With an increasing number of festivals opting to ban glass bottles and single-use plastics, canned drinks have emerged as the top beverage choice. In addition to traditional categories like beer and cider, the popularity of ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages has surged. For instance, 6.2 million RTDs were sold at Glastonbury in 2024, despite its ‘bring your own’ policy.
This summer, millions of music tourists are expected to attend live music events, presenting significant opportunities for beverage manufacturers. Festival-specific branding can enhance creative marketing strategies and enable effective data capture. The potential for growth in this market aligns well with current food and drink sustainability trends.
Prism highlights various opportunities, including:
- Limited edition festival designs: These can serve multiple purposes, not least distinguishing brands in a crowded market.
- Bespoke sleeving: This technique allows for the incorporation of neon, metallic, and thermochromic elements. Additionally, slogans tailored to festivals can capture consumer attention and maintain label integrity, even when submerged in ice buckets.
Beyond mere visibility, Prism notes that sleeving can incorporate limited-run QR codes. This feature enhances the consumer marketing experience by adding a digital layer that may include discounts, competitions, playlists, or even augmented reality (AR) functions, all contributing to valuable data collection.
Ian Wright, managing director at Prism eLogistics, remarked: “With canned beverages now the norm for festivals, and the explosion of the RTD market driving purchases at these events, there has never been a better time for beverage brands to consider event-specific sleeving.”
He further elaborated: “Sleeving allows for limited edition branding that is weather-resistant, draws consumer attention, and offers creative digital marketing opportunities.”
Moreover, he emphasised, “The captive audience offered by multi-day festivals represents enormous potential for growing brand awareness, sentiment, and, of course, sales. By maximising the potential of sleeves, beverage makers can capitalise on the booming sales of canned drinks and RTDs this summer.”
