Always x Secret "The Refresh Room" Coachella Activation Staffing

Strategic Objectives & Scope of Work

Always and Secret required a staffing partner that could represent two flagship P&G brands with warmth and sensitivity around personal care topics, while keeping a high-traffic hospitality space running smoothly through desert heat and festival crowds.

Total Daily Deployment: 6 Staff — Duration: 8 Operational Days Across Both Weekends — Total Shifts Completed: 48 — Coverage: 4 Operational Zones

• Confidence-First Brand Delivery: Represent period care and deodorant brands with the empathy, discretion, and positivity the "girlhood" concept demanded

• Guest Flow & Line Management: Keep the skip-the-line promise real by pacing entry into the lounge and restroom trailers

• Product Sampling Velocity: Put Always Pocket FlexFoam and Secret Mocktails samples directly into festivalgoers' hands and pockets

• Hospitality & Lounge Hosting: Maintain a clean, welcoming, air-conditioned reset space between sets

• Endurance Across Two Weekends: Deliver identical energy on Day 8 as Day 1, in full desert conditions

Eleven8 was tasked with recruiting, training, schedule-managing, and supervising the complete ambassador team across both weekends, from daily setup through close.

Zone-by-Zone Operational Footprint

The Refresh Room footprint was organized into four operational zones, each requiring continuous coverage throughout festival hours.

1. Entry & Queue Management

Activation entrance on the festival grounds.

• Welcoming guests and communicating the skip-the-line concept

• Pacing entry to protect the lounge experience

• Keeping the exterior line moving, shaded, and positive

2. Lounge & Hydration Hosting

Air-conditioned interior lounge with water stations.

• Hosting the reset space and directing guests to seating and hydration

• Keeping the space clean and restocked

• Creating the comfortable, community-minded atmosphere at the heart of the concept

3. Product Sampling Stations

Always and Secret sampling counters within the activation.

• Distributing Always Pocket FlexFoam and Secret Mocktails Collection samples

• Communicating key product messages (#AlwaysInMyPocket, #FresherUnderFestivalPressure)

• Engaging guests around the four Mocktails scents

4. Restroom Trailer Flow

Luxury restroom trailers.

• Managing trailer queues and monitoring turnover

• Coordinating with cleaning crews to keep the activation's core promise — a clean, elevated restroom experience — intact all day

Master Staffing Architecture & Shift Distribution

Eleven8 deployed a daily team of 6 brand ambassadors, rotated across all four zones to balance sun exposure and keep energy consistent through long festival days.

• Brand Ambassadors (6) — Entry & queue, lounge hosting, product sampling, restroom trailer flow

Operational Challenges & Eleven8 Strategic Execution

Representing Personal Care Brands with Sensitivity

The Refresh Room dealt directly with periods, sweat, and body odor — topics that demand empathy and discretion. The wrong tone from staff could make guests feel embarrassed instead of cared for.

Eleven8 Solution: Eleven8 selected ambassadors for warmth and emotional intelligence and briefed the team on both brands' confidence-first messaging, so conversations about period protection and deodorant felt like support between friends — matching the activation's celebration of girlhood — rather than a product pitch.

Desert Festival Conditions Across Eight Days

Coachella means full days in desert heat, dust, and crowds — conditions that break down staff energy and reliability, especially across two consecutive weekends.

Eleven8 Solution: Structured zone rotations balanced time in the air-conditioned lounge against exterior queue posts, with hydration and break schedules built into each day. Eleven8's roster depth across both weekends kept all 48 shifts filled with consistent faces and consistent energy.

Protecting a "Skip the Line" Promise at Peak Traffic

The activation's core promise was relief from festival bathroom lines. If the Refresh Room itself developed unmanaged queues at peak between-set surges, the concept would collapse.

Eleven8 Solution: Ambassadors actively paced entry and trailer turnover, flexing coverage toward the queue during set-break surges and back to sampling and lounge hosting during show hours — keeping wait times short and the experience premium all day.

Staff Onboarding, Training & Brand Alignment Protocol

To guarantee every ambassador represented Always and Secret's brand values, Eleven8 briefed the full team before each weekend.

• Brand & Research Briefing: Always and Secret brand messaging, the research insights behind the activation, and the girlhood-first tone of voice

• Product Training: Always Pocket FlexFoam benefits and the four Secret Mocktails scents (Berry Passionate, Mango Tango, Lime It Up, Pineapple Paradise), plus key hashtags and talking points

• Festival Operations: Empire Polo Club logistics, credentialing, hydration and sun-safety protocol, and daily shift huddles with zone assignments