In a clever piece of marketing, the Vauxhall Corsa has joined forces with experiential marketing agency Jack Morton Worldwide and the creators of the popular music Isle of Wight music festival Bestival to produce an exciting consumer experience that will kick start the live music calendar in May.

Corsa presents Bandstand steered by Sunday Best, taking place at London’s Old Billingsgate on 3 May and Liverpool’s Carling Academy on 10 May, is an eccentric, eclectic indoor festival, which promises “much dressing up and letting down of hair”. Centred around the sound and imagination of Sunday Best, one of the UK’s leading independent record labels and party organisers, and headlined by Brit and Grammy Award winner Mark Ronson, Bandstand looks like being a truly individual celebration of British musical exuberance and fun the weather can’t spoil.

The partnership means that Bandstand, which began at Bestival, now becomes a unique standalone event in its own right, and the collaboration reflects the youth demographic of Corsa’s consumer base. Vauxhall Corsa was launched in October 2006 and was awarded What Car? Car Of The Year 2007. The core market for Corsa is 20-something urban dwellers and taking this as the starting point, the desire to create totally unique and urban experiences evolved. The event comes at a time of heightened interest in experiential marketing, where the challenge is to reach an increasingly sophisticated and selective consumer audience. In fact, a new survey by Jack Morton has revealed that 75% of marketers plan to increase spending on the function in 2008.

“The event takes Corsa well and truly out of the traditional realms of communication for a car company and allows us to speak with potential car buyers and to reward existing Corsa drivers,” said Richard Hughes, group marketing manager at Vauxhall. “We made a conscious decision not to do this in a manner expected of us. In Sunday Best, we have found a partner who shares our vision about doing something different, fun and totally unique.”

A unique identity has been created for the event by Sunday Best’s Josie Lynwode. Based around a magical park-like world of fauna, animals and characters, this will run through all communications and will form the theme of the event dressing at both venues and also specially liveried cars. A dedicated web portal for the event – www.bandstandevents.co.uk – has been built, allowing consumers to purchase tickets, find out about the line up and interact with the different characters specifically created for the event. Social media will play a key part in promoting this portal, and there will be a programme of communication to both the Sunday Best and Corsa databases using both email and direct mail.

Bandstand launches in London’s Old Billingsgate, an incredible Grade 2 listed building right next to the Thames on the 3rd May and then travels up to Liverpool’s renowned Carling Academy the following weekend. The venues are to be transformed to help make Bandstand a unique experience. For example, in the Bandstand main stage arena, live acts and DJs will perform surrounded by park benches, eccentric look-a-likes and paths leading off to different areas.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to unite and work with two such vital British brands for this exciting event which really speaks to the power of experiential marketing to create truly engaging, advocate-building experiences,” said Julian Pullan managing director, Jack Morton Worldwide, London.