I watched Jack Johnson’s live stream of his annual Kokua Festival this past weekend and was really inspired by it, so I thought I’d share some of my observations. It made me reflect on how now, more than ever, companies need to be authentic and truly define and understand their purpose. McKinsey stated this well, here.
This isn’t the first remote concert or fundraising festival. Global Citizen did something similar a week or so ago, featuring talented artists performing to eliminate global hunger and poverty.
For a few reasons, I had a far more emotional reaction to Jack Johnson’s Kokua Festival.
(Disclaimer: I’m a huge Jack Johnson fan. I can’t say for sure how much that influenced my reaction to the Kokua Festival live digital event. But if nothing else it’s a proof point for why knowing your audience well matters now, more than ever.)
What the Kokua Festival Got Right
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Clear Call-to-Action—At its core, this was a fundraising event for Jack Johnson’s Kokua Hawaii Foundation which supports a number of causes critical to Hawaii. The integration of the charitable aspect was tied in strongly to the overall programming in a clearly valuable and meaningful way. They had an integrated live donation-ticker so you could see the fundraising activity taking place in real-time.
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Live & Authentic—They streamed live (yes live!) using Twitch, which I have typically considered more of a gaming or video streaming platform, but apparently not. The event was offered through Amazon Music and is available on-demand on Facebook/YouTube.
And the show ran a little long (by an hour or so), but even that, oddly, made it feel like an in-person event. Throughout, Jack Johnson would occasionally ask for guidance from the producers as to whether he was on track or not—drawing up memories and the feeling of a “real” live and in-person music festival or gala fundraiser.
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Storytelling at Its Finest—Although streamed live, they also included a lot of pre-recorded segments. However, Jack Johnson hosting as a live emcee for the duration of the event, really made it work. It felt genuine. His style of music and personality were much-needed antidotes to the stress we’re all feeling. And, importantly, it came across as truly authentic. If you’ve ever been to a Jack Johnson concert, you know he is an amazing storyteller. He created an emotional connection to the performances and segments, without it feeling false or forced, by weaving in personal stories about the musicians and his own life throughout.
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Star-Studded Entertainment Value—The event featured some amazing live performances by Jack, of course, but also Eddy Vedder, Ben Harper and several others. They also performed a live song with all artists participating—something that we’ve seen done well by other orchestras and bands globally, but rarely live.
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Varied Visuals—Much of the event was shot outside, which was a really refreshing change of pace. A lot of the segments were produced from different locations in homes, as well as from backyards, which offered variety and a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the lives of the performers. With the Hawaiian landscape and vegetation in the backdrop, I was emotionally connected to the cause and transported to another place. I could almost feel the humidity on my skin, as I watched from my living room.
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Diverse Content—The programming was diversified, including a chef-led cooking segment that tied into the Kokua Foundation’s support of educating school-age children about the importance of healthy organic food. The agenda included 1:1 chats, interviews, casual banter and video interstitials for the foundations. All of which kept the program engaging and on pace. It also moved really quickly, to the point that I didn’t realize that three hours had passed until it had.
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Risk-Taking—Many of the musicians tried new things that were perhaps outside of their comfort zones. And they took some risks. The Jack Johnson band members each pre-recorded themselves on video playing a song (“Banana Pancakes”), then they replayed the segments simultaneously as one cohesive song. It worked really well! Jack even queued it up, in full authenticity, by noting that it was “something crazy” and they weren’t quite sure how it would work out.
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Tone—Everything about this event felt really “right” for where we are. There was not a ton of talk of COVID-19, but there was a lot of appropriate acknowledgment of the situation we’re all in and the impacts it’s having on communities everywhere.
One of the outcomes of this entire crisis has been the innovation and ingenuity that we’re seeing. This is true even from the industries and segments initially hit the hardest—like entertainment and cultural fundraising. I am looking forward to watching the unfolding, as we continue to see the world of media, entertainment and corporate events merge and deliver new, creative engagement opportunities together.
Let me know if you have other examples of events or experiences that have really done things right. Feel free to share in the comments below.
—Erica Spoor