Refinery29 expects its Unbothered vertical to draw thousands to its first ticketed event in Atlanta

By Sara Guaglione

Unbothered — Refinery29’s five-year-old vertical for a young, Black audience — is preparing to host its first large-scale, in-person ticketed event, called “The Glow Up.” The two-day event will take place in Atlanta on June 18 and 19, coinciding with Juneteenth. The Unbothered team wants to draw 4,000 attendees to the event, said Chelsea Sanders, vp of Unbothered. This is the vertical’s first public-facing event.

The event is “an opportunity for Juneteenth to celebrate ourselves our way,” Sanders said. The Glow Up brings “even more direct, interactive experiences to our audience” across areas such as lifestyle, beauty, wellness and entertainment, “at a time when our audience craves that connection with us and the Black community together,” she added.

The Glow Up’s sponsors include Unbothered returning advertisers Target, Ulta Beauty, Clorox and STARZ. Target has sponsored five seasons of Unbothered’s podcast “Go Off, Sis,” for example, and Clorox has backed Unbothered’s Black History Month content for the past three years, Sanders said.

Sanders declined to share how much revenue is coming from The Glow Up’s ticket sales and sponsorships. A spokesperson for Vice Media Group — Refinery29’s parent company — declined to say how many tickets have been sold so far, but noted that Unbothered has “surpassed their revenue goals” for the event.

Tickets to The Glow Up range from $35 for a single-day general admission pass to $180 for a two-day VIP pass. Discounts are given to HBCU students and local Atlanta companies, nonprofits and community organizations, Sanders said.

Each day at The Glow Up has unique programming, including live tapings of the “Go Off, Sis” and Unbothered’s “Dear, Black Love” video series, roller skating, shopping from local, Black-owned vendors and a food court. The event will spotlight a mix of Atlanta-based talent and leading figures from the Black community, including Latto, Cleotrapa, Lala Milan, Coco Jones, Baby Tate, Pap Chanel, Yung BBQ, Kaash Paige, Kali, MK xyz, Khadeen + Devale Ellis, Ronne Brown, Aja Thornton, Courtney Grace and Sabrina Brazil.

Activations at The Glow Up for those brands include Target’s creators studio to inform attendees on how to get credits for their content, Sanders said. STARZ will host a headshot studio, with photos taken by Atlanta-based photographer Cam Kirk. Clorox will provide products to help sanitize attendees and the outdoor roller rink. Refinery29 did not say how much these activations were worth.

Interactive experiences like these are unique to in-person events because brands “simply can’t have that level of connection with a potential fan of your brand through a print advertisement, display ad or influencer post on Instagram,” said Eric Fleming, co-founder and executive producer of experiential agency Makeout NYC. “For a lot of these brands, it’s one of the most successful ways to drive conversions, to get a product in front of people and allow them to use it and experience it. There’s value in creating moments for brands to provide sampling.”

Lauren Austin, chief creative officer at creative experiential agency MKG, agreed: “I doubt Unbothered’s audience are impacted by digital banners …read more

Source:: Digiday