Move over Brat summer, it’s time for Brit-pop summer. For the first time in nearly 16 years, the infamous Gallagher brothers have once again taken to the stage to make almost 1.4 million Oasis fans’ dreams come true. 

As the comeback of the decade unfolds, fans are set to spend £1.06bn on tickets, accommodation, food, drink, outfits, and merchandise. With such huge commercial potential, the marketing opportunities for this iconic cultural moment are vast, if brands can get it right.

Successfully playing into the comeback of the decade will only work if brands create work that resonates. By using the right creativity and consumer understanding, they might be able to achieve every brand’s dream - authentically engaging with, and even becoming a part of, culture.

Fandom: music’s marketing superpower

The positive impact of A listers tours on local economies - an altogether different take on the ‘gig economy’ -  is now well documented. Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour made $2bn, twice as much as any other tour (ever), and was mentioned in UK Parliament for having boosted the UK economy by £1 billion. But it isn’t just ‘gigenomics’ that fandoms influence, it's popular culture too.

Last year, fellow British pop icon - Brit-pop of an entirely different kind - Charli XCX, showcased this with what became known as Brat summer. Signified by iconic branding, from minimal clue-like billboards to a specific colour and font, the album rollout and subsequent hype was a lesson in culture creation. 

And it paid off. The singer is speculated to have made $10 million from what followed the launch of her album, ‘brat’, demonstrating the sheer marketing firepower of such a moment.

Following in its wake, the Oasis reunion tour strives not to do the same, but to make its own space. Oasis fans span generations, from those who were around when they were first popular in the 90s, to their children and a whole new generation. They have a varied audience and appeal to music fans for a range of reasons, from nostalgia to a timeless resonance with the youth. So the marketing opportunities are wide open.

At the same time, Oasis fans are dedicated, with many having waited years for a tour they thought would never come. In attendance at the band’s opening night in Cardiff, fans had travelled from around the globe, kitted out in bucket hats, parkas and Oasis merch. If any fandom was due its cultural moment, or dedicated summer, it's this one.

Give the people what they want

Understanding the fanbase is the first step. If brands know what they are looking for, then they can give it to them. Although it might sound simple, resonating with this fanbase, as with any, requires being highly tuned in and knowing your place in their life. Brands that can tap into nuance, with the right tone, and in the right place, will come out on top.

Foremost, it’s important to understand that a brand should not try to control culture, but instead it should work to facilitate it. Fandoms and subcultures create culture and the best brands support.

The case is the same for the Oasis reunion tour. To be a part of the moment, create work, partnerships, and activations that amp-up the excitement of the tour, bring people in, or extend the experience. High-demand tours like this are expensive, so brands can pay it back to customers by creating smaller moments that bring a bite-sized slice of the tour’s excitement. 

There is also a fun opportunity for brands to embrace a tongue-in-cheek tone, reflecting the band’s own. That opens up a range of creative possibilities to get involved, and being witty will help you to stand out.

While doing all this, go where you belong. Show up in spaces that make sense for the brand, in order to have the most authentic involvement possible. 

Brands that are doing it right

Brands have already jumped on the Oasis reunion train, with Adidas bringing back 90s nostalgia in its latest collection with the band. The collection reflects back what a lot of fans are wearing to the gigs, both demonstrating an understanding of the band’s historic looks and of the fan culture.

Others have been jumping on the hype in more indirect ways, like Aldi. Employing the playful tone that the band is associated with, the supermarket chain changed a store name in Manchester to mimic the regional pronunciation, becoming ‘Aldeh’. It also began stocking limited-edition ‘Supernova Champagne’, a reference to one of the band’s most famous songs.

Another tongue-in-cheek marketing move, Lidl played into the light-hearted comparisons of Berghaus’ Liam Gallagher campaign, in which he wore a jacket of very similar colours to the budget supermarket. Lidl created its own jacket, featuring those same colours, that has cooling pockets - to keep drinks chilled on the way to Oasis gig venues - and a built-in bottle opener in the zip. All proceeds from the jackets went to the NSPCC, in an act of giving back.

Honourable mentions include the Hooch mural in Manchester, with its depiction of the brothers with lemons for heads, and the Selfridges ‘Summer of Sound’ pop up, with the London and Manchester stores stocking Oasis merch.

It’s a tour that fans were never sure would come, and one that they have been hoping for for years. So the excitement is certainly there, and so is the scope for it to be another huge cultural moment. 

Add to that all the fun ways available for brands to play around in this space, and the potential is massive. But, brands must show that they understand the fandom and are there to enhance the overall tour experience, in order to authentically engage with Brit-pop summer.