What brands can learn from Glastonbury’s most engaging social content

Creative brand content: Architecture magazine, Dezeen

The architecture publication, Dezeen, reviewed the top six installations at Glastonbury. The carousel post made €33,860 EMV. Each slide includes a video showing an installation.

Micro-influencer watch: Small creator, big impact

Will Gamble (@willxgamble, 47,700 followers, TikTok) generated 8,064 likes with a TikTok video showing his day at Glastonbury. The video is over a minute long and uses storytelling techniques and a fast edit to keep viewers engaged. 

Top content Saturday: 

Charlie xcx, Scissor Sisters, and Neil Young were hotly anticipated. But political commentary dominated the press. This allowed smaller influencers to make an impact with creative posts. Still, mega-influencers and performers won the most EMV.

Top accounts generating EMV 

These were the top accounts on Instagram by EMV on Saturday:

• Clash Magazine (@clashmagazine, 336,100 followers, Instagram) led with €366,490 in EMV from eight posts, including two stories, one post, and five reels. Their content drove 204,630 engagements with a standout 15.31% engagement rate. Clash Magazine’s content referenced the divisive remarks by punk band Kneecap. 
• Charlotte Tomlinson (@lottietomlinson, 4.8m followers, Instagram) shared a single post that generated €201,610 in EMV and attracted 153,230 engagements, achieving an engagement rate of 3.14%. Her posts showed her posing and enjoying the festival.

• Paul McCartney (@paulmccartney, 4.6M followers, Instagram) posted one reel reminiscing on the 2022 Beatles performance. The video earned €139,110 in EMV and drove 109,560 engagements, with an engagement rate of 2.34%.

The variety between these three top performers reveals how different styles of content can perform equally well. It’s about knowing your audience and sharing genuine content that resonates. 

Micro watch: Glastonbury mentions

While macro-influencers were responsible for the biggest posts, micro-influencers also referenced the festival–often with comedic or cultural commentary. 

Micro-influencer, Howell Davies (@howelldavies, 18,100 followers, TikTok) posted a video of an empty, littered Pyramid stage asking, “Is it too early to take my spot for Charli?”, referring to popular artist Charli xcx who performed later than evening. 

Top Content and KOLs Sunday

The final day saw The Prodigy, Olivia Rodrigo, and Rod Stewart on stage. On social media, it was the artists themselves who created the most buzz. 

• Aurora (@auroramusic, 4.19M followers, Instagram) earned €117,110 in EMV from a single post that generated 77,240 engagements, achieving an engagement rate of 1.84%.

• Olivia Rodrigo’s official fan account, Livies HQ (@livieshq, 2.2m followers, Instagram) shared six pieces of content, including four stories and two reels, that drove 40,930 engagements and €100,620 in EMV.
• Lily Allen (@lilyallen, 1.73m followers, Instagram) shared a carousel post featuring moments from the festival and earned €80,600 in EMV, attracting 61,080 engagements with a strong engagement rate of 3.53%.

Brands that capitalised on influencer marketing

More brands are using events as part of their influencer marketing. This tactic allows brands to benefit from the online conversations around the cultural moment. 

One way to join the buzz is to directly sponsor or collaborate with the festival. 

Let’s take a look at the brands mentioned by Glastonbury on Instagram:

• Vodafone UK (@vodafoneuk, 69,850 followers, Instagram) was mentioned in two Instagram Stories over the past month, generating €5,110  in EMV. The stories showcased Vodafone power banks available at the festival.
• Adidas UK (@adidasuk, 1.52m followers, Instagram) appeared in one story, earning €2,550 in EMV from the festival’s content showing a Glastonbury-inspired football shirt. 

These quick stories generated significant EMV for the brands. 

However, brands can also promote their products via influencer marketing. 

Let’s take a look at some brands that activated influencers at Glastonbury festival. 

Liquid IV: Micro-influencer content

Many festival goers love the late nights but fear the hangovers. Electrolyte powder, Liquid IV, promises to end the headache.

The brand activated micro-influencer Natalie MC (@natalie_mccc, 63,100 followers, TikTok) in early June to promote Liquid IV as the solution to those difficult mornings. In the video, the influencer shares how she uses Liquid IV drink to recover at festivals. The post now has over 52,000 plays and 1099 likes–generating €4,270 EMV. 

Google Pixel 

Google Pixel sponsored TikTokers Lola Clarke (@scoobiezoobie, 4.5m followers, TikTok) and Victor Kunda (@victor.kunda, 806,200 followers, TikTok) to content at Glastonbury in their typical style. 

For Clarke, the go-to content style is fashion. She posted a get ready with me video, featuring the outfits she planned to wear at the festival. Her video received 1,376 likes and 112,300 plays, resulting in €4,600 in EMV. 

Kunda’s content is more experimental. He posted a comedy video featuring a slow-motion tent set up. It has lower reach but higher engagement, and an EMV of €4,500. 

ROKA London: Gifting tickets to a group of influencers

ROKA London combined gifted influencers with Glastonbury tickets to promote its bags. The brand’s social media account has been positioning the summer collection as festival-ready. The final touch was activating influencers at events like Glastonbury. 

ROKA London invited influencers Alexandra Brown (@alexandrabrown__, 105,000 followers, Instagram), James Warnock (@jwarnockk, 277,000 followers, Instagram), and Mary McCarthy (@marymccarths, 190,000 followers, Instagram) to attend Glastonbury in exchange for content promoting the brand. 

McCaarthy posted a mix of content tagging the brand. A carousel post generated €12,970 in EMV, with a strong 5% engagement rate. Many of the images featured different ROKA bags.

Warnock’s carousel post generated €11,500 in EMV. And Brown’s content raised over €20,000 EMV over the weekend. 

The genius of this campaign? The influencers are friends, creating natural moments of joy. 

Performance & Impact: Engagement, Visibility, and EMV

Between May 30 and June 30, Glastonbury generated €8.86m in EMV on Instagram, with a strong 2.3% engagement rate. Content tagging the brand had over 179.22m impressions, and 1,627 KOLs mentioned the festival. The majority (68%) were micro-influencers but a large chunk (23%) were macro-influencers. 

EMV peaked on Friday this year. But last year, the Sunday lineup generated the most EMV. 

Artist Dua Lipa (@dualipa, 87.7m followers, Instagram) made €1.4m in EMV with a single post after her Sunday night performance in 2024. On the same day, band SEVENTEEN generated €686,000. 

This year's KOLs failed to achieve the same level of engagement. As a result, EMV was down 50% and impressions shrank by 45% despite there only being 4% fewer posts. 

Emerging trends & key insights

Across the board, creators leaned into familiar formats, such as OOTDs, GRWMs, behind-the-scenes reels, to bring audiences into the Glastonbury experience. 

Unsurprisingly, headline artists and household names drove strong EMV. But timely, topical content that tapped into cultural moments rocketed reach for smaller creators. 

Another trend: influencer groups, especially those with genuine chemistry, proved more engaging than solo posts or scripted brand integrations. 

The final word: What worked best this season?

Glastonbury 2025 confirmed that authenticity still beats spectacle. AI-generated visuals and flashy edits were beaten by content that felt real—missed events, sweat, sunshine and all. 

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this year’s festival is that there isn’t one clear formula for success. Put simply, different formats work for different creators. What mattered most was alignment: content that felt true to the creator’s voice or the brand’s identity succeeded.

Whether it was a viral joke about poor outfit choices or a performer grateful to be at the festival, these moments mirrored the audience’s experience and drove the most impact.