From the main stage at Willie Nelson’s annual concert, North Carolinian folk singer and songwriter Lou Hazel asked the small audience gathered for his opening set: “How’s everybody doing?”
A thin, gray-haired man in the front row shouted happily: “We’re lucky!”
Surrounded by almost constant clouds of barbecue smoke and weed, the rest of the audience was laughing – it was true. Nelson’s ranch, called “Luck, Texas”, is not technically its own town. The property – home to the original set buildings of the 1986 western Red Headed Stranger – is located about an hour west of Austin, within the city limits of Spicewood.
Luck Reunion began in 2012, initially requiring all brand signage to be hand-painted. Often described as the “anti-celebration,” it now draws millions of sponsorship dollars from 20 different brands — tapping into the uniquely progressive strain of Texas spirit that the 91-year-old Nelson almost embodies.
With a long-term, experience-first partnership, brands like Southwest Airlines, Tito’s Handmade Vodka and Jack Daniels involved themselves in the celebration, physically interacting with 4,000 attendees and raising $50,000 through a ticket lottery and event production. Reached more than 100,000 viewers. The arm represents luck.
“The brands become almost like the performers of the festival, where they’re really bringing the value, the story and the energy to the event,” Matt Bizer, founder and executive producer of Luck Reunion, tells ADWEEK. “People are looking forward to seeing them there.”
Branded Salon and General Store
The luck reunion takes place during South by Southwest, Austin’s 37-year-old cluster of festivals involving music, technology, film, education and culture, which takes advantage of the influx of non-Texans visiting the state every March.
Brand sponsorships at Luck range from $10,000 to $20,000 on the low end, $20,000 to $50,000 on the mid-level, and $100,000 to $300,000 on the high end, Bizer said.
Southwest, a sponsor since 2017, took over Luck’s General Store (the Red Headed Stranger set included all the components of an Old West town – jail, saloon, chapel, etc.). This year, it used this space to highlight Wearsos, a partner company that sells leather goods made from leather repurposed from old airplane seats and hand-painted by Costa Rican artisans.
