If you haven’t seen this year’s Coachella clips floating around the internet by now, you’re definitely living under a rock. The performances were so good, I stayed up until 3:48am to watch certain sets (the time difference and all). From the moment fans hit the highway toward Indio, California, it became clear that this wasn’t just about music, it was about the message. Artists turned the road into a marketing runway, with huge billboards teasing performances, hinting at eras, or trolling the internet.
Starting off with the headliner that singlehandly goes down as my favorite performance to date, Lady Gaga. The queen of theatrics returned and she returned in style. Gaga’s return to Coachella was such a major moment that her billboards made sure everyone felt that moment long before she stepped on stage. Fans were greeted with three different billboard designs scattered throughout the desert, each evoking a different aspect of her artistic identity. One featured a close up of her with smudged lipstick and a neon “MAYHEM,” referencing her new chaotic aesthetic. Another played up religious symbolism, while a third had no text at all, just her iconic eyes piercing the highway dust. Her billboards weren’t promotions, they were plot twists. A perfect example of brand continuity meeting mystery.
South African rising star Tyla, used humor and cultural relevance to stand out. Her billboard? A stark white backdrop with the words: “Got Water?” in bold black font. It was simple and instantly recognizable as a parody of the old “Got Milk?” campaign. But it also served a practical reminder in the desert heat and a double entendre for the wave she’s making in music right now with her breakout hit “Water.”
Charli XCX took a more cryptic approach. Her billboard was just the word “BRAT” but crossed out in green spray paint. Fans of Charli immediately recognized it as a reference to her iconic musical era that even had political campagins use it, but why was it crossed out? Was she reinventing it? Was Brat summer over? Nobody knew, and that was the point. That is until the end of her coachella performance where she did confirm the Brat era was over and that maybe it was time for a “insert here” summer where she listed a bunch of performers with new albums coming out. Ambiguity can be powerful. When your fan base is already tuned into your aesthetic, even a vague message can explode into viral content.
Coachella has always been a brand builder, but this year, the artists themselves took control of how they want to be perceived for their incoming performances. In an age of doom scrolling, a real world billboard felt almost avantgarde. These artists reached their audience IRL and made them look up from their phones. The buildup wasn’t limited to social media or setlist leaks. These campaigns and promotionals created FOMO before the festival even began. What Coachella 2025 proved is that great PR doesn’t always require a press release. Sometimes, it’s about getting in your audience’s line of sight, literally.