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In May, Durban saw the Youth Hip Hop Festival take place in the city’s iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium. With the help of our panel of Durban creative experts, dig deeper into the insights gleaned from this growing event and the UBY (Urban Black Youth) attending.
The Youth Hip Hop Festival - Origins
To shed some light on the history of this event, the yearly festival originated in 2014 and has since been predominantly sponsored by @Gagasi FM 99.5. The radio station services the greater KwaZulu Natal area, and boasting over 2 million users is classed as one of the top ten stations in the country by acquisition. They connect with “adult urban listeners”.
The 2014 Youth Hip Hop Festival, which also played out at the massive 85,000 capacity stadium, formed a benchmark for the hip hop scene in Durban. Drawing in the likes of Kuli Chana, Da Les and Ifani to name a few, the event attracted a large crowd of young Durabnites who immerse themselves in the music scene.
Seeing the rampant success of 2014’s event, the Youth Hip Hop Festival was once again brought to the public’s eyes. Same theme, same location, targeting the same crowd and once again sponsored by the popular Gagasi FM 99.5. When events rollover into a yearly festivity, organisers need to ensure they bring something different to the table. This year, Durban Hip Hop fans were not only treated to a new variety of local talent, but got the opportunity to witness acclaimed American rapper Rick Ross on stage as the headline act.
The Youth Hip Hop Festival - Why did it trend?
Appealing to one of the most popular forms of music in the country, and targeting an audience that is growing rapidly in numbers, The Youth Hip hop Festival 2015 was a trending phenomenon for a variety of reasons.
The event caters to the young, UBY of Durban. Hip hop culture is accentuated in the city centres and outlying areas. Appealing to any market preferences is probably the easiest way to ensure a sustainable return, in this case the number of attendees. Over 15 000 people graced the arena, including a mix of aficionados and excited fans, ready for a full day and night of hip hop in the heart of Durban.
Kuli Chana returned to grace the stage, along with other locally renowned acts such as HPP (Hip Hop Pantsula) and Cassper Nyovest. HPP brings an indigenous sound to the table called Motswako, which originated in Botswana and is distinguished as an Africanised version of mainstream hip hop. The niche genre is popular with this target market, and HPP sustains his fanbase popularity with over 300,000 followers on Twitter and over 100,000 likes on his Facebook page.
Not only feeding the audience’s desire to listen to locally sourced urban music, the main attraction and reason why the event trended exponentially was due to the hype of headliner Rick Ross. Bringing an international act from America to perform in Durban is a treat for audiences, as touring routes usually cater only to Cape Town and Johannesburg concert goers. The inclusion of this four-time Grammy Awards nominee was the differentiating factor of this homegrown hip hop festival, stirring organic hype and promoting an added incentive to attend the event.
The Youth Hip Hop Festival - Why it Matters to Brands
For brands, the Youth Hip Hop Festival is an open platform to engage with a relatively large target market. Apart from Gagasi FM 99.5 acting as the front running sponsor, Channel O and the eThekwini municipality also rallied together to facilitate the event. The variety of sponsors is a reflection of the branding potential that could be utilised to deeply engage with consumers.
Being a hip hop festival, centralised in one location, gives an easier understanding of the hype that can be caused by the music industry (local and international). This particular consumer basin, that are in the midst of their 20’s, are extremely brand conscious and aware of the latest trends and changes in fashion, apparel and cell phones. Cell C, which is notorious for offering competitive cellular contracts, could play a great role in communicating their branded messages through this event by acting as a sponsor or running a campaign alongside the proceedings. People are going to be on their cell phones all day long during events like these. “Take a picture of #RickRoss at the Youth Hip Hop Festival on Instagram and stand a chance to win a new iPhone 6”.
A substantial amount of attendees would have fitted the archetype of the emerging adult. In South Africa, these are 20-25 year old black individuals who are “inspired, highly motivated and confident”. Any brand who is looking to market to this up-and-coming basin of consumers could use events like these to advertise/communicate on social media - as the market is very much so ‘online’. A case study (2009) found that this market is influenced by the mentioning of brands in their favourite songs. Relative South African divisions of these brands would fair well by “setting up shop” in/around or close to the The Youth Hip Hop festival. Nike, for example, is mentioned in well-known hip hop songs. Running a promotion to win a free ticket and a pair of Nike Airs would only further engage the brand’s market and network hype through word of mouth.
The Youth Hip Hop Festival - Why it Matters to Agencies
Agencies, especially fully-integrated digital ones, could have a field day with The Youth Hip hop festival. Seeing as though the event was primarily headed via a Facebook event and a microsite (now expired), agencies would be able to directly promote their services towards any brand wishing to partner with the event or run an online campaign in the midst of the consumer hype.
Digital activations are one of the most authentic way to stimulate hype. By utilising this medium of communication, local agencies in the greater Durban city area will be directly talking to their client’s consumers - as the young, urban youth are very “socially active”. These days, many people will search for the next upcoming trendy event on Facebook, to inquire about information and to let the world know that they will be attending by clicking on the “Going” tab.
Using social media campaigns, agencies could choose a myriad of engaging platforms to boost the presence of The Youth Hip Hop festival and their client’s message. Clients would also be mentioned in tweets, retweets, Facebook likes, shares etc.
For agencies who work with higher budgets, billboard campaigns would be an effective strategy to target the emerging adulthood markets. Seeing as though they would work in the city centre, streetside and skyscraper billboard campaigns would be in their direct line of view during daily commutes. Rivertown, a recently revamped suburb in the heart of Durban’s CBD boasts the luxurious art-deco styled apartment Pixley House. With 115 units and rising many stories above the ground, partnering with the management of this building would boast a pristine visual based billboard ad.
The Youth Hip Hop Festival 2015 was a much spoken about event, before and after it came to fruition. Brands and agencies can take advantage of these diverse avenues of marketing/advertising to push their consumer’s hot button.
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