The Cardi's Off Comedy Club Stage 2 Report FMB

The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club

Stage 2 Report Maggie Stewart

Word Count: 7992

“By 2025, women experiencing the menopause will make up 12% of the world’s population” (Safian-Demers 2020).

Ethics Clause I can confirm that this work has gained ethical approval and that I have faithfully observed the terms of the approval in the conduct of this project.

NAME: Maggie Stewart DATE: 21/05/2020 WORD COUNT: Maggie Stewart 3

Communication Strategy 7.0 EVENT OVERVIEW 24 BRAND AIMS & OBJECTIVES 24 BRAND DNA 25 CONSUMER PROFILING 30 31 FESTIVAL TOUR 32 THIRD PARTY SITES 33 VENUE TOUR 33 EVENT CONTENT 33 PORTERS 5 FORCES

Introduction 1.0 ETHICS CLAUSE INTRODUCTION RATIONALE REPORT AIMS METHODOLOGY

03 05 05 05 06

The Opportunity 2.0 STAGE 1 INSIGHTS 07 THE PROBLEM 08 POTENTIAL GROWTH MARKETS INFLUENCING TRENDS MENOPAUSE CONSUMER CHAPTER SUMMARY

COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES 49 STRATEGY PLAN 50 PHYSICAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY DIGITAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY LAUNCH SHOW COMMUNICATION STRATEGY YR 2&3

10 11 14 15

The Business Idea 3.0 IDEA GENERATION 18 CONCEPT TESTING 19 INDUSTRY EXPERTS 20 CONSUMER RESPONSE 22 THE BUSINESS CONCEPT 23 THE BUSINESS MODEL 24

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS CHAPTER SUMMARY

53 54 55

Business Management 8.0

The Market 4.0 THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY THE COMEDY INDUSTRY

51

34 35

36 36 39

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES START UP COSTS 57 PROFIT & LOSS YR 1 58 PROFIT AND LOSS ANALYSIS 60 SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS 60 PROFIT & LOSS YR2/3 61 MARKETING SPEND 61

56

Business Evaluation 9.0

Strategic Direction 5.0 CONSUMER SEGMENTATION 41 REVENUE STREAMS 42

FUTURE GROWTH ANSOFF’S MATRIX CONCLUSION

61 63 63

Marketing Strategy 6.0 MARKETING OBJECTIVES MARKETING STRATEGY THE 7P’s 45 AIDA MODEL 46

42 44

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Introduction 1.0

Rationale

The societal silence on the menopause has led to the process negatively impacting women’s social and economic opportunities. However, growing consumer confidence along with the influence of experience culture, and the redefining of normative demographic beliefs, are providing new opportunities for innovative business concepts. The report will consider both the UK comedy and events industry, as well as consumer behaviours in order to form a competitive offering that facilitates female empowerment. This report will demonstrate profitable nature of the emerging menopause market and outline how the brand The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club will generate brand salience and ultimately become profitable.

Report Aims

Mass media and society place a high value on beauty and youth within women which consequently marginalises menopausal women more than younger menstruating women, despite both of the processes being labelled as taboo. This body of work will build on the research and insights gained from the previous report to validate the reasoning behind the academic shift toward menopause.

The professional rationale for this report is to formulate a commercially viable and profitable business within the menopausal care market, with a desirable consumer offering that capitalises on the growing demand for menopause solutions and support.

To create an innovative and viable business plan that will generate profit within 3-5 years.

Explore the health of the UK Comedy Industry and access the scale of growth for female specific comedy within that market.

To facilitate female empowerment through a unique business idea that aims to normalise the discussion of the Menopause across a diverse community of women.

Demonstrate an evolution of ideas that consider external trends and factors that influence consumer purchase decisions, as well as market growth or decline, that ultimately leads to a convincing and well substantiated business plan, in order to gain future financial backing.

To grow a digital community of like minded individuals that act as a support network for both menopausal, and Millennial women, with a focus on empowerment through menopausal education.

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Sample & Approach The sample targeted aligned with the business’ aims of educating Older Millennial and Generation X consumers on the menopause. Self selection sampling was used, in which the selected sample could participate at their own volition if they complied with sample requirements (Lewis Saunders Thornhill 2015).

Both of the primary consumers, Generation X (4354, as defined by Centre for Generational Kinetics 2020) and Older Millennials (31-42, as defined by Mintel 2020) were targeted for the research through social media due to both demographics being identified as heavy tech users (Lister 2020).

The third sample was engaged through Facebook group UK females comics and UK Female/Non Binary Comics in order to gain insight from female comedians and female comedy consumers. A focus group using a convenience sample was also used during the concept testing phase of the report.

Isolated aspects of the business plan and model were put forward to each sample, with multiple options to ensure the answer with the highest percentage of sample responses would create a desirable consumer offering. This insight will help create value for customers which, alongside an innovative business concept which will inspire loyalty and ultimately achieve revenue.

Methodology

Research Design Allen describes the purpose of quantitative research as “to generate knowledge and create understanding about the social world” (Allen 2017) which is important when creating a customer centric business plan. This was also the quickest way to get customer feedback on the business plan as time was a limitation when conducting this report. As the online surveys used self selection sampling, a heavier percentage of multiple choice questions were posed to reduce drop off rate. Facebook was selected as the primary channel for quantitative research responses due to the platform’s recent initiative update, FB5 in 2019, announcing a heavier focus on groups and events (Robertson 2019).

Personalised feed’s influenced by users activity with groups will increase the exposure of the questionnaire and therefore participation.

Secondary Research Limited up to date research was available on the UK Comedy Industry so to account for these gaps, secondary research into the UK events, and entertainment industry was conducted. A mixed media approach to secondary research was used to help analyse opinions across multiple demographics and industries to create a comprehensive, multifaceted, body of research.

Key opinion leaders within both comedy and menopause fields were analysed to identify which areas had the largest opportunity for market share growth.

To substantiate the business concept industry experts of menopause and comedy were contacted to conduct qualitative interviews. This was conducted mainly over email or Facebook Messenger with some conversation progression to telephone calls. A limitation of this research method was receiving responses from experts during the current social climate. To overcome this, Linkedin and Instagram were substituted for website contact information as many businesses are less active. Out of 15 community groups messaged, 2 surveys were accepted into Funny Women Community, UK Female/Non Binary Comics, UK Female Comics, and Perimenopause Hub. Insight was gained from consumers in female comedy and menopause which will aid the brand perception by catering to current consumer behaviours in the aforementioned markets.

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Stage 1 Insights Stage 1 identified that, within the topic of female empowerment, society deemed women to be less valuable through the way in which certain biological phases, such as the menopause and menstruation, were depicted by science and society, and ultimately led to the topics being deemed ‘taboo’. The disparity between the male and female experience due to these processes contributed toward the stereotypical beliefs that reduced equal opportunities between men and women (Martin 2001).

Through the influence of this societal taboo, women reject both the process of the menopause and menstruation, and fragment themselves from their bodies which negatively impacts their view of self. As the menopause presents a more profitable business opportunity these insights will focus on their impact with regards to the female experience. The negative discourse mentioned, impacts women’s ability to understand and learn about the menopausal process, and has resulted in the following issues;

The lack of menopausal education and awareness has left women feeling disconnected to their own bodies, resulting in poor mental health.

There are no processes in place to support menopausal women within the employment sector, with businesses not acknowledging how it can impact an individual.

This can often lead to discrimination of older women with workplaces.

Women use comedy to discuss the menopause within safe spaces, such as friendship groups, as a form of self expression to negate feeling isolated during the transition.

Gender segregation through normative beliefs of a women’s societal role position the menopause as the end of a woman’s worth through the framing of the human body as a ‘factory’.

Stage 2 will also be addressing limitations from Stage 1 that left gaps in understanding on the topic. As time was limited and the topic much broader within Stage 1, in depth research into competitor brands dealing with the menopause was lacking, and will therefore be rectified through further primary and secondary research within Stage 2. Other insights that will be carried forward into Stage 2 is the understanding that cross generational conversation and groups will improve menopausal education, for the present and future wellness of women, within a digital age Mass media and society place a high value on beauty and youth within women which consequently marginalises menopausal women more than younger menstruating women, despite both of the processes being labelled as taboo. This body of work will build on the research and insights gained from the previous report to validate the reasoning behind the academic shift toward menopause. The professional rationale for this report is to formulate a commercially viable and profitable business within the menopausal care market, with a desirable consumer offering that capitalises on the growing demand for menopause solutions and support.

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The Problem A taboo is defined as “something that is not acceptable to say, mention, or do” (Webster 2020) that typically concerns “sexuality, death, religion, certain illnesses, bodily functions and social inequality” (Schroeder 2009).

As the menopause is a bodily function, it can be categorised as ‘taboo’, yet it could be argued that a more accurate classification of menopause discourse would be a ‘silent taboo’. Author Emily Martin (Martin 2001) claims taboo’s are defined by the euphemisms associated with the term, for example ‘time of the month’ for menstruation. In the digital landscape, these euphemisms can be used as identifiers of social injustices, in which consumers pressurise brands or individuals into moral submission through the trend of ‘cancel culture’ (Crabbe Liberman Moriarty 2020).

As the menopause does not have a widely understood euphemism, it cannot benefit from modern means for addressing social change, and remains an unrecognised issue. Resistance to change is often rooted in awareness (Gorman and Gorman 2018), and because of this, this report argues that silent taboos need more attention than those that are vocalised (Hamilton 2012).

As outlined in the Stage 1 reflection, Stewart found the following themes from the menopause discourse that negatively impact female empowerment. Firstly, the lack of basic education and awareness of the menopausal process causes women to separate themselves from their bodies, as the process is not understood by the individual. As society remains to believe the issue is an undesirable topic for discussion women subconsciously feel shame over it, with Blinkhorn finding “women are still ashamed to admit they are going through it” (Blinkhorn 2020).

This is further reinforced by the distant language used in society to describe menopause side effects; ‘the night sweats’, ‘the hot flushes’. This fragmentation denies women to achieve their ideal self which causes feelings of failure, and stops their ability to be a fully functioning person through lack of self actualization (Roger and Smith and Coleman 1978).

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Education and awareness of the menopause are also vital for women to distinguish symptoms from mental health issues (Bates 2019). If a woman has no previous experience of mental health issues, then the sudden development of low mood or anxiety, and disrupted sleep (NHS 2017) in conjunction with poor education and awareness, can cause self doubt and the feeling of being ‘crazy’ (Krajewski 2018). This concern over the mental health impact of the menopause is Echoed by Milic who, in 2017, theories that as the negative mental side effects of the menopause will likely increase alcohol consumption as a coping method (Milic 2017). While mental health has become a more socially acceptable discussion it is not widely understood that the menopause can be a cause, which has resulted in women blaming their lifestyle, and ultimately themselves.

Hot flushes are one of the most common symptoms, with 80% of women experiencing it (Moss 2019) and can directly cause women to be disadvantaged within social settings. External viewers of the byproduct of hot flushes can mistake inflamed or red skin, as an emotional response of embarrassment. This then typically leads to concern toward the individual and results in social pressure to explain the causality of the bodily response. But due to low education it is likely the individual is either reluctant to, or cannot explain this, which has been evidenced to cause women to withdraw from social settings in an attempt to avoid increased anxiety. Women feeling ostracised from society can worsen the previously outlined mental health issue, resulting in women feeling less able to achieve social and economic success.

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Potential Growth Markets Comedy Industry Historically, comedy has been used as a platform to discuss taboo topics making this an appropriate method to facilitate the discussion of the ‘taboo’ topic of the menopause. The industry comedy has seen healthy growth with the chair of Live Nation UK, Denis Desmond, mentioning comedy as a high performing industry within the events sector (Sweney 2018). In recent years, the comedy industry has seen an increase in its use for female empowerment. Female not-for-profits such as UNWomen held ‘Comedy for Equality’ in 2018, an event that promoted the breaking of stereotypes through comedy (UNWomen 2019). Streaming service Next Up Comedy has also implemented diversity initiatives that help create equal distribution of work and opportunities for women within the industry (NextUpComedy 2020).

Employment Sector Within Stage 1 interviews, an interviewee commented that there was no process within her place of work to put the menopause as a reason for lateness or absences, or lower morale (Stewart 2020). This is reflected within the Department of Healths 2017 report that showed a direct correlation between the menopause and reduced working capabilities. The aforementioned lack of education and understanding of the menopause process may lead employers, and wider society, to determine that lower work capabilities is due to age, rather than a biological phase. This will result in decreased economic opportunities for menopausal women and presents an opportunity for female empowerment through the development and training sector within corporate businesses.

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Influencing Trends

DIGITAL LANDSCAPES

ROLES REDEFINED

EXPERIENCE ECONOMY EVOLUTION

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“There is currently no what to expect when you’re expecting for the menopause” (SafianDemers 2020).

Digital advances and tech enhanced brand offerings are directly impacting the progression of the menopause by gathering data through health apps. This basic data is helping brands develop products and services that appeal to the biological-medical model of solution based offerings. Health platform Gennev is using the data to build a roadmap for the menopause experience to help empower women through demystifying menopause (Safian-Demers 2020). However, this scale of data collection will take time to form tangible benefits for brands and consumers. This leaves a gap in the menopause market for business models with an immediate consumer gratification, but also one that focuses on individual menopause experiences, rather than numerical facts.

Traditional indicators of what defines a healthy individual, such as age and physical strength, are being disrupted by the rebranding of the concept of age and the importance of mental wellness. As consumers continue to favour experiences over single solution products, brand offerings are evolving to include emotional benefits for a holistic wellness approach. The trends of Flat Age Society (LSN Global 2015) and Life-Stage Brands (Friend 2018) are focusing outside of demographic segmentations and are tailoring offerings to consumer aspirations. Women are working longer and retiring later, giving them more disposable income without the cost of children. These consumers, particularly menopausal women, will want true reflections of themselves in marketing campaigns in order to capture their loyalty, as currently 74% of women “say that ads fail to portray menopausal women with any sensitivity.” (Friend 2018). Depicting menopausal experiences in an empathetic way will become key as the market share of menopause products and services continues to grow.

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This need for relatability and brand to consumer understanding is also reflected in the evolution of the experience economy macro trend. Consumers are no longer interested in mass sharing driven by ‘instagrammable’ events or experiences, but looking for inward self discovery (Hawkins and Houghton 2020). This intimate form of sharing is being adopted by the menopause community through safe spaces within social media platforms like Facebook.

These women are achieving self discovery within intimate and highly active digital groups, as a community rather than an individual. The constant under representation of menopause has led these consumers to regress into their own tribes as their own lack of menopausal knowledge restricts individual growth. As menopause retains residual stigma around it’s discussion, women have claimed to feel safer amongst those who can relate to their experience, yet they possess a strong need to share and be heard. Brands with a menopausal offering should consider this introspective style of sharing, and build trust with leaders in these grassroot communities to penetrate the market.

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The Consumer The average age for the menopause to occur is between 45-55, with rare cases beginning as early as 35 (NHS 2017), yet as generational boundaries become less distinct, commonalities between these segments are clear. Firstly, these consumers are currently in the middle of the largest transfer of wealth in history, as Baby Boomers begin to retire or pass away, leaving their financial capacities to young family members (Hall 2019). This makes it vital for brands to capture Gen Xers and Millennials spending power to profit from this transition. Gen Xers are the driving force for the British economy, with those aged 41-45’s expected to be the highest spenders of 2020 (Goshtai 2019). This consumer segment will be a key focus on the following business plan as they present the most profitable opportunity. However, to capture these consumers aptly, brands must offer engaging and relatable campaigns based on ‘menopause truths’ to encourage buying behaviours, particularly with Millennial consumers who have 0% spontaneous awareness. An important consumer insight from the Stage 1 report found women would facilitate the discussion of the menopause within safe spaces, for example friendship groups, through jokes or comedy (Stewart 2020).

PESTLE Analysis UK consumer confidence is currently high with a focus on the here and now, with UK consumers choosing to spend more on experiences than material things (Goshtai 2019).

Low rates of unemployment and disengagement with economic and political factors mean consumers are spending on experiences that enrich their day to day lives. All three demographics within the menopausal age range spend between 19-27% of their discretionary finances on leisure (Mintel 2019).

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Chapter Summary There is a clear need for the increase of education and awareness on the menopause. There is an opportunity to penetrate this market by understanding the importance of online support communities and recognising these consumers’ true desire to be heard and sold to through their menopausal selves. The future of this opportunity lies within beginning to target Millennials and Gen X for menopause awareness, meaning brands are not just profiting off of the process, but contributing to an improved future for menopause women to feel empowered in. The following chapter will explain how this problem can be turned into a solution, and ultimately into a profitable business plan

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Introduction Throughout the previous chapters, it has been made clear that the sharing of the menopause experience is vital to mitigate the stigma associated with the discussion of the menopause. Areas which present the largest growth opportunities were outlined as the employment sector and the comedy industry. This chapter will discuss the ideation process of each prospective area of growth to come to a conclusive business concept and plan that will result in the biggest market growth share, and benefit to the consumer.

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Idea Generation Concept 1

Concept 2

A not-for-profit digital community that advocates for government policy changes to support the improvement of the treatment of menopausal women within the workplace.

This concept was directly inspired by two factors; Firstly, The Department of Health’s conclusion of the negative impacts of the menopause transition on women’s economic participation (Brewis et al 2017).

An educational, comedy club event that focuses on the menopausal experience and aims to build a diverse and supportive community, with the primary consumer of Baby Boomers. Influenced by the first insight of women using comedy as a form of menopausal expression, and the insight of male colleagues and the media using the negative stereotype of menopausal women for their own comedic gain. By returning the ownership of this process to women it empowers them to educate themselves on the topic, and build a community of like minded individuals.

Secondly, the power of digital communities like Free Periods, that converted their digital influence into actionable social change (Free Periods 2020). The internet has democratised the traditional brand to consumer hierarchy, with consumers gaining power from the collective voice they hold on social media (Crabbe Liberman Moriarty 2020). Mintel has predicted as the trend of ‘cancel culture’ matures, consumers will no longer seek the negative in brands but champion those who stand for something.

Consumers are continuing to seek memorable experiences over material goods with the digital push back continuing to influence buying behaviours (Crabbe Liberman Moriarty 2020). The Chief Executive of MediaCom UK predicts continued growth for live events, as it benefits from the aforementioned consumer trend (Krichefski 2017). Comedy helps consumers achieve Hedonistic Goals which seeks to maximise pleasure and minimise pain (Warren Barksey Mcgraw 2018), as the experiencing and hearing of laughter triggers feelings of pleasure, which therefore facilitating hedonistic goals (Vrticka 2013). Hedonistic goals are more likely to become more prevalent for consumers as they seek memorable experiences (Goshtai 2019). It was also found that humour can affect decision making through improved memory for humorous content. Using comedy as a vehicle to educate on the menopause will aid the long term improvement of the education and awareness menopause, which was the main insight from Stage 1.

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Concept Testing & Development Alpha Beta testing was used throughout the concept testing phase. By giving the sample alternatives it gave a higher percentage of certainty to the samples preferred choice.

Focus Group

Concept 2 Concept 1

The concept was disregarded through unclear business aims and the proposed financial difficulties of funding a not-for-profit start up (Appendix …). The business was deemed too ambitious, with the sample believing it would take too long for the brand to gain enough influence through positive brand perception. For the business concept to stand out against competitors, it will need to provide an immediate emotional gratification unlike data heavy brands.

The second concept was well received but concerns were raised as to whether the business model could achieve widespread awareness in a single event. The business model was then developed to following concept; The primary consumer focus was shifted from Baby Boomers to Millennials and Generation X in order to give the business a strategic point of difference, this will be further explored within the Strategic Direction chapter of the report.

‘An all female comedy club that aims to facilitate female empowerment through the education and destigmatisation of the topic of the menopause. The brand will curate a show that utilises a group of female comedians ranging from 30 to 60, with observational and experiential style of content, to encourage other women to reflect and learn on their own experience. This show will tour around venues and festivals across the UK to reach as many women as we can, with the future outlook of new shows, bigger named special guests, and a permanent residence in London. The ultimate goal of this brand is to create a community of rebellious women, who don’t even realise they’re learning about this often daunting process, as they’re too busy laughing and connecting with like minded women.’

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“There is a high demand for menopause for menopause knowledge as more and more women are talking about it”

“Getting a point across in a funny way is a winner”

(Blinkhorn 2020).

(Simon 2020)

“Love it. Can’t wait to see your night’s as part of the comedy landscape” (Simon 2020)

Industry Experts

“77% loved the concept” (Appendix)

Industry experts within both Comedy and Menopause were approached to assess if the business would be well received within these markets. 58 industry experts were contacted, with 26 of those responding. The overall response was positive with Simon from Angel Comedy saying “Love it. Can’t wait to see your night’s as part of the comedy landscape” (Simon Angel Comedy 2020). When asking Louise Leigh, the head of Funny Women Time of the Month for Bristol whether comedy clubs or acts that have an educational aspect perform well, she said “Yes! Adam Kay, Elaine Miller, Matt Winning do this sort of thing a lot. Getting a point across in a funny way is a winner” (Simon 2020). A key USP for the concept is the educational aspect as it is vital for the brand to positively contribute toward the de-stigmatization of the menopause. This quote implies audiences outside of the target audience of menopause will attend and improve overall awareness.

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JokePit Founder “Your concept is something we have been looking to include in our rosta for a while. It is absolutely something we would want to invest in, it would fit perfectly” (Williams-Smith 2020)

Third Party Ticketing Sites Third party ticketing sites were contacted to assess if they would create a beneficial partner to gain awareness. With 35% of event consumers buying from primary ticketing companies, and 14% claimed ticketing companies informed them of events they were interested in (Mermiri and Rawcliffe and Rea 2014), this was an important measure of the proposed success of the brand in the market. JokePit is the UK’s number 1 site for the latest and up and coming UK comedians (BCG 2020), with a promoters site structured for high levels of promotion and awareness. In an interview with the founder of Jokepit, Kane WilliamSmith said that the brand concept is “something we have been looking to include in our rosta for a while. It is absolutely something we would want to invest in, it would fit perfectly” (Williams-Smith 2020).

Professional Comedians Several comedians were contacted to assess whether they would be interested in being a part of the concept, as this is an integral component with regards to the success of the brand. Comedian Laura Graham found she had a “great response” to her comedy set on the Perimenopause. Experienced comedian Pauline Eyre finds comedy and menopause to be perfect partners as “menopause is absolutely RIPE for comedy” (Eyre 2020), and when asked if she would be interested in being a part of the brand, the recipient responded “Yes of course I would!” (Eyre 2020). Professional comedian Jen Brister noted that “there are a lot less female comedians, and even less menopause ones” (Brister 2020).

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Consumer Response 21 out of 27 that responded, reacted positively toward the concept and believed it will be a success in the comedy market. The results of the concept tests will be taken into consideration into forming the final concept summary to successfully launch into the comedy industry.

Firstly, the consumer showed a preference toward clear branding, with a brand tone of British rebellion (Appendix ). This was evidenced through 52% of the sample preferring ‘British, Quirky, and Tonguein-cheek’ brand tone and 30.4% preferred a ‘Rebellious, Unconventional, and Confident’ brand tone (Appendix ). The sample also preferred obvious branding as the brand name options that included ‘comedy club’ in the name were preferred. The combination of all these insights will be executed by using a British punk inspired visual branding, that clearly depicts the brand as a comedy club, but also demonstrates its handling of a taboo topic through the semiotic understanding of punk ideologies meaning ‘non conformity’ (Boyce 2008).

Thirdly, consumers want clear and relevant content with 52.9% of the sample equally preferred the comedy style of dry/deadpan, and topical (Appendix). Content should be relevant to developments within the menopause community such as new brand offerings, policy changes, and other external influences to the market.

Clear & Relevant

75% Of the menopause sample &

81%

Of the comedy sample liked the concept presented on page ...

Quirky & Rebellious 22

The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club is an all female comedy club production company, that aims to normalise the discussion of the menopause through laughter.

Aimed at Older Millennial and Generation X consumers, the brand will entertain and subtly educate audiences by sharing the truths of the menopause in a light-hearted, safe environment. The comedy club will tour across UK comedy festivals and venues to spread awareness, and build a band of rebellious women who simply, ‘Don’t Give a Flush’.

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Business Model The Cardi’s Off Club will be an event production company, selling through ticketing sites and a direct-to-consumer website. The business will also release comedy content through third party sites Next Up Comedy and JokePit. The business model will be customer centric which is defined as “putting your customer first and at the core of your business�

(MacDonald 2014) which is vital for a business that aims to encourage a strong consumer to brand bond to grow trust to enable consumers to share their menopause experience and align with the brand aims.

Event Overview The comedy club will tour 22 locations within the UK that hold a high percentage of Millennial and Generation X consumers, with an established comedy scene. A mixture of comedy festivals and small venues with a capacity under 1000, which Ticketmaster defines as a comedy club venue (Ticketmaster 2014) will be visited. 4 headliner gigs will be held in the South of the UK and London as these areas report the highest percentage of the primary consumer.

To encourage positive feelings toward the transition of menopause through edu-tainment content that prompts the sharing of consumers menopause experiences in a diverse, digital community.

To effectively educate both Millennial and Generation X demographics on the menopause through psychographic profiling, to build a strong community of women who are connected by their desire for female empowerment.

Actively facilitate female empowerment through comedy to aid in the progression of social and economic opportunities for menopausal women.

To be seen as a key leader in the advancement of the menopause discourse within mainstream society.

Brand Aims & Objectives 24

To become a major influence within the UK female empowerment movement, inspiring women to grow their relationship with themselves through laughter.

ESSENCE A club of rebellious, empowering women, who also make you laugh.

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Ownable Benefit A community of unapologetic women that empower each other through laughter at their own experiences of being a menopausal female.

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Brand DNA

Tone of Voice As the brand is adopting a ‘punk’ aesthetic it will reflect a strong, unapologetic tone of voice to become a symbol of strength for menopause women who are feeling lost. This will also help build consumer trust for the brand to become their voice within wider society. However, to avoid the brand seeming too harsh it will use it’s comic, tongue-in-cheek wording to appeal to comic audiences and wary menopause consumers.

Brand Roots Brand Proposition To offer women a respite from menopausal confusion and stress, through laughter that empowers and educates.

All female comedy club, based on the menopausal experience. The symbol of the cardigan.

Brand Function To subtly educate and encourage women to discuss the menopause, within a discourse that they are used to.

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Educator

Comedian

For some, the menopause is a scary topic that women feel ashamed to talk about. But The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club strongly believe the first step to a better menopause experience is education and awareness. We want to encourage even the most sceptical of women to take a moment, sit down, and laugh their way into learning about the menopause.

With a world obsessed with selfies and profiles we want to bring an edge of realism to the digital world, through our funny take on all things menopause. The menopause is a totally unique experience for each of us, meaning a never ending supply of comradery inducing laughs to bring us women together.

Brand Values

Rebellious

Diverse

Who gives a flush if you don’t want to hear about our ever changing moods, our whiplash change from sweaty to stone cold, or whatever else the menopause throws at us. Through every no, every closed door, every look, The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club will always be unapologetically, menopause loud and proud.

Whether it’s happening to you, someone you love, or it’s waving down on you in your future, The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club aims to be an inclusive community. Whether that is today, tomorrow, or years from now, we want women of any age, and any menopausal stage, to join our club of rebels to improve the menopausal experience.

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Brand Logo

Colour Palette

Brand Font

Title

ABCDEFGHIJKLM NOPQRSTUVWXYZ Sub Headings

ABCDEFGHIJKLM NOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Body Text

ABCDEFGHIJKLM NOPQRSTUVWXYZ The logo imagery was created to symbolise both the comedy, and the menopausal industries. Using recognisable iconography will satisfy the consumers desire for ‘clear and obvious’ branding as found through the concept tests. This logo is easily diluted for digital and physical marketing when required, providing cohesive and identifiable visual presence in the market to improve brand salience.

Graphic Font Visual Inspiration

The colour palette was directly inspired by 1970s punk in order to replicate the movements strength and resilience. Both the colours palette and logo will be recognisable to the primary consumer of Generation X as some of this cohort would have grown up during this time.

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Individuals Involved The comedy club will use two open mic comedians, and 2 mid level professional comedians (18 month experience or more), with headline act comedians to be used intermittently based on availability. The brand founder, Maggie Stewart, will be featured in brand communications to encourage awareness from younger women, as menopausal coach Jade Blinkhorn claimed this is important to the improvement of women’s menopause experience (Blinkhorn 2020).

The main responsibilities of the founder will be; Event management, branding/promotion of events, managing third party sites, venue scouting, social media management, budgets and accounting through Xero, and entry to events (Eventbrite 2020).

The brand will work with menopause support network The Perimenopause Hub and menopause support coach Jade Blinkhorn, to provide the education element of the business concept. These key figures in the menopause community have experience in working with the brands primary consumer and will instil confidence in the brand for consumers through the medically certified background of the individuals

As mentioned, menopausal consumers are looking inward to their own tribes to express true desires which they do not feel comfortable to discuss within society due to residual stigma. The same behaviours were found within female comic groups, with social media platform Facebook being the favoured method of contact between promoter’s and gigging comedians. Taking inspiration from Berks Nest nurturing approach with their comedians, The Cardi’s Off Club will take this one step further, and work with relatively unknown acts to grow together in awareness and reputation. This provides job security for the comedian, as well as reduced overheads for the brand, as open spot or gigging comedians are paid between £40-£100 (Moss, (Facebook Message) 2020) (Christmas 2020).

Three open spot comedians, Laura Graham, Rosie Wilby, and Stephanie McGill, said they would be interested in being a part of the Cardi’s Off Club. Three mid level comedians, Elaine Miller, Pauline Eyre, and Rachel Creeger (12-18 months of experience), said they would also like to be a part of the comedy club. The comedy styles of Graham, Wilby, and McGill are based on the Perimenopausal phase of the menopause. This will capture the Millennial and Generation X consumers as they are most likely to be going through or preparing for this first stage of menopause. The mid level professional comedians Miller, Eyre, and Creeger, will bring a pre-existing audience menopause to the brand from the Baby Boomer demographic. This will aid in securing advanced ticket sales which Eventbrite and Ticketmaster claim to be the biggest challenge for events in 2020 (Eventbrite 2020) (Mermiri and Rawcliffe and Rea 2014).

High level professional comedians Jen Brister, Shappi Khorsandi, Jenny Eclair, and Jo Brand will be featured in the venue section of the UK tour. The above acts are very well established within the industry and have previously included menopause content within their shows. They will bring a larger pre-existing audience to each show as well as their perceived perception of quality, with all acts having sold out shows within the last three years. This will help achieve the brand aims of spreading the awareness of the menopause across women, but also through their male audiences which will help to break the wider societal stigma around discussing the menopause. This will be based on availability and financial allowance, with these comedians being charged between £5,000-£15,000 per appearance.

61% of comedy club attendees said they felt admiration toward the acts they saw (Mermiri and Rawcliffe and Rea 2014). This feeling of respect will encourage women to replicate their strength and begin to discuss the menopause within their intimate circles, thus spreading awareness and meeting both brand and business aims.

The Acts

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Psychographic Consumer Profiling Lifestyle Will often go into their city without a strict plan, looking for something different to enjoy.

Involved in some form of community group, are fairly active in this, yet feel there may be a more appropriate community group for their sensibilities.

Have an active group of between 6-9 close friends, who are diverse in nature, and who attend workshops and events together, with a strong group chat.

Middle class city dwellers who live comfortably but not excessively Regularly keep informed on the news through digital devices over newspapers.

Place family as a high importance in life, regularly see them for get togethers.

Opinions Political view is not explicitly equal amongst all, but tends to leave toward the left/liberal views.

Believing expressing emotions and beliefs is the best way to understand one another.

Are not afraid to express their opinions in a discussion.

Sometimes find it difficult to have an appropriate outlet to truly express all their feelings.

Buying Behaviours Do a lot of shopping online, but physically go to the shops at least once a week for retail or leisure.

Use groupon/group discount sites for leisure / experience days out.

Are a good gift buyer, they do their research.

Hobbies Pursue an active lifestyle, through some form of exercise (pilates, yoga/hot yoga, walking group, gym).

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Festival Tour Plan West Didsbury Comedy Festival

West Didsbury, 24 April.

Wychwood Festival

Cheltenham, 29 May. Saturday headliner is musical comedy act The Divine Comedy which features numbers on female specific issues. Brand essence is providing specialities you might not ordinarily come across (Wychwood Festival 2020).

Hastings Comedy Fringe Festival

11-12 June. Passion for promoting new talent, good festival for start up comedy club. “We have a big passion for finding, supporting and promoting new comedy talent which is at the core of our ethos of running this festival” (Hastings Comedy Festival 2020). Partnered with proposed ticketing site JokePit.

PetFringe

Petworth, 14-16 June. Includes a comedy competition with a prize of £10,000. Festival will be good for exposure and could be a possible cash injection. Competition attendance will provide an opportunity to assess competition.

Latitude Festival

Suffolk, 16-19 July. UK’s largest music festival for comedy, whole comedy arena. Platform to gain strength within the stand up comedy industry. Possibility to make connections with high level professional comedians. “The Comedy Arena is where you can have a rib tickling good time watching the biggest names in the industry and the best rising stars.” (Latitude 2020).

Rewind Festival

Henley, 20-22 August. 2019 saw the festivals biggest line up of comedy acts implying a higher percentage of comedy fans will attend in 2020 (TotalNtertainment 2019).

Reading Festival

28-30 August. Female comedian Bridget Christie headlined 2019’s Alternative stage for comedy, but has not had a comedy group of female’s in the last 5 years. The content of this show will be based more on Millennial consumers with a higher level of educational content.

Objectively Funny

22 September. Jen Brister previously performed here, receptive to female comics with menopause comedy. Runs a zine on mental health, this is a competitor for The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club. “A knack for nailing down the most promising acts around”. 2019, 42 acts across the festival with 20 being female acts, supports equal opportunities (Objectively Funny 2020).

Women in Comedy Festival

Manchester, 2 October. “Europe’s only Women In comedy Festival which takes place each year in Manchester, uk” (O’Keefe and Toomy 2013). Captures both the menopausal and comedy audience in a space that encourages empowering tone.

Vault Festival

London, 18-20 January 2021. Incredibly detailed support for acts, most detail provided out of all festivals. Core values of - Opportunity, Equality, Honesty, Respect and Kindness. Transparent costs between acts and festival.

Leicester Comedy Festival

19-22 February. High percentage of women attend the festival making it an effective festival to capture target consumers and achieve business aims.

Glasgow International Comedy Festival

18-20 March. Europe’s largest comedy festival. Supports home grown talent from both Scotland and UK.

Third Party Sites Next Up Comedy is a comedy subscription streaming service that openly challenges Netflix, providing on demand videos of rising stars and circuit legends (NextUpComedy 2020). The brand aligns itself with The Cardi’s Off Comedy Clubs mission of female empowerment through it’s diversity initiatives. Recordings of all headliner gigs will be released on the platform to drive traffic to the brand through recognisable comedians.

“Our goal is a fair and equal comedy world where any comedian regardless of identity or disability can be given the same opportunity as others” (Next Up Comedy 2020)

“JokePit is the UK’s number 1 site for the latest and up and coming UK comedians to share videos, connect with fans and advertise events” (BCG 2020). This platform offers an all encompassing direct to consumer page in which users can promote content, blogs, merchandise, and allow consumers to donate to the comedian or act.

This will be used as the brand’s main ticketing and promotional platform, alongside other revenue streams, to gain maximum audience exposure from potential new consumers and provide a seamless customer journey that a start up would find costly to provide. The brand has an established audience with their Facebook site receiving 4-5 million visits every 5 days, with 1.5 million engagements (William-Smith 2020), making them a great partner to improve salience.

Both of the above platforms provide filming and editing services, with JokePit offering multi-channel streaming.

In the digital age consumers expect frictionless journeys, basing their loyalty on experiences they find exceptional. Partnering with these brands will increase viewership through their established audience base which will help build brand recognition within the comedy industry. Further analysis on the benefits of partnerships will be explored within the Strategic Direction and Business management chapters.

“Comedians we work with find the JokePit page more powerful than their own website. It allows acts to sell and promote content, write articles, publish videos, and include a donate button for consumers to give to their favourite comedians. It’s several platforms in one place” (William32 Smith 2020).

Venue Tour The venue tour will fill the gaps within the festival tour to maximise the spread of menopausal awareness. These venues were chosen based on analysis of previous gig or tour venues of the proposed headline acts, and the competitive landscape analysis. The largest gap in festivals is during the months of April/May, most of the venue dates will occur here. The brand launch show will be held at the Bill Murray which will be further explored in the Communication plan.

“It is important to find venues that share your vision or have a history of hosting events with a similar social action focus to provide a genuine offering” (Eventbrite 2020).

Event Content The show will adapt content to each geographical location to provide localised content to reflect the trend of event holders curating personalised shows to build a strong community from their audience (Eventbrite 2020). For example, The South West find regional jokes the funniest, as all comedians proposed to use are from this area, venues selection will be focused here to deliver the best content for the brands consumer (Mermiri and Rawcliffe and Rea 2014).

The psychographic segmentation VALS framework was applied to outline the brands consumer profiles in order to accurately engage the consumer across two separate demographics. The Cardi’s Off Consumer would sit within the segment of Thinkers. These are described as “high-resource groups of those who are motivated by ideals. They are mature, responsible, well-educated professionals. Their leisure activities centre on their homes, but they are well informed about what goes on in the world and are open to new ideas and social change. They have high incomes but are practical consumers and rational decision makers.” (Bhasin 2020). The event content will reflect these characteristics in order to bolster the brands consumer appeal and gain loyalty.

Porters Five Forces

Competitive Rivalry Low

Threat of Substitution Low to Mid

Buyer Power High

Threat of New Entry

High

Supplier Power Mid

There are very few all female comedy groups within the comedy industry which implies an opportunity to gain market share within a growing industry. There are some female comedy groups, but none focus solely on the menopause, this USP should be the talking point of the brand to set it apart from other female groups that discuss the female experience (periods, vaginas etc). However, few competitors can imply a short lived business, so future developments should be innovative and consumer relevant in order to differentiate appropriately.

As mentioned there are few all female comedy groups, particularly those that focus on the menopause. However, as the brand will be a newcomer in the industry, consumers may substitute the show for seeing a bigger name within the circuit that covers some of the menopause within their set. To avoid this consumer should be shown the benefit of having an hour to focus on the menopause, and meet like minded women who they can build supportive relationships with. Focus on the show being an edu-tainment and community building as consumers cannot get that level of intimacy with larger shows and comedians.

The comedy industry presents a saturated offering through it’s long established market. Competitive analysis showed brands within the market have similar low pricing structure which has influenced consumer expectations as “Comedy fans often prefer attending comedy events as they see it as a cheaper and more accessible form of live entertainment.” (Chortle 2014).

Value for money should be a key message through the brands marketing as the consumer will be seeing 4-5 acts with a total cost of £5 per act.

Starting a comedy club is a relatively low cost operation according to industry expert Jarred Christmas “Comedy is a cheap night to put on and you can make money if you do it right.” (Christmas 2020). As consumer desire for menopause discussion increases, and equality incentives within comedy provide more opportunities for female comedians there is a high threat of new entry. However, the brand has a distinct visual message and educational direction which will set the brand apart from new entries. The use of headline acts will also bestow the idea of quality in consumer perception of the brand. As there are currently a low threat of substitution and competitive rivalry the brand will benefit from an increased market growth and audiences before others enter the market.

There is a high percentage of venue suppliers meaning that their buying power is low. However, there are lots of promoters that could offer comedians (both low and high level) a better offer through financial benefits or higher levels of exposure. To negate this the brand will focus on working closely with up and coming comedians to develop loyalty and offer a high level of support. The brand mission being one of social change will also encourage venues and comedians to work with the brand as consumer perception of products and services that have a social change initiative are high.

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The Market Events and Entertainment Market Three key factors were identified as potential growth platforms for The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club within the events and entertainment market; circular communities, the drive of training and development, and localised events. It is important to mention that the consumer trend toward memorable, in-the-moment experiences, is driving the growth of these opportunities as brands look to satisfy the consumer need for personalised and active event and media experiences (PwC 2019).

The industry is predicted to see a period of growth (Coleman 2018) with revenue growing by 10bn by 2023 to 80.5bn, rising at a CAGR rate of 3.5% annually. (PwC 2019). The largest trend driving this market is the consumer desire for experiences and in-the-moment thrills (Krichefski 2017) with Ticketmaster seeing a “44% increase in the number of live shows for which it sold tickets” (Sweney 2018). Event planners with a largely digital offering, such as Ticketmaster and Live Nation, are diversifying into the physical market through establishing their own venues to provide a cohesive brand offering and consumer journey. Brands will benefit from providing a frictionless digital buying process with the added emotional benefit of a physical experience. The future development of this cyclical consumer experience with event brands will be evolved by consumers preference toward brands with social change initiatives. Event planners will look to contribute back to the communities they inhabit through purchasing out of use buildings as new venue spaces (Eventbrite 2020). In doing this brands are positioned positively as they are providing economic and social opportunities at a grassroot level for communities, which helps the brand fulfil one of the key brand traits of responsibility for consumers in this market.

A key driver of the events industry that can influence the future of growth of The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club is the training and development sector (Ashwin 2019). As the employment sector is a key area of growth for the menopause discussion, the market presents an opportunity platform through a B2B strategy to diversity current offering to educate women within corporate environments.

“During the period of growth till 2023, while it may slow, people will still seek out comedy clubs as a source of entertainment” (Coleman 2018).

“Next year, 58% of event holders plan to hold more events, 37% think their event budget will increase and 27% believe their events team will grow” (Eventbrite 2020).

37%

58%

27% 34

The Comedy Market

The Event Markets Biggest Overheads (Eventbrite 2020)

48% 47% 48%

Food and Drink Venue Hire

Revenue for the comedy industry has grown 3.1% annually from 2013-2019, with the number of female comedians tripling between 2011-2014 (Mermiri and Rawcliffe and Rea 2014).

There is an increased consumer appetite for comedy through streaming services, Netflix and Amazon Primes, increased comedy offerings. This has led to a rise in attendance at comedy clubs and festivals which highlights these as potential growth platforms that brands can engage with potential consumers in (Shaw 2019). There is a clear influence of gender equality movements within the market, evidenced through the recent success of female led comedy productions such as The Marvellous Mrs Maisel, and Flea Bag, as well as panel shows and production companies introducing gender inclusion policies. This will encourage a more active female audience within the market who will begin to demand more offerings tailored to their experiences within comedy.

Marketing/Promotions

50% of the UK population have been to at least 1 comedy performance within the last 3 years which is reflected in ‘Comedy Tours 2020’ being the top google search in the UK under the term ‘comedy’ (Google Trends 2020). This increase in live comedy is benefiting from the developing consumer backlash to the ‘cancel culture’, that Mintel predicts will decrease in the coming years (Crabbe and Liberman and Moriarty 2020), as consumers see comedy as an uncensored form of entertainment. Live comedy will progress to facilitate topics that are considered inappropriate for public discussion, positioning the industry as a positive form of suspended reality.

“29% prefer regional theatres and venues over large arenas” (Mermiri and Rawcliffe and Rea and 2014) Higher % of females aged 45-64 attend comedy events compared to males (Mermiri and Rawcliffe and Rea and 2014)

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It is important for brands to understand the fragmented nature of consumers’ schedules, and their desire for on demand accessibility due to time strapped lifestyles (Ryan 2020). This personalisation is not just around the content but also on the devices this is consumed, as mobile device usage becomes more popular for content consumption, with “UK mobile internet advertising counting for 51.5% of spending for this industry, set to grow it’s share to 69.1% by 2023.” (PwC 2019). Placing an emphasis on virtual events will compliment the live event experience, allowing brands to reach a wider audience, and improve continued engagement. Consumer stated the three biggest barriers to entry is the cost of events and interest in content, with “over half (51%) of audiences would not go to see a comedian who they have not seen on TV” (Mermiri and Rawcliffe and Rea 2014). By giving audiences the opportunity to re-watch content, and establish a relationship with the brand without financial commitment, loyalty is encouraged. Consumers will also favour events that provide multiple benefits in one due to time being a precious commodity which is evidenced through the increase in festival attendance (Ryan 2019).

Competitor Analysis

C om pet it i v eU n

Consumer Behaviours

ive

r se

a An

is lys

Level 2

Level 1

A bigger focus is being placed on overall well being, not just physical but mental well being. This trend has been seen in both young and old consumers. The pressure placed on emotional well being by the digital world has moved customers to find “analogue ways to unwind and relax in their free time” (Ryan 2020). This presents an opportunity for event producers to collaborate with mental health charities to meet this developing trend.

“Excessive working hours are impacting consumers’ ability to carve out time for themselves and to participate in their hobbies.” (Ryan 2020).

The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club has no direct competitors, making it a niche offering to both the menopause and comedy industry. To define where the brand would sit within the market, two levels of competitors were highlighted to give a comprehensive overview of the market environment. There is only one direct topic competitor in ‘Menopause The Musical’, and one direct comedy club competitor The Fannytasticals. However, as these are only elements of competitiveness, the brand still has a niche definable benefit which will prove effective when entering the market.

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Fannytasticals

Funny Women

Berks Nest

Ticket Price Point Analysis

£5 (base ticket price)

£15 (base ticket price) £20-£40 (special events) £10 (workshop tickets)

£13-15 (base ticket price)

Comedy Style

Comedy group.

Focus on female identity, gender issues, life, bodily fluids (Angella 2019).

Song’s, sketches, and wry musings (Angel Comedy Club 2020).

The UK’s leading female comedy community.

Stand up Comedy writing Improv Sketch Character

Out of the box. Topical Experiential Weird

The Climax, Cum Again, Multipletourgasm, A Fannytastical Fundrazor My Fanny Valentine, Six Hens a-Playing, The Fannytasticals, The Fannytasticals and their Fellowpian Friends

Time of the Month, Stand up to Stand out, Brighton Nights, Funny Women and Techerati presents: HERlarious, Comedy Surgery Herlarious: Comedy and Confidence for Creatives, Funny Women Comedy awards, Funny Women on the Fringe Funny Women Alumni

57 hour long, innovative shows produced (Berks Nest 2020).

Max & Ivan: Commitment, Canned Laughter, Lola & Jo: Escape Olga Koch: If/Then, Arabella Weird: Does my mum loom big in this?

Tarot

The Bill Murray Werks Central Printers Playhouse Sweetwerks Komedia Brighton Etcetera Theatre Camden Latest Music Bar Marlborough Pub & Theatre Sweet Venues Brighton Artista Cafe & Galleries Hove New Venue Theatre Brighton

Bloomsbury Theatre London Alchemy 198 Bristol The Continental The Groucho Club The Betsy Trotwood Komedia Brighton Nightingale Brighton Warwick Arts Center The Frog and Bucket

Brighton Fringe Guildford Fringe

International Women’s Day

Events Produced in Last Year

Venues

Festivals

Stand up Sketch Character

Soho Theatre The Lowry Komedia Bath Cambridge Junction Firebug Leicester The Stand up Comedy Club Soho Theatre Tobacco Factory Theatres The Frog and Bucket The Old Hairdressers Mid Fest Comedy Special, Edinburgh Comedy Festival, Underbelly, Vault Festival, Glasgow Comedy Festival

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Fannytasticals

Funny Women

Berks Nest

Average Attendance per

105

Social media

Facebook followers: 388 Facebook likes: 397

Facebook Followers: 5121 Facebook likes: 4827

Facebook Followers: 708 Facebook Likes: 780

Instagram: 419 1-2 posts per week.

Instagram Followers: 2476 2-3 posts per day. Heavier mix of promotion of relevant content outside of promotion, gives the brand an inclusive feel.

Instagram: 1138 1 post per day. Similar aesthetic.

Jo Brand, Shazia Mirza, Suzy Bennett, Kerry Godliman, Jayde Adams, Sarah Mann, Sophie Ducker (MC), Laura Smyth, Jess Robinson,

Rose Matafeo, Tessa Coates Olga Koch, Alice Snedden, Anna Mann, Amy Annette, Arabella Weir Suzi Ruffell, Fern Brady Mixture of fresh voices and household names.

Informative Empowering Supportive

Youth, Quirky, Outspoken.

Comedians Used

Brand Personality

120

34 shows per year

51 events are held over the course of a year.

5 regular performers aged between 20-40.

“Brighton’s award-winning 5 star female comedy troupe. Rude, raw and raucous fannyfied fun. Women’s issues tackled in a fresh, clever & hilarious way.”

“An evening without inhibitions” (Angel Comedy Club 2020).

Strong comedian - producer relationship “Berk’s Nest work with “Using humour in business and every- comedians from the initial spark of day life to help women find their an idea to managing the queue at the voice” (Funny Women 2020). subsequent hit show in Edinburgh” (Venables 2017) “Berk’s Nest help artists to harness their potential, and to create an hour that’s true to that artist” (Venables 2017)

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Fannytasticals

Funny Women

Berks Nest

Services Offered

Gigs Tours Festival Appearances

Awards, Gigs, Workshops, Magazine Blog, Industry advice, Conferences Corporate workshops HERlarious VIP community, Advisory Board

Gigs Tours Festival Appearances Merch (Branded T-Shirts, Tote Bags).

Strengths

Filling the niche market of female comedy groups.

High levels of attendance for a small brand Uses sketches and songs. Unique in the comedy industry.

Award winning.

Regular performers to give a sense of familiarity. Encourage repeat customers.

Wide range of revenue streams.

Nurtures the brand to act relationship in order to bring the consumer the best experience.

Weaknesses

Use of female exclusive language.

Graphic/sexual language.

Same performers put pressure on to produce new shows more regularly/or travel round to keep freshness.

Analysis

Supportive of a community that is growing. Heavy emphasis on support networks encourages new comedians, gives the brand a female empowerment edge.

Large following could put off smaller name comedians from joining.

Can seem impersonal.

Clean design throughout.

Ran by enthusiastic young people, encourages new attendees into the industry.

Brand DTC does not make it clear what the brand does, whether they are comedians themselves or producers.

All three competitors support female comedians and champion it as a method for empowerment which is positive for the market The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club plans to enter. As consumers have become hyper vigilant toward brands with fake offerings on issues of inclusion and equality. Both Funny Women and Fannytastlics support the empowerment of women through comedy, with Fannytasticals being the most direct competitor on the discussion of taboo topics. However, The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club fills a niche sector within female comedy by specifically discussing and educating on a taboo topic, which no other comedy club currently does. Funny women had the largest portfolio of revenue streams, with the Advisory Board and VIP packages being something The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club could look to replicate in future development. *Average attendance per show. The average number of users per Facebook event that said ‘Going’ added together, divided by the number of events held for the year 2018-2019.

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Chapter Summary Comedy is continuing to maintain, attract, and engage a wide audience, as comedians benefit from increased exposure in popular culture and meeting the consumer desire for unique experiences. With the most likely attendants being 25-34, The Cardi’s Off Comedy Clubs marketing should focus on Gen Xers to encourage attendance to comedy tour, with word of mouth remaining the biggest motivation for consumers in this market.

For brands to truly capture consumers in these markets they must offer multi channel products and services to allow freedom in content consumption, which makes JokePit a profitable partner for the brand. Comedy is presented as a highly adaptable market which can evolve quickly with consumer trends and desires, delivering relevant offerings to mirror popular culture. As the content of The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club is addressing the under-represented discourse of menopause, it can be assumed that audiences will continue to be drawn to the brand as the topic develops into mainstream consciousness.

Strategic Direction Consumer Segmentation

“If your target audience is majority females, have long lead times and let them plan�

(Walker 2019).

The strategy for consumer targeting is to focus the brands marketing toward Generation X and Millennials.

This decision was influenced by The Problem chapter insights, with the aim of improving the menopause transition and process for future generations. Positioning the brand as a contributor toward female empowerment will prove profitable for event consumers that perceive brands with a social change initiative as a better investment (Eventbrite 2020).

The main target audience for the brand will be females aged 30-60 as a form of brand differentiation.

Competitive analysis showed most menopause brands focused Generation X and Baby Boomer demographics, as the interest in the menopause was highest amongst these consumers. Yet Stage 1 revealed these women turn to these brands during or post menopause, beginning the transition with little education or awareness. For the brand to truly be seen as a positive contribution to female empowerment, the brand will focus on the future improvement of the female experience during menopause by targeting Older Millennials and Generation X. This strategy will instil the importance of early menopause education whilst simultaneously satisfying the current menopausal consumer. This will also generate consumer loyalty within the early pre menopause transition to ensure future customer retention.

Despite primary research showing concerns that the business concept could further divide male and female issues, interviews with female comedians found a female heavy audience gave a better atmosphere and ultimately a better performance. The higher quality of performance will encourage consumer retention and loyalty, which will negate the events market challenge of advanced ticket purchasing (Eventbrite 2020).

The availability of advanced tickets will also motivate the primary consumer of females to purchase, as an Eventbrite report found long lead times are most appealing to allow this consumer to plan (Eventbrite 2020).

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Festival/Comedy Venue Tour Humour was identified in Stage 1 as a method for women to express themselves with regards to the menopause, but education and awareness were lacking due to societal stigma. The negative perspective of the menopausal discourse has caused women to reject it’s mention, so framing the topic within a comedic structure will be familiar to the consumer and negate the possible cautious consumer approach to the topic.

Following an event tour structure allows the brand to achieve it’s business aim of menopause education across diverse communities. Comedy has also shown to increase consumer memory for information retention making comedy an appropriate method to facilitate menopause education (Warren and Barksey and Mcgraw 2018).

Revenue Streams

Comedy club consumers also have a strong interest in music festivals, as they are more likely to attend than the overall population (76% vs. 26%). 25% of the brands target consumer, Older Millennials (30-39) and Generation X (40-54), go to festivals to experience something new (Mintel 2019), with 89% of comedy attendees claiming they were aware of comedy stages/tents at at least 1 festival (Mermiri and Rawcliffe and Rea 2014). Mintel’s report findings were based on music festivals in which comedy tents are not the main reason for a majority of audiences visiting these festivals. It is therefore a reasonable assumption that this would be considered ‘a new experience’ for consumers to see a comedy act in this environment, implying the inclusion of music festivals within the comedy tour will grow brand engagement.

Venue Selection All venues were selected through competitor offering analysis to ensure the brand would be partnering with like minded collaborators. Partnering with these venues offers an opportunity for audience growth as their established customer base are already interested in similar comedy content. Headline venues were chosen through previous tour analysis that identified which venues had a high rate of sell through (90-100% sold out), this would also ensure the headliner would be willing to perform there through previous performances.

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Merchandise As advanced ticket sales are one of the biggest challenges for event producers, having varied revenue streams helps to relieve pressure to meet sales targets. Branded fans and pins will be sold at both festival and comedy club events at the price of £2 and £1 respectively. Fan’s will symbolise the hot flush symptom and remind the consumer of the tour name ‘Who Gives A Flush’, and the pins will be an emblem of the comedy club’s strong community. Providing merchandise will drive brand awareness beyond the event itself which will prove vital to gain repeat commerce for the brand. This will also act as a discussion point for consumers to encourage word of mouth promotion. Eventbrite found the average percentage of audiences who buy merchandise are between 5-10%, with this figure increasing to 15-30% for more well known brands (Eventbrite 2016). These figures will be used within the Business Management chapter for financial calculations.

Pricing Strategy The primary research showed consumers would be willing to pay between £9-£15 per ticket for the business concept presented to them (Appendix). The main sample from this survey was Older Millennials, and with the consideration that Generation Xers have the highest spending power in the UK, both target consumers would be prepared to spend this (Hyder 2020). There is little variation in price points, as analysed within the competitive landscape (Page ), therefore a competitive pricing strategy was selected as “87% of shoppers say knowing they got a good deal is important to them when deciding which brand or retailer to buy from” (Kocak 2018). Prices range in the middle of Funny Women and Berk’s Nest Comedy.

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Partners and Sponsors All partners and sponsors were chosen based on sharing values and business aims to improve female social and economic opportunities through financial or support based empowerment. This is to align the brand within the market zeitgeist of offering services or products that contribute back to the environments they inhabit (Eventbrite 2020). Partners desire a meaningful relationship with consumers through their journey with the brand to perceive the relationship as equally valuable (Baylis 2020). To provide a platform for partners to engage with the brands audience, they will be featured within 1 of the two monthly Facebook Lives, and a podcast episode every 2 months. This structure will avoid repetitive content but still build a strong relationship with partners. Monthly updates and small thank you gifts will be sent to partners as this has been shown to keep brand to partner relationships strong (Baylis 2020).

Next Up Comedy’s two schemes, Next Up Comics Fund and The Grapevine Bursary, provide financial and technical support to up and coming comedy acts who positively contribute to the diversity of the industry. The brand would be eligible to receive this funding through its focus on the improvement of the menopause discussion, this will help reduce brand costs and allow for a higher quality event for consumers both during and after the customer journey. Their diversity initiatives makes them an attractive partner that aligns with The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club’s business aims, adding the transparent offering for distrusting consumers. Partnering with Next Up Comedy will also accurately target the brands primary consumer as 49% of older Millennials (30-39) watch videos online (McGrath 2020), and 64% of Gen X households own a subscription service (Srivastava 2019).

Analysis of Next Up Comedy’s current male to female offering ratio found 42 female comedians, and 98 males, showing that there is a gap in their offering that The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club can fill. Streaming services are also showing to be a growing market with OTT revenues in the UK are set to rise at the CAGR of 10.3% till 2023, to reach 2bn. This, combined with the growth of the comedy industry, displays a healthy opportunity for revenue generation and also provides a platform to engage with potential customers as the market grows (Ryan 2020).

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Marketing Strategy The marketing plan will be following a societal marketing concept in which the business will consider profits, consumer and their want satisfaction (short-term), and human welfare in society (long-term), (Kotler 2016). The business simultaneously satisfies consumers’ short term goals of entertainment and escapism, and destigmatized the discussion of the menopause in order to provide long term improvement to The Problems identified on page ‌ Consumers are becoming more demanding of brands to fulfil a wider purpose outside of self motivated, profit based goals. This is evidenced through previously profit orientated businesses such as Unilever, are rethinking interactions with society and corporate performance.

Marketing Objectives To sell 56% of comedy club venue tickets through online channels, both owned and third party sites, by the end of the first year of trading.

To present a visually innovative comedy club offering that contrasts normative competitor expectations, to gain market share through consumer interest.

To see a 70% growth in positive brand perception amongst active consumers through a high quality comedy club experience from end to end.

To normalise the discussion of female specific issues within social settings, regardless of gender.

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Marketing Strategy Products & Services

Prices & Fees

Place/Access

Promotion

Physical Evidence

Processes

People

Partners

The 7 P’s

This allows a company to review and define the key issues that effect marketing of its products and services. The model ensures that each aspect of The Cardi’s Off Club is considered within the competitive market.

All female comedy club, informal educational source, female empowerment community, branded merchandise, online content, podcast production, storyteller. New Approaches: Bringing the stories together into a monthly Zine. Have an IGTV with questions and answers. Possibly bench the podcast till 2nd year, based on the success of the IGTV. Collaborate with other Facebook communities and use their established audience base to gain viewership for social media activity.

Between £8-£15 per ticket, competition pricing. Bundle pricing (this method is simple and delivers value for money but reduces customers freedom of choice, however the pricing structure offers alternatives with this option appealing to those who attend comedy nights with friends/ family, which a large percentage of the sample do), freemium method, Free menopause education and support.

Fees Third party ticketing commission %’s (Next Up Comedy & JokePit), New Approaches: Penetration pricing, increase price as awareness goes up JokePit and their other streaming channels, Next Up Comedy New Approaches: making appearances at female empowerment festivals or events such as Women’s Health Live, this appeals to the trend of holistic well being in which addressing mental wellness linked to external issues (like menopause) is part of a healthy lifestyle.

Social media channels (Facebook, Instagram), British Comedy Guide reviews, Chortle reviews. Comedian’s promotion through own platforms, Email, Festivals, Merchandise Venues and festivals give positive brand associations through consumers’ preconceived perception of event. Using new talent gives the impression of innovation with a supportive brand tone. The use of Maggie Stewart, the founder, encourages Millennial viewership but could cause actual menopausal women to become hesitant or question the validity message and offering. Using the menopause coaches and educators provides a factual basis to counter this possible limitation. Online experience within JokePits platform provides an all in one, seamless experience for consumers - making their journeys efficient which will also impart positive brand associations Customer centric. Customers have easy access to all content via JokePit, but there is a gap for own website content to be developed. This needs to be a high level and could require a website designer in 2nd year. Competitors of the same level as this company such as Fannytasticals primarily use Facebook and third party ticketing sites for this promotion and awareness, this will be used until the design of a website can make the seamlessness of JokePit’s processes. Primary research will be conducted to consumers at events to gauge if a website would improve the customer centric business model.

A mixture of women aged between 24-60 will be consumer facing to capture both Millennial and Generation X interest. Skill gaps are from high level professional comedians, having endorsements from well known comedy sites to build comedians reputation with positive reviews. To ensure good content, writing workshops and competitive studies will be conducted, alongside show previews to create a desirable and relevant show.

Rosa, Next Up Comedy, Fawcett Society, Joke Pit, MPoweredWomen, Perimenopausal Hub, Wish Women’s Mental Health Charity, Advantages of Age. The variety within the partnerships secured will be vital to capturing both Millennial and Generation X audiences to achieve business aim of creating a cross generational community of women.

46

The AIDA Model This model stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. This aids the brand in understanding what to achieve through your marketing campaigns or individual pieces of creative (Halon and Chaffey 2019). This model outlines 4 cognitive steps adopted by buyers that motivate their purchasing intent (Halon and Chaffey 2019). This communication framework will help access the effectiveness of a marketing campaign in order to achieve maximum consumer retention. This should be used for each campaign or creative to assess its aims and effectiveness. As found in the Stage 1 insights, the largest areas of improvement for the menopause is the education and awareness of the process. These two factors will remain the main focus on the communication strategy, but presented in a subtle way, as the consumers favoured the education element of the business coming secondary to the community aspect of the all female comedy group (Appendix )

Awareness

Interest

Print media PR is sent out to venues a 1 month in advance of each show. Advanced ticket sales are one of the biggest challenges for the event’s industry, so pushing the show advertisement in stages of intensity will ramp up interest and encourage advanced sales, particularly in conjunction with proposed pricing strategies. These print designs will also be posted alongside the supporting menopause campaign #WhoGivesAFlush. The campaign will ask women to send in funny menopause truths (anonymously if they choose) that will be designed to fit the brand image and posted on social media. This data will be gathered through menopause communities on Facebook as these are active groups, so therefore the chance of response and participation is high.

Comedy show reviewers are invited to launch the show to substantiate quality of show and encourage audience interest.

JokePit advertises new shows through the event section of the website.

Desire

Action

Eventbrite noted that there is an increased demand for events that focus on social issues (Eventbrite 2020). Despite the discussion of the menopause experiencing residual stigma of societal views on women ageing, there is a growing demand for the topic amongst women. As consumer look for more memorable experiences

There are calls to action on the Facebook page (book now to laugh with the C.O.C.C), on JokePits site (ticket purchasing), social media involvement (DontGiveAFlush campaign), follow up email (Discounted tickets), Festival websites/brochures (buying festival tickets).

Launch show - The Menoparty with C.O.C.C. The first show will include a live Q&A with menopausal coach Jade Blinkhorn and Diana Danzebrink after the show, with a free drink voucher. This casual setting and recent discussion of the menopause will encourage those who are uncomfortable to attend. This creates added value.

Direct mails will be sent out to those who attended, with a group discount code that can be used for the next show/or sent to a friend.

Having a design lead approach to a comedy club’s marketing sets the brand apart from competitors, creating an interest from pre existing consumer goers. The topic of the menopause is a growing sector that women are seeking to discuss within safe spaces, the intimate and relaxed nature of a comedy club will appeal to these consumers.

Having an exclusive night for those who have positively contributed to the progression of the menopause discussion will create a community of accessible experts for the common woman. This flat hierarchy will achieve the business aim

47

The AIDA Model as brand tracking Aware. Prompted and Unprompted recall

Familiar.

Promoted through social media channels, JokePit, and Next Up Comedy, partner sites (Festival branding, financial sponsor sites, female empowerment sponsor site) podcasts. Unprompted through reviews, Facebook communities, word of mouth promotion

Menopause education and support, community of outspoken like minded women, light-hearted entertainment, positive social impact.

Favourable.

This measures customer experience and predicts business growth. Respondent groups - Promoters (9-10), loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others, fuelling growth. Passives (7-8), satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who are vulnerable to competitive offerings. Detractors (0-6), unhappy customers who can damage your brand and impede growth through negative word of mouth.

Subtracting Promoters from Detractors gives the Net Promoter Score. The data for this will be taken from the quantitative surveys in which the brand concept was presented and the consumer was asked if they liked this concept.

Liked the concept Survey 1 75% out of 102 - 76 people (Rounded) Survey 2 81% out of 44 - 36 people (Rounded) Survey 3 87% out of 158 - 138 (Rounded) While these consumers said they like the idea this does not directly translate into active promotion. The sample from surveys 1 and 2 were menopausal women, and female comics (Perimenopausal Hub and UK Female Comics Facebook groups). As these are the brands primary consumers, those responses will be assumed to be promoters due to the active nature of the groups they belong to. Therefore, total promoters are 112, which is 64%. Meaning 13% would be passive consumers.

Did not like the concept Survey 1 - Facebook, Peri Menopausal Hub 25% of 102 - 24 people (rounded)

Purchase Intent The #WhoGivesAFlush marketing campaign will make women feel less alone as they recognise themselves within the experiences shared by the brand on social media pages. This will form an emotional connection between brand and consumers, but also give them courage to do the same. As evidenced in the Department of Health’s menopause report, once women are invited to discuss their menopause experience they are open and vocable, claiming it is an enjoyable process (Brewis et al 2017). The satisfaction from sharing their experience will motivate the consumer to come to the shows to experience this in real life, which reflects the positive consumer behaviour toward memorable experiences. Word of mouth promotion will then lead potential consumer to main channels (Facebook and JokePit pages) which showcase the #WhoGivesAFlush campaign, and restart the purchase intent cycle.

Loyalty.

The brand received a score of 41. This is a positive score for the brand which is only likely to increase as wider audiences are attracted through the awareness and interest stages of the model.

Survey 2 - Facebook, UK Female Comics, Funny Women Community 14% out of 44 - 6 (rounded) Survey 3 - Instagram 13% of 158 - 20 (rounded) 23% Detractors 64-23 = 41 NPS.

48

Communication Strategy Communication Objectives Generate strong brand awareness of The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club amongst the target audience of Older Millennials and Generation X by growing Facebook likes to 1.5k, and Instagram followers to 1.8k after 3 years.

To meet the 7% entertainment website standard of Facebook engagement rates by delivering consistent content of three posts a day, over a 12 month period.

Drive traffic to partner sites across 12 months, through social media campaigns that shift consumer behaviour toward the sharing of menopause experiences through user generated content.

Achieve a total monthly traffic of 23,301 by the end of 2022 in line with competitor analysis (Appendix).

Growth Objectives To be recognised as an integral part of the fight against gendered ageism through collaborative events across creative industries, to optimise the improvement of females economic and social opportunities.

To become regularly featured on day time and evening television networks to grow audience retention and loyalty.

49

Communication Plan Strategy

Method

Purpose

Medium

Strengthen brand reputation Generate revenue Broaden audience

Venues with capacity over 750

1 show every 3 months after launch for the 1st year

Comedy fans Existing consumers Potential consumers

Build community, educate consumer, UGC development, reviews,

Digital Interaction, Facebook Lives, Posts/comment interaction

8 posts per day 1 founder post per day 2 Lives a month

Menopause women Generation X Baby Boomers Existing customers

Instagram

Build community, educate consumer, UGC development, revenue stream promotion,

Digital Interaction, Instagram posts, Instagram stories, IGTV’s

2 posts per day.

JokePit

Promote brand services and product, ticket sales, merchandise sales,

JokePit promoter site Jokepit channels

Updates in line with show ticket releases, live streams of shows,

The Bill Murray

1 Show (April)

Partners Potential consumers

Spotify

1 episode half an hour every 2 weeks.

Potential consumers Existing consumer

1 email per month, monthly newsletter style

Existing Customers Brand advocates Key partners

Headline Gigs Facebook

Launch Event

Podcast

Email

Establish key brand elements with consumers and market Build community

Widen brand reach Broaden audience

Updates, discounts/coupons, brand advocate development, primary research, concept

Outlook Email

Frequency

Audience

Menopause women Older Millennials Generation X Existing Customers

Potential Consumers Existing Consumer Comedy audience

50

Headline Poster

Physical Communication Print Communications 100 posters and 2000 flyers will be distributed across the 15 festivals and venues within a 1 mile radius of each location, 1-4 weeks prior to the event as this is the key time frame for performance tickets to be bought (Eventbrite 2019).

These will be in line with the punk inspired aesthetic outlined within the brand guidelines to make the posters desirable to post on social media. The above hashtags will also be featured as a tracking method for which locations performed most effectively for poster views. The main purpose of this is to create awareness and engagement with the show by displaying acts to be featured, ticket prices, and locations of the tour.

Promotional Features The Broad Experience podcast The High Low podcast Funny Women Magazine MPowered Women Rosa Peri Menopausal Hub The promotional features proposed will be interview based to spread brand message and mission to the target audiences of Older Millennial and Generation X women. As these consumers are both strapped for time, appearing in an easily digestible content format will increase the chance of the consumer retaining the information and further researching the brand through identifiable hashtags.

51

Festival Poster

Promotional Flyer

52

#DontGiveAFlush. This hashtag will be used across Facebook and Instagram to encourage consumer participation to share their menopause truths. This will facilitate the spread of menopause awareness and allow women to express themselves within a tribe of like minded women. This will also be used for women who want to share anonymously through DM submission. The hashtag will form a foundation for the brands main social media campaign being used for competition entries as well as building a menopause a casual support network.

Brand hashtag #ILoveCOCC will be used as a unique tagline to create immediate recognition within a saturated social media market. This is also in line with the competitive landscape that uses play on words and puns to reflect the comedic business model. This will not offer incentive for consumer participation, unlike the above hashtag, but aid in the spread of brand reviews and experience sharing to encourage potential consumer interest.

The hashtags will be featured across all channels to gain traction across multiple segments, and will be used by partner sites Next Up Comedy, JokePit, and within festival brochures to drive consumer traffic back to owned sites.

Facebook Community Lives This feature will aid the improvement of menopause education though a Q&A with partnered menopause networks and coaches. This will be a monthly feature, with drip marketing used to build audience numbers. Partner site JokePit will also advertise this to help drive their traffic toward owned channels. In doing this the brand further solidifies it’s educational USP as well as adding value for the consumer. As the brand relies on user generated content, brand advocates from selected menopause support groups will be featured to encourage an active participation in the lives and promote the sharing of menopause truths.

Integrated call-to-action will reduce bounce rate and effectively channel consumer interest during the bottom of the funnel buying process leading to the brands JokePit domain.

Email Communications Email communications will be used to support post event activity and build traffic to partner sites and main Facebook page. Connecting with the consumer after the event is vital to encourage a supportive brand tone and to gain feedback as to how the brand can improve their offering. The feedback can also be featured on social media channels in the form of reviews to encourage new consumers into the brand.

Podcast Strategy The brand will periodically release a 30 minute podcast episode to streaming service Spotify to further target Millennial and Generation X consumers, particularly as 93% of millennials report listening to the radio for a total of around 11 hours per week (Lister 2020). The podcast will act as a form of marketing to compliment the tour. Each episode will be structured as a round up of the previous show, with conversational style content, covering topics that relate to the menopause and female issues. This will also act as an opportunity platform for future growth by introducing new potential markets to consumers. Headline acts will feature as guests with specific venues being booked out for longer to allow for this. Both the length and content style are in line with competitors.

Facebook banner

Digital Communication

Email Header

Spotify Logo

53

Launch Show As one of the main aims of the brand is to facilitate female empowerment, the brand launch will take place in March, which is the same month as international women’s day. 1 month prior to the event the brand will do a live stream through JokePit as an introduction to the brand, as well as outlining key elements of the tour. The show will be held at the Bill Murray, which is a venue of Angel Comedy Club and associated with JokePit. This is also a key gig to get Older Millennial women involved as this demographic is largely situated within this area. Londoners are also the most frequent comedy club attendees, with 25% of Londoners planning to attend at least 5 events in 2016 (Mermiri and Rawcliffe and Rea 2014).

A pre-show dinner will be held with comedy reviewers, venue owners, and key members of the perimenopause support community to begin to build the intimate community from leaders within both comedy and menopause.

The restaurant Fredericks will be selected to fulfil a well rounded consumer offering that supports the local communities the brand visits, which Eventbrite identified as the future growth of the events industry (Eventbrite 2020).

The event itself will start at 7:30, with the show lasting an hour and a half.

After the show attendees are invited to share a drink with the comedians, to create a memorable experience that connects the consumer and brand emotionally. Consumers are able to redeem a free drink token for an exchange of email addresses to begin to build a network of loyal consumers that can be contacted about tour dates and other developments in the future. More active consumers will be developed into brand advocates through this open line of communication. Free merchandise will be given to each attendee, with a discount voucher code following a bundle pricing strategy to capture consumers who visit comedy clubs with friends (Appendix ).

54

Yr 2/3 Communication Plan The communication plan will depend on the success of the year 1 communication plan, as well as the financial state of the business. The brand will continue to innovate and develop new show concepts based on consumer response to first year shows through The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club community channels. The brand will focus on developing its own DTC offering branching away from the support of JokePit in order to satisfy consumer desire for blog or magazine style content shown within the primary research (Appendix). The brand will continue to diversify into new markets that are tackling gender ageism, particularly in the employment sector by offering a developed B2B strategy to be used within corporate or team building events. Lastly, the brand will continue to develop relationships with brand advocates and form new relationships with high level comedians, with the aim of securing them for larger capacity gigs in the future to improve revenue.

55

Business Management Business Objectives Become a ÂŁ300,000 market value business by the end of 2025.

To increase market share by 10%, and ROI by 5% each year after the first three years (2023).

To be recognised as a leader within the rebranding of the menopause.

Start Up Costs There are few start up costs for the business, as it will not have a permanent office to work from due to the nomadic nature of the touring business model. Paying the festival fees, travel and accommodation up from will save time and money, as well as providing a structure for the entire year. This guarantee of a gig for the comedians will also be appealing for the comedians as the promise of regular income is one of the biggest barriers to entry. This will also help the brand improve female economic opportunities within comedy by providing an incentive to enter the industry. Registering a trademark will give the business a professional look and feel which will encourage investors of the validity of the business plan. Merchandise and branding are necessary to be available from the beginning of the tour to carve out a niche within the comedy market, and become the brand symbol. Buying lighting and sound equipment will protect the brand from technical fault imparting negative brand associations through poor consumer experiences.

56

Element

Rationale

Company Registration Priority 5/5

The brand will be registered with companies house as a private limited company.

Trademark Registration Priority 5/5

To protect the brand’s intellectual property of the brand name and logo, it will be registered as a Trademark under Class 38 (telecommunications services), and Class 41 (Education; providing of training; entertainment; sporting and cultural activities). There are only 20 trade marks with ‘comedy club’ in the name. This also gives an indication toward the uniqueness of the business concept.

British Comedy Guide Pro Priority 4/5

Comedy Workshop Priority 3/5

Branding Priority 4/5

Industry platform. The platform will provide vital start up information, development and training opportunities, which will be helpful to training the open mic comedians in the brand. Their internal networking site will give the brand access to potential new partners and comedians to help grow the business after year 1.

Funny Women comedy workshop. This will provide confidence building for open mic comedians, and help the brand to network with a competitor, gaining insight on the industry.

Printing the posters, flyers, and business cards for the cardi’s off comedy club is vital for the promotion of shows and meeting the brand and business aims. This will also generate revenue.

Merchandise Priority 4/5

This is an important revenue channel for the brand, particularly for the festival season as there is no direct ticket sale revenue.

The quality of the merchandise will also help impart positive brand associations to the consumer. Branded fans will meet the consumer need for the symptom of hot flushes, and give recognition to the menopause. The pin will reinforce the community feel or the brand, as if they are part of a club.

Podcast Recording Equipment Priority 4/5

A podcast will be recorded weekly to encourage women to discuss the menopause within their own safe spaces. This will also bring awareness to the brand and it’s style of comedy, without consumers financially committing. This will also allow the brand to explore other issues related to the menopause, such as ageing and employment, which will position the brand well for future expansion

Cost

Total

£12

£12

Trademark registration fee £250 Classification fee £50 x2

£350

£150

£150

£80

£80

Poster - £29.47 Flyers - £18.32 Business Cards - £31.51 (Appendix ) Branded Fans - £568.05 Branded Pins - £1144.05

Microphone x2 £23 Mic Windscreen x2 £5 Microphone Cables (pack of 5) £33 Mixer £69

£78.94

£1712.10

£130

57

Profit & Loss Yr 1 March 2020

April 2020

May 2020

June 2020

July 2020

Revenue Stream 1 Comedy Festival Tour

0

900

0

2178

0

0

1125

Cost of goods

0

-235

-235

-545

-355

-710

-295

Revenue Stream 2 Comedy Venue Tour

0

1962.75

4730

0

0

0

9675

Cost of goods

0

-475

-5825

0

0

0

-5960

Revenue Stream 3 Merchandise Fans

0

49.7

35

60

322.85

4900

84.5

Cost of goods

0

-9.639

-22.68

-14.04

-45.44

-238.57

-43.2

31.85

17.5

17.5

117.4

1797.75

17.5

-10.808

-14.88

-12.48

-40.39

-212.06

-22.4

0

2213.85

-1315.06

1683.98

-1

5536.86

4581.4

-170

-170

-170

-170

-170

-170

-170

-24

-24

-24

-24

-24

-24

-24

-1428

-1428

-1428

-1428

-1428

-1428

-1428

Location Expenses

0

-869

-250

-575

-125

-250

-325

Location Accomodation

0

0

-71.25

-673

-202.5

0

0

-388.3

-480.5

-92.5

-673

-202.5

0

0

0

-327.75

-555

-225

0

0

-487.5

Total o/hs

-2010.3

-3299.25

-2590.75

-3768

-2152

-1872

-2434.5

Net Profit

-2010.3

-1085.40

-3905.81

-2084.02

-2153

3664.86

2146.9

Breakeven

-2010.3

-3095.70

-7001.51

-9085.53

-11238.10

-7573.24

-5426.34

Revenue Stream 4 Merchandise pins Cost of goods Gross Profit

August 2020 September 2020

Fixed Costs The Wing London Xero Accounting Service Production Assistant Variable Costs

Travel Costs JokePit 10% Comission

58

October 2020 November 2020 December 2020

January 2021

February 2021

March 2021

Revenue Stream 1 Comedy Festival Tour

1125

0

0

3870

3375

3375

Cost of goods

-295

0

0

-295

-440

-415

Revenue Stream 2 Comedy Venue Tour

0

0

23462.75

0

0

22919

Cost of goods

0

0

-11205

0

0

-17060

Revenue Stream 3 Merchandise Fans

17.5

0

1300.15

120.4

52.5

531.4

Cost of goods

-5.4

0

-77.319

-24.77

-5.4

-101.52

Revenue Stream 4 Merchandise pins

8.75

0

224.85

60.2

26.25

265.7

Cost of goods

-4.8

0

-69.16

-22.016

-4.8

-85.024

846.05

0

13636.27

3708.82

3003.55

9429.56

-170

-170

-170

-170

-170

-170

-24

-24

-24

-24

-24

-24

-1428

-1428

-1428

-1428

-1428

-1428

Location Expenses

-125

0

-425

-200

-125

-325

Location Accomodation

-187

0

-535

0

-427

-439.5

Travel Costs

-187

0

-385.8

-53.1

-750

-138.18

0

0

-1737.75

-387

-112.5

-1936.5

Total o/hs

-2121

-1622

-4705.55

-2262.1

-3036.5

-4461.18

Net Profit

-1274.95

-1622

8930.72

1446.72

-32.95

4968.38

Breakeven

-6701.29

-8323.29

607.43

2054.15

2021.20

6989.58

Gross Profit Fixed Costs The Wing London Xero Accounting Service Production Assistant Variable Costs

JokePit 10% Comission

59

Profit & Loss Analysis *The cost of goods consists of comedians wages, venue hire and fees. *Assistant cost is based off a job advertisement for a comedy club manager for The 99 Comedy Club, which detailed roles that would be relevant to founders requirements. The salary was 20,000 per annum, which was taken after tax and divided by 12, for the monthly cost to the business. *The best and worst case averages are based on 100% sell through (Best) and 50% sell through (Worst). This also applies to the number of people in the comedy tent at a music festival. *JokePit’s 10% commission was calculated by taking the median capacity from the sensitivity calculation, then finding 10% of this. *Xero accounting standard plan was selected as the only benefit from the premium plan was to accept multiple foreign currencies which the brand has no current use for. *During the months of November and December which include professional comedians, new posters will need to be printed the month before. As the performances will all take place at The Bill Murray only 5 copies of each will be needed. *Headline act ticket prices raised to meet industry standard from £15 + £1.50 processing fee, to £20 + £1.50 processing fee. *JokePit fee not taken from Reading, Rewind, or Latitude Festival as the marketing from this will come from the festivals internal promotion.

Despite the business making a healthy profit within the first year of operating, the sensitivity analysis showed the business as sensitive with it making a 2,000 profit. To ensure I hit sales I will phase the larger expenses of the headliner comedians to a monthly spend in order to alleviate financial pressure to meet sales. In year three, a new revenue stream of corporate packages will be introduced to meet the business aim of educating on the menopause. This area is an opportunity for growth as the conversation of menopause continues to be developed within the employment sector as explored in The Opportunity Chapter.

The festival tours will be decreased, and replaced with more headline act appearances in bigger capacity venues, as this proved the most profitable revenue stream in year 1. The predicted growth will be based on the revenue taken from headliner shows in venues with a capacity over 1000. More detailed accounts of 2nd and 3rd year profit and loss can be found in the appendix.

Sensitivity Analysis Base Case

Sales -20%

Sales +20%

Revenue

88757

71005

85206

Cost of Sales

(45432)

(36345)

(43615)

Gross Profit

43325

34660

41592

Gross Profit Margin

151%

151%

London Office

(1700)

(1700)

(1700)

Accounting Service

(240)

(240)

(240)

Location Expenses

(2475)

(2475)

(2475)

Location Accommodation

(2465)

(2465)

(2465)

Travel Costs

(2390)

(2390)

(2390)

JokePit Comission

(4886)

(4886)

(4886)

(32719)

(32719)

(32719)

1941

8873

151%

Overheads

Total Overheads Total Overheads

10606

If the sales forecast in the profit and loss statement are not met by 20% the business is still profitable, meaning if unexpected costs occur or less tickets are sold than predicted, the business will not suffer greatly.

60

Profit & Loss Yr 1-3

Yr 1

Marketing Spend Activity

Yr 1

Yr 2

Yr 3

Facebook Community

Free

Free

Free

JokePit Comission

(5769)

(15390)

N/A

Podcast

(130) (660)

(260) (1140)

DTC

N/A

(150)

Headline Acts

(30000)

(40000)

Print Branding

(100)

Merchandise

(1700)

(1000) (2500)

(500) (1800)

79200

Yr 3

293230

322553

Cost of Sale

(45432)

(276770)

(304447)

Gross Profit

33768

16460

18106

Expenses & Overheads

(36335)

(27081)

(15000)

Net Earnings

(2567)

(10621)

3106

(3000) (50000) (2000) (5000)

See Appendix for Analysis

Marketing Budget Comedy Club. Promotion (10% 17,000 ), acts and venues (65% - 45,500) Education - menopausal experts, (3,500) Awareness - podcast, social media, (4,000). *based on cash injection from investors.

Net Revenue

Yr 2

61

Future Growth

Ansoff’s Matrix

Restaurant with menopause beneficial ingredients.

South Westerners are willing to spend up to £100 on food when going to an event, with 75% of comedy goers eating out before going to a show (Mermiri and Rawcliffe and Rea 2014). A 20% discount on ticket price will be offered through a social media ‘check-in’ incentive on Facebook to encourage traffic to the show. This incentive has been proven to “drive 50% of respondents to a retail space” (Lister 2020). The rise of DNA influenced nutrition will grow over the next 5 years as consumers continue to demand hyper personalised offerings, which implies body beneficial ingredients will grow in popularity.

The Ansoff’s framework will help identify strategic priorities for the future and help the business grow past it’s initial innovative entrance into the market, in order to obtain a sustained and profitable market presence.

Shoppable OTT Consumer data creating personal experiences to individuals over demographic groups is driving the need for brand to target consumers at the point of purchase decisions with purchase options ie. Shoppable instagram feeds. The future development of this will see OTT services having purchasing options for things they see or hear. Spotify podcast will give an option to purchase merchandise or event tickets during consumer interaction with content (PwC 2019). As the brand will already have an established podcast and streaming audience, this will provide increased revenue streams and a more seamless consumer journey.

Loyalty Programme 77% of millennials already do or are willing to participate in rewards and loyalty programmes, while 73% of smartphone users are interested in using their mobile devices to interact with brands’ loyalty programs (Lister 2020). This progression will provide a wider community of brand advocates and spread the salience and positive perception of The Cardi’s Off Club.

Market Penetration

Product Development

A comedy workshop to be put on alongside the show to encourage women to discuss their own experiences in an intimate and safe environment with women.

Sketch show for channel 4 with men and women.

Appealing to a broader market of mixed genders and ages through a mainstream broadcaster will widen the understanding of the menopause, and encourage conversations outside of female specific groups and initiate change in male dominated sectors.

Put on earlier shows for women who can’t get childcare in the evenings. Similar to the comedy competitor AfterMirth.

Customer Loyalty Improvement. Improve DTC offering by getting your own website with content curated for the target market. Progress the community away from Facebook and onto a dedicated site. This will improve market share growth.

Offer VIP meet and greets for loyal consumers, this will follow a similar format to the launch campaign ‘Menoparty’.

Run competitions for active members of the community, give away free tickets to the show for most relatable ‘Menomoment’. Innovating through the online community will improve customer loyalty and perceived value for money.

Lower costs of tickets by using pub venues that will give the room hire for free based on ‘door for bar’ exchange

Market Development Marketing the show to European markets through international comedy festivals/womens festivals, for future development of the brand. The CAGE distance framework should be used here to substantiate this growth strategy.

Including male headline acts and Millennial comedians.

Marketing the event as a special production for families of menopausal women, giving the perspective of the husband and children. Stage 1 research found the families are often at a loss as to how to help menopausal women in their families.

This approach will aim to build a support network outside of the brand and introduce new markets into the brand.

Partnering with corporate HR teams to perform during conferences, training days, or on International women’s day.

Diversification Collaborate with restaurants near venues to create a ‘dinner and a show’ campaign. The restaurant would feature foods that are claimed to benefit menopause women.

Working with a day time TV show like This Morning to have a regular segment using your comedians as agony aunts.

Looking at how the trend of holistic wellness repositions gendered ageism, with regards to the menopause. Working with fashion brands that are addressing the stigma around ageism.

Create cross industry, collaborative projects to further the spread of menopausal education and awareness. A good brand for this would be L.K Bennett, the new campaign features female models of diverse ages.

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Conclusion The menopause industry presents a profitable business opportunity through the growing consumer desire for comedy with a purpose. Menopausal women are seeking to be accurately represented within marketing with their desires being vocalised within the digital realm through close knit communities. The Cardi’s Off Comedy Club aimed to educate and push the awareness of the menopause through a relaxed and fun environment, which the brand aims to achieve through it’s consumer centric business model. However, as the industry becomes increasingly saturated, the following growth platforms should be incorporated to retain brand positioning as an innovator.

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