Beauty’s desert playground: Why brands are going big at Coachella

By Nyima Jobe | Published: 16-Apr-2025
Marketing

As the music festival evolves into a cultural marketing hotspot, brands like Sol de Janeiro, Rhode and Neutrogena are seizing the moment with influence-driven activations

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Each April, the California desert becomes a backdrop for global music acts, influencer fashion statements and increasingly strategic beauty brand activations. 

Coachella 2025 (11 to 20 April) is no exception, as beauty brands turn up the volume with immersive installations, sampling stations, and photogenic moments aimed squarely at Gen Z and millennial audiences – specifically 125,000 guests a day embarking on the Colorado desert.

This year, Sol de Janeiro was announced as Coachella’s first official fragrance partner.

A move that underlines the festival’s growing appeal as a launchpad for beauty marketing. 

The Brazilian-inspired brand, known for its cult favourite Cheirosa scent mists, unveiled Casa Cheirosa – a 30x30ft installation described as a “sensory playground”. 

Beauty’s desert playground: Why brands are going big at Coachella

Designed with experiential agency MKG, the space invited festival-goers to “cool off”, experiment with fragrance layering, and even star in their own music videos, all while immersing themselves in Sol de Janeiro’s scent-led brand world.

“We have never followed category conventions,” said Heela Yang, CEO and co-founder of Sol de Janeiro. 

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  • Companies:
  • Sol de Janeiro
  • Rhode
  • Kenvue
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