Stagecoach rounds up a fresh fanbase

The Future. As country music, Western wear, and all things Taylor Sheridan have leaped in popularity over the past couple of years, Stagecoach has taken the cultural center stage — especially with influencers and brands. To capitalize on the popularity, expect blue-chip brands to roll out country or Americana-themed marketing campaigns on their way to launching major activations at next year’s fest.

Brand country
Everyone’s putting on a pair of cowboy boots in Indio, California, now.

• Dominick Paielli, co-founder of the influencer management firm The Clementine Group, told Insider that this year’s fest drew significantly more influencer interest than ever before.
• Brands like Tarte Cosmetics, e.l.f. Beauty, and the luggage brand Béis had major activations and hosted influencers in nearby housing.
• The retailer Revolve even split its resources between Coachella and Stagecoach, which takes place in the same valley the week after Coachella — demonstrating the growing power of the country festival.

Paielli believes that brands have an opportunity to really stand out at Stagecoach because it’s not as saturated as Coachella, saying that Coachella has “a lot of bigger names that take up the majority of the presence there.”

Basically, relatively smaller brands have the chance to be the big guy in a boomtown. There are few pitches better than that.