Bloom, Pacsun and more chase Coachella crowds on the way to the show with roadside activations

CPG Playbook // April 10, 2026 Bloom, Pacsun and more chase Coachella crowds on the way to the show with roadside activations By Melissa Daniels Maruchan What started as a social media joke about affording Coachella tickets has turned into a full-scale roadside activation for ramen company Maruchan.

Last year, the brand’s fans delighted in a social media post about how it would “still be here for you when the Coachella payment plan hits.”

Katelyn Stokes, marketing director at Maruchan, told Modern Retail that the brand wanted to take the theme to the next level this year with a convenience store-style activation held about 45 minutes outside of the festival grounds. “You can see the pop-up from the highway, and it grounds people with a landmark that’s easy to find,” she said.

“Since we’re not in the festival, this is a way for the brand to still be present.” Maruchan is one of dozens of brands popping up in the vicinity of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

While the event itself is a hub for major brand sponsorships and brand activations from the likes of Heineken and Starbucks, brands are increasingly doing hotel takeovers, hosting house parties or coming up with experiential moments in the desert to capture some of the foot traffic and attention, without having to pay to actually be on the festival grounds.

Women’s apparel brand Windsor is doing a takeover at Palm Springs’ luxe Avalon Hotel, where influencers who work with the brand will be treated to shuttle rides and gifting suites, plus a pool party on Saturday.

Pacsun, which has a bold black billboard along the freeway, has a roadside stand on Highway 111 heading out to the festival grounds with exclusive merch and flash tattoos, and is also hosting a house party for the first time. Revolve is hosting its own invite-only festival for the ninth year in a row.

Off-site activations are becoming a key way brands are showing up at big cultural events; earlier this year, companies like Béis, While on Earth and Away held pop-ups across San Francisco during the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Maruchan’s MaruMart is located at Cabazon Outlets, a premium outlet mall along Interstate 10 on the way from Los Angeles. The activation includes a DIY ramen bowl station, plus limited-edition merch and to-go snack items. It’s advertised with billboards around the exit, one of which reads, “Festival finances ain’t matching?”

The other says, “Still here when the festival payment plan kicks in.” “We wanted to bring that message of ‘we’re here for you’ to life this year,” Stokes said, “It really speaks to who we are as a brand: affordable and dependable.” Stokes said it’s the company’s biggest activation to date after a smaller trial at L. A. ComicCon.

But it invested in a shipping container to build the MaruMart and an Airstream trailer to cook the ramen, so the goal is to use these new assets to show up at future events. “We’re dipping our toes into activations in moments that make sense for us,” she said. “If there’s positive sentiment, we’ll think about how to bring this to other festivals.”

Leaning in on novelty One of Maruchan’s biggest challenges in setting up the activation was determining which products or flavors to promote to generate the most buzz. It’s using MaruMart to highlight its latest launch, a Flamin’ Hot chicken flavor, that people can sample.

It also has special recipes that will be cooked on site, limited-edition merch, and products for sale for people to take to their Airbnbs or campsites — in hopes that they’ll post about the experience. “The ultimate success metric is delivering delicious food and getting that feedback in person,” Stokes said. “But beyond that, it’s the social conversation.”

Meanwhile, Irv’s Burgers, which has three locations in California and Los Angeles, will be vending at the festival. But its signature item this year is the LA to L. A. Combo, created in conjunction with singer and Coachella performer Addison Rae, in a nod to her Louisiana-to-Los Angeles journey.

It features her “dream burger,” with white American cheese, Cajun-blackened pineapple, jalapeños and Irv’s signature sauce, plus a side of waffle fries covered in Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning. CEO Lawrence Longo said he first met Rae when he bought the chain several years ago; she became a fan of the brand, and he hoped to one day do a collaboration.

So when she was announced as a Coachella performer in September, he said it was a natural fit. “At first, I was like, pineapple and pickled jalapeños? I don’t know if people are gonna love that. And she was right,” Longo said. “It’s like an umami of flavors in your mouth.”

A collectible cup featuring Rae’s face on a dollar bill is already driving some sales for Irv’s Burgers