quite a significant financial and cultural contribution to help shape and enable our side of culture," Ohta said.