Discussion: Fyre Festival Failure

Instructions
It was billed as an exclusive weekend festival in the Bahamas. It turned out to be something much, much different. 2017’s Fyre Fest was, in fact, a complete disaster. For this discussion, you will learn more about the event, then analyze what occurred.
What happened?
Review the following required resources, then address the prompts below.
• Hanbury, M. (2019, Jan. 19). These photos reveal why the 27-year-old organizer of the disastrous Fyre Festival has been sentenced to 6 years in prison (Link will open in new tab.) (Links to an external site.). Business Insider.
• LiveArea. (2019, Feb. 14). Case study: What can marketers learn from the Fyre Festival fallout? (Link will open in new tab.) (Links to an external site.)
Supplementary resources FYR below
Netflix and Hulu each made a documentary about the event and the aftermath that you can watch (optional). You don’t need to watch them to complete this discussion, as there should be enough information in the two articles above and in other blog posts and news articles that you can search for. However, if you are intrigued and would like to learn more, you can find them here:
• Hulu: Fyre Fraud – to access this video, login to Hulu and search for Fyre Fraud
• (Link will open in new tab.) (Links to an external site.)Netflix: FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (Link will open in new tab.) (Links to an external site.)
• (Link will open in new tab.) (Links to an external site.)Netflix: Official FYRE Documentary Trailer (Link will open in new tab.) (Links to an external site.)
If you are curious how the two documentaries are similar or different, here is a supplementary article that makes this comparison:
• Guerrasio, J. (2019, Jan. 18). We watched Netflix’s and Hulu’s docs about the doomed Fyre Festival, and one gives you a better look inside the fiasco (Link will open in new tab.) (Links to an external site.). Business Insider.
(Link will open in new tab.) (Links to an external site.)
Discussion Prompts
Apply what you learned from the materials this week on social media influencers (M4 Insights Page), PR, events and experiences, WOM, ethical marketing/advertising decisions, etc., to address the following discussion prompts. Feel free to conduct additional research, and please cite any outside sources you use in your initial post.
1. What did you learn from the marketing communication methods in the case of Fyre Fest? Comment on the successful IMC/social media strategies implemented, including their use of WOM and influencers (refer to the M4: Insights page for more background on this topic). How did consumers respond to these marketing communications? What made them seem successful in the beginning?
2. What went wrong in this process? Could any of these disasters have been prevented? If you were in charge of this project, how would you have managed such a crisis?
3. Identify any ethical concerns. Consider the different stakeholders involved, including the founders, vendor/suppliers, social media influencers, and consumers. How did they benefit? Or harmed? What advise can you give to consumers navigating information in today’s environment?
Don’t forget to reply to at least two classmates in order to receive full credit for this assignment. Make sure your responses add value to the conversation.
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Requirements
• Complete your initial post by the assignment due date and the responses to your peers by the end of the module.
• For your initial post, write a 4-6 sentence paragraph for each of the prompts listed above.
• Completely address each discussion prompt.
• Include at least one peer-reviewed resource/reference in your initial post that is NOT part of your module readings. You are welcome to also include citations from your required readings.
• Read and respond to a minimum of two of your peers.
• Include at least one reliable reference (not necessarily peer-reviewed) for each peer response. Online periodicals such as Fortune, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, and similar journals are good sources.
• Review the discussion rubric Download discussion rubric for grading details.
• In addition to points, you will earn the Evaluate a Marketing Campaign competency for successfully completing this assignment.