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TABLE OF CONTENTS: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
3
THE CHALLENGE
3
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
4
CUSTOMER ANALYSIS
5
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
6
COLLABORATORS
6
SWOT ANALYSIS
9
MARKET SEGMENTATION
10
MARKETING STRATEGY
11
PRODUCT
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PRICE
11
DISTRIBUTION
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PROMOTION
12
SHORT AND LONG TERM PROJECTIONS
12
CONCLUSION
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APPENDIX
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A. Band Bio
13
B. Facebook Demographics and Stats
14
C. Blog List
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D. College Radio Stations
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E. SWOT
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F. Album Artwork
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G. Distribution Images
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H. One Sheet
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The following is a marketing plan for The Evening Attraction (TEA) with the purpose of developing the band’s brand, their online and local presence, and promote their latest album; Almost Desperate. The Evening Attraction is a local Chicago band with a vintage, rock n’ roll sound. Their music is heavily influenced by 1960’s jazz and 1970’s rock which allows for easy listening and the ability to reach a larger audience. Brianna has been working with The Evening Attraction for the past three months to create this marketing plan. During this time TEA has actively been looking for and playing shows throughout Chicago to promote themselves and, more importantly, Almost Desperate.
THE CHALLENGE In addition to marketing The Evening Attraction, Brianna will also be marketing the band’s album, Almost Desperate. Almost Desperate was recorded at Tree House Records in Chicago on 1” analog tape. It features ten original tracks and has a runtime of 35:55 minutes. The album is infused with high-energy, catchy lyrics, guitar riffs, and more! This album will be promoted via live performances, CD sales, and more. Currently, the band offers a physical CD at shows for $5 and on iTunes for $9.90; as well as having the album available on Spotify and Bandcamp for pay what you will. This album will be featured and reviewed by several Chicago music blogs —ones that mainly focus on indie, rock artists. Additionally, the single “Lose Yourself” will be aired on several college radios in the Chicago Land Area. TEA will gain market share by being exposed to the Chicago market who listen to college radio and are avid blog visitors.
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SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS GOALS: -
Increase Facebook likes by 350 by January 1, 2016 Increase Twitter followers by 350 by January 1, 2016 Create an Instagram account Gain 50 followers by the end of the creation week Gain 350 followers by January 1, 2016 Gain 100 followers on Spotify by January 1, 2016 Sell all remaining LP’s by January 1, 2016 Create merchandise Stickers Buttons Create a YouTube account Increase video content Live content Cover songs Music video New promos Create bulk content to post on social media
FOCUS The main focus of this marketing plan is to help develop TEA’s brand and gain a larger following/awareness within the Chicago music scene. TEA is not a very recognized band so by being featured on blogs, playing more shows, and creating/posting web content will allow them to gain more recognition from their current following as well as future following; which are the early adapters who are tech savvy and stay up to date with local music via blogs. CULTURE/BRAND TEA’s vintage rock, jazz infused sound promotes easy listening which allows the band to appeal to many markets. Their music has guitar riffs which can take the average song up a notch and really get the crowd going! Anyone can listen to this music at any time during the day.
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STRENGTHS The greatest strength TEA has is their sound. As aforementioned, the band promotes easy listening, therefore, they can play many places and appeal to many markets. Another strength includes every member is a college student. This allows for constant promotion and the availability to play events on campus. This will help gain a larger following from their primary market as well as build relationships and connections through the student body. A final strength includes having their music available for purchase or download, or to listen to on several platforms including iTunes, Bandcamp, and Spotify. WEAKNESSES One of TEA’s weaknesses include every member being a college student. While this is a strength it can also be viewed as a weakness. Since they’re college students this doesn’t allow a lot of extra time to play many shows or to focus on marketing their band because they have school work to attend to. Another weakness includes limited social media. TEA is not very active nor consistent on social media which leaves room for followers to forget about them or to remove them from their social following. With a social media push and campaign TEA will be able to stay current with all of their followers as well as promote engagement.
CUSTOMER ANALYSIS The Evening Attraction has two target demographics; one they’re targeting now and one they will target once their brand is more developed. Collectively, TEA’s target demographics are all persons between the ages of 17 - 35. These persons have some disposable income and enjoy seeing live entertainment. This demographic lives near or in Chicago, IL and enjoy night life. PRIMARY MARKET The primary target market Brianna will be focusing on while marketing The Evening Attraction is the persons between the ages of 17 and 25. These persons are students who are leaving high school and going into college, or who are already attending a college or university, in the Chicago land area. This target demographic has little to no disposable income; (household income of $15 or less) however, are willing to spend their money on live entertainment. On the weekends these persons go to local shows or bars with live entertainment and support the local music scene. In extension to local businesses, persons of this target demographic are also part of their local DIY scene and attend underground, DIY
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shows. In addition to enjoying nightlife these persons enjoy spending most of their time out of school and work with their friends. SECONDARY MARKET Once TEA’s brand is more developed and gain a larger, steady following, Brianna will focus on marketing TEA to the latter age of their collective target demographic, ages 25 to 35. Persons of this demographic live in the Chicago land area who also have families, full-time jobs, disposable income (house hold income of $70+), enjoy night life, going out to restaurants and bars, enjoy live entertainment, supporters of the local music scene, as well as regularly making plans with friends.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS There are many people that can be listed as a competitor to The Evening Attraction and these people are different indie rock musicians that spend a lot of their time promoting themselves. Anyone that creates light rock or alternative rock music could also be considered a competitor to The Evening Attraction as they are a combination of the two genres. The thing that helps TEA however, is that they are not just one specific genre. This gives them the ability to get past some competition and to prove that they are something refreshing to the music scene. Another thing is that not all of the competitors are in a similar age bracket. Since TEA is filled with college students, they are able to relate with most of his listeners by being able to focus on specific topics through their social media outlets that are in a similar view of his fans. Not every competitor is able to do that like TEA can.
COLLABORATORS TREEHOUSE RECORDS The Evening Attraction recorded Almost Desperate at this studio on 1” analog tape. Being pleased with the final product, they can continue to use Treehouse Records’ services in the future or partner with a new studio. If they choose to work with a new studio it will be of same or better quality. Additionally, Treehouse records hosts in office performances. Being able to perform a show on location would be an awesome opportunity as well as promote more web content for social media. ONLINE BLOGS Brianna will reach out to various blogs for an album/show review as well as a new single when made available. By being featured on these blogs it exposes TEA to different people of
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their target market. Instead of just the frequent social media users, being featured on blogs allows TEA to be introduced into, sort-of, a niche market of blog readers. Although, blogs are very popular now majority of people don’t visit them frequently. When TEA gets featured on a blog we want to reach the audience who cares about music enough to stay up-to-date with music new and the latest album or single. See appendix C for bloglist
PSPRINT In the future TEA will be ordering stickers from PsPrint of their logo and album artwork. PsPrint is a great website with various sticker options as well as offer good prices. These stickers will be used to promote the band as merch during shows as well as a grassroots marketing. COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO Columbia College Chicago offers a lot of opportunities for TEA to play shows, partner with various students and student orgs. The following is a list of various events, student organizations, and etc. Columbia has to offer. AEMMP RECORDS TEA was featured on a 12 song compilation titled day//night put out by AEMMP Records’ rock division in Fall 2014. Their song “Lose Yourself” was the first track on the compilation. In addition to being possibly featured on future AEMMP Records releases, TEA also has the opportunity to play showcases with the label. AEMMP Records just created a new campaign called “RevAEMMP’d” where they showcase past releases and artists they’ve previously worked with. Brianna will set up an interview with the project coordinator of that group and TEA in order to get some new press for the band. STUDENT PROGRAMMING BOARD The Student Programming Board is a student run organization on Columbia’s campus. They are responsible for hosting Big Mouth, which is an open mic event; Biggest Mouth, which is an annual battle of the bands competition; the SPB Lounge, which is a room where parents and students can come relax, during Manifest (Columbia’s annual
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urban arts festival); and Side Stage during Manifest, which is a little stage a few blocks away from the main stage where student bands perform. TEA has the opportunity to play at Big Mouth and Biggest Mouth if they get chosen by the board. This will help expose the band to Columbia students which is their target market. If they play during Manifest this will expose them to both sections of their target market, the student and parent. WORKROOM 
 Every Columbia student is allowed to make 50 buttons for free in Columbia’s workroom. Since two members of TEA are Columbia students this allows them to make 100 buttons for free. They can then distribute the buttons as merch at one of their shows or as grassroots promotion. They could also sell the buttons in order to make a small profit.
MUSIC DEALERS Music Dealers is a global music agency that offers licenses business to business. Their main clients include McDonalds, AirBNB, and Coca-Cola among many more. TEA is currently in the process of scheduling and in-office performance at Music Dealers headquarters located in Chicago. They will play to clients who are constantly looking for good music to license during a happy hour. Each performance is video recorded and photographed so there will be new content created to upload to their social media platforms. This will also be a great opportunity to show of their talent to potential clients as well as network in hopes of building a relationship and possibly landing a placement. JBTV JBTV is a television program dedicated to live music and has been running for the past thirty years. Every performance is video recorded and broadcasted on their site. People may also attend their events. Mainly, JBTV works with artists who have good recognition and a following but they also accept submissions for local artists. This would be a great opportunity to create a partnership with JBTV and gain some recognition from their users as well as create new web content. YOUTUBE The Evening Attraction will create a YouTube account where they will post cover songs bimonthly in order to reach different consumers within their primary market as well as their
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secondary market. This will also allow universal recognition by YouTube users who are looking up one of their favorite song and stumble upon one of TEA’s cover songs. INSTAGRAM Brianna will create an Instagram account for the band in order to promote different ways of marketing as well as a way to engage with fans. By doing this TEA will be able to upload content daily that is organic and entertaining for their audience to view. COLLEGE RADIO There are several college radio stations in the Chicago Land Area. Since TEA’s market is focused on this area, Brianna will reach out to all of these stations in order to gain some radio play and reach a market they may not be able to first hand. See appendix D for list of radio stations
SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS TEA’s style of music appeals to many markets. Since their music is easy to listen to, and has elements of rock and jazz, they’re able to play their music at several Chicago venues among several out of state venues. Almost Desperate was recorded professionally at Treehouse Records so the sound quality fantastic. TEA took a different route and put out a complete and high quality album instead of putting out a poorly recorded demo. All of the members of TEA are college students who are focusing their education on music business. This allows them to understand the ins and outs of the music industry and use various knowledge and tactics to their advantage. It’s important to understand the industry around you when you are a musician. This allows you to know when you’re being cheated as well as knowing how to use your knowledge to your advantage. Finally, Almost Desperate is available on many platforms for their audience to consume, including: iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp, and Amazon. WEAKNESSES Something that is seen as a strength can also be seen as a weakness. Since the band is made up of college students this doesn’t allow a lot of time for the members of TEA to play many shows or market their band. Due to this they have a limited following will low fan engagement on social media platforms. In addition to limited following they also have limited mercy and no radio play. Without marketing the band and playing shows this does
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not allow much opportunity to build a fanbase; however, with various marketing strategies focused toward social media they will be able to reach fans and promote the band without playing many shows. OPPORTUNITIES There are many opportunities TEA has. They can start by booking and playing more shows in the Chicago area, on Columbia’s campus, and other venues in the Midwest outside of Chicago. More merch can be created to sell at those shows in order to generate a profit and provide a tangible item for their true fans. Social media can greatly be improved upon as well as fan engagement. TEA could write new music as well as collaborate with other artists. If they collab with a more know Chicago artist they will be able to reach that other artists audience and current fans, therefore, increase their following. Some of the biggest opportunities TEA has is radio play, blog features, and licensing opportunities. These would be great opportunities to get some recognition from consumers they have yet to reach. THREATS TEA’s biggest threat is their limited social media. If they were more active on their social media platforms they would be able to create a stronger connection with fans as well give outsiders a reason to follow them. Other threats include other bands in Chicago with similar sound, Chicago who area already playing slightly more shows than TEA and have a larger recognition. Finally, their primary market has limited income, therefore, they are less willing to pay for shows and merch. This leaves little room for TEA to make a profit. See appendix E for SWOT
MARKET SEGMENTATION The target market for Almost Desperate and The Evening Attraction is young adults to adults, males and females alike, who are between the ages of 17 to 35 with some disposable income. The primary market will be focused on the Chicago Land Area and the college students within it. This specific market wants quality music at a low price. Almost Desperate fulfills that need by having high quality sound recordings at a low price of $5 at shows and free through Spotify and Bandcamp (pay what you want). This demographic will consume the album via Spotify and Bandcamp mainly due to familiarity of these platforms as well as having limited to no income to spare. We will reach our target market via social media, word of mouth, and live events.
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MARKETING STRATEGY PRODUCT The Evening Attraction - Almost Desperate Almost Desperate is the first album released by TEA. It is a collection of ten original songs which were recorded at Treehouse Records on 1” analog tape. The album is infused with rock and jazz influences, high-energy, catchy lyrics, guitar riffs, and more! The album artwork is eye-catching and was professionally done. Unlike other bands and their first releases, Almost Desperate is a complete package with quality sound recordings and clean artwork. Since this is such a high quality product, from the outside in, it will appeal to customers as well as entice them to purchase the CD. In addition to the recordings and album artwork, their sound, while it is not part of a niche market, appeals to a wide range of people. It could be considered a “neutral sound” that allows for easy listening. See appendix F for album artwork
PRICE Almost Desperate is available to purchase digitally via iTunes for $9.90 or $.99 per individual song. TEA also has the album available on their Bandcamp for a “pay what you like.” Fans can pick up a physical CD at their shows for the low price of $5 or they can listen to it for free on Spotify. Currently, there is no plan to discount the album or create a bundle package for sale. The band ordered 200 CDs from Discmakers for around $600 and have sold around 160 CDs. Once they sell out of the remaining forty we will look into buying some more.
DISTRIBUTION The album is currently distributed by CDBaby and available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Bandcamp. TEA is mainly focusing on Spotify and Bandcamp at the moment because these are the platforms their primary market uses the most. The band is not focusing on any physical retailers at the moment because they do not have enough recognition to make a profit at a brick and mortar store and their primary market usually buys CDs at shows. Once TEA gets a larger following and more recognition we will look into physical retailers. See appendix G for Distribution images
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PROMOTION The promotion of Almost Desperate will be very hands on and include a lot of grassroots marketing. The majority of the promotion for Almost Desperate will be done through blogs, radio play, social media platforms, and events. Brianna and TEA will create a mini street team in order market and promote the album in different areas of Chicago. They will go around and put posters up that display the album and the tour dates, along with TEA’s social media info, their iTunes, and some information about them. In addition to posters, TEA will also handout stickers that feature their logo with their social media info and iTunes as well as their album artwork on a different sticker. They will also distribute buttons they’ve made for free at the Workroom on Columbia’s campus. Additionally, we will have a contest where fans can suggest songs for the band to cover and the winner will receive free tickets to their next show where they will perform the chosen cover song. This will motivate the fans to engage with the band and help them enjoy the music even more.
SHORT AND LONG TERM PROJECTIONS TEA and Brianna expect to sell the rest of the remaining albums before January 2016. By this time their awareness and following will be larger and more engaged to the point where consumers are willing to pay for their product. During this time the band will acquire stickers and buttons which will also be made available to their audience. TEA must sell each copy for $5 to break even for total costs to produce the album. Since they sell their album for $5 they will be able to recoup costs more efficiently. We believe all of this can be achieved with all the marketing strategies Brianna has put in place.
CONCLUSION The Evening Attraction is a band with a resurfacing sound that anyone could listen to and enjoy. Their style of music allows for easy marketing and the ability to cross over to different markets. Almost Desperate is a high quality product that is very appealing to consumers. By following the strategies Brianna has put in place for the band, they will be able to attain a larger following and local recognition as well as further develop their brand.
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APPENDIX A. Band Bio
The Evening Attraction began their journey within the depths of Chicago, IL in early 2014. With recycled members from the previous band, The Break, the trio has been making their way into the Chicago music scene ever since. Heavily influenced by 1960’s jazz and early rock, The Evening Attraction went on to record their first full length album, Almost Desperate. Since then the band has played several Chicago shows with bands such as Yoko and The Oh No’s, Futurebirds, Modern Vices, Death By Icon, Ember Oceans, and Pleasantry.
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B. Facebook Demographics and Stats
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C. Blog List
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D. College Radio Stations -WCRX: 88.1 Columbia’s Radio station. -WZRD: 88.3 Northeastern Illinois University -WHPK: 88.5 University of Chicago -WLUW: 88.7 Loyola University - College -WRSE: 88.7 Elmhurst College -WIIT:
88.9 Illinois Institute of Technology
-WNUR: 89.3 Northwestern University -WDCB: 90.9 College of DuPage -WKQX: 101.1 Chicago - Alternative
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E. SWOT
SWOT Analysis Strengths
Weaknesses
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Music/Sound New Album College students Education On Spotify, Bandcamp, and iTunes - Appeals to many markets
-
College students Low fan engagement Limited shows No marketing Limited social media Small fanbase Limited merch Bassist goes to school in southern IL - No radio play
Opportunities
-
Threats
Playing more shows Creating and selling merch Writing more music Fan engagement Social media Manifest/AEMMP Records Radio play Blog features Collaborations Licensing
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Competition Low fan engagement Social media Target market has limited income - Limited following
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F. Album Artwork
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G. Distribution Images SPOTIFY
BANDCAMP
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ITUNES
AMAZON
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H. One Sheet
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