COLLABORATION EXPERIENTIAL ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING
ShopColumbia
ShopColumbia Presents “The Market” December 6th-8th 2012
Table of Contents Page Collaboration and Mission
3
Promotion
4-9
Integrated Marketing Timeline
10-11
The Event
12-14
SWOT
15
Class Statements
16-18
Group Statements
19-22
Conclusion
23
Thank You
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Collaboration For our class marketing project we collaborated with Shop Columbia to promote their 4th annual Holiday market featuring Columbia College Chicago students and alumni artists. ShopColumbia, Columbia College Chicago’s student art boutique, supports over 300 students and alumni by providing a vibrant, professional environment to market and sell their work. The event was at 623 S Wabash Avenue, Hokin Gallery, Lobby and ShopColumbia (entire first floor) from December 6th, 2012- December 8th, 2012. The reception was on 6th December, 2012 from 5-8pm. Our goal was to promote the event to our regular target audience which is students of Columbia College Chicago, expand Shop Columbia’s current market base into south loop, and increase the sales and attendance from previous year. As a class our responsibilities were to promote and advertise the event through various social media options, guerilla marketing, direct marketing, promotional videos and blogs.
Our Mission Add new market base Expand Shop Columbia’s current market base Increase number of student traffic into ShopColumbia Sales goal: $8,500 Reach more people in the South Loop & surrounding neighborhoods so that more people turn up for the event.
3
Promotion Various promotions techniques that we used to promote this event were: Social media- Facebook, twitter, instagram -We used Shop Columbia’s facebook page to post daily updates. An event page was also created on facebook where people could RSVP and read about the event. Shop Columbia’s face book page: http://www.facebook.com/shopcolumbia Event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/377225262352800/
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-We used Shop Columbia’s twitter to post daily updates, hast tag participating artists, follow participating artists and other events to increase our followers. Twitter: Twitter.com/shopcolumbia623 Handle: #shopcolumbia623
-Instagram was created to post pictures to create buzz and also to gain followers. Instagram: @shopcolumbia2012
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Facebook Ad campaign -Facebook ad campaign was created to increase the market base by reaching to a larger audience. Based on our listed target audience the ad is expected to reach approx 163,420 people.
Chicago event websites -Press releases were posted on most of Chicago’s event websites. Emails were sent to editors of some of these websites requesting them to write about our event.
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Blog -Blog page was created to engage readers and pull in fan base. The blog page contained links to social media sites; count down to the event, frequently asked questions and links to websites of most of the participating artists. Blog: http://shopcolumbiamarket.wordpress.com/
Videos -Two videos were created: teaser and artists spotlight featuring artists Mohamed Sherriff. Music from Columbia Collage Chicago’s bands was used in the videos. Carbon Tigers "What I Say" for the teaser video and Audiences - "Ghosts" for the spotlight video.
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Direct Marketing -Each student created a “hot sheet”: a list of personal friends contacted about the event.
Guerilla marketing -Students handed out post cards and flyers to Columbia College Chicago students and professors as well as in the surrounding South Loop area.
Print- postcards, posters -Large descriptive posters, small promotional hand outs and medium sized descriptive flyers were used for distribution.
8
Email blasts and invitations -Email blast for “Save the date” and “invitation” with poster image was sent out to all faculty and staff at Columbia College Chicago.
9
Integrated Marketing Timeline A rough draft or timeline was created while planning for the marketing of the event to ensure all relevant information was being worked on at specific times.
11/08/12
Start Direct marketing, save the event (email blast)
11/15/12
Launch all social media, videos, blogs, posters etc. Pick up posters from Shop Columbia for distribution Start advertising on shortlisted event websites Facebook ad to go live Start promoting the event on personal social media sites/ pages
11/19/12
Post updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook event page
11/26/12
Start guerilla marketing Post updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook event page Send reminder emails listing down the details on the event Upload a new video
11/27/12
Post updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook event page
11/28/12
Post updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook event page
11/29/12
Post updates on Twitter, Instagram 10
and Facebook event page 11/30/12
Post updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook event page
12/01/12
Post updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook event page Upload new video Send reminder email about the event
12/02/12
Post updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook event page
12/03/12
Post updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook event page Upload a new video
12/04/12
Post updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook event page
12/05/12
Post updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook event page Send reminder email about the event
12/06/12
Post updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook event page along with a countdown timer
12/07/12
Post updates from the event
12/08/12
Post updates from the event
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The Event Shop Columbia hosted its 4th annual Holiday Market featuring Columbia College Chicago students and alumni artists. The event was over the entire first floor at 623 S. Wabash Avenue from December 6th through December 8th. A wide variety of stuff was available for sale, such as clothing, accessories, fine art, music, housewares, book and paper goods and much, much more. Shop
Columbia
hosted
mini
themed
boutiques
within
the
Shop
for
environmentalists, art lover, fashionistas, bookworm and many more. Shoppers were welcomed with a reception of warm beverages and sweet holiday treats on Thursday, December 6th from 5-8pm. Event Info: ShopColumbia Presents: The Market 623 S Wabash Avenue, Hokin Gallery, Lobby and ShopColumbia (entire first floor) Thursday, December 6th 5-8 (reception) Friday, December 7th 11-5 Saturday, December 8th 11-5
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13
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SWOT Strengths:
The fact that was a free event and that there were refreshments, we were able to draw in larger crowd than any ticketed event.
Each person had a different network therefore there was more direct marketing for the event.
ShopColumbia’s market had an additional day versus last year; therefore, there were opportunity to generate more revenue.
Weaknesses:
The fact that the dates were very close to the school’s Christmas break therefore attendance and excitement was inhibited.
The event changed and set the class back a few weeks, therefore we had little time to complete our tasks.
Since the class only meets once a week, therefore the goals and tasks were procrastinated till the next week of class and set us back.
Opportunities:
Artists showcasing their work gained more exposure and more money from their art.
The class had experienced the skills of the other peers; therefore students could collaborate later in real life jobs.
The class had learned and worked hard to create this event, therefore we all had an awesome experience to add to our resumes.
Threats:
Most people just come to view the event and did not shop therefore we did not hit our sales target.
ShopColumbia had to compete with major retailers for holiday shoppers therefore they did not achieve their attendance goal.
Since the event was during the winter, the weather was set back the traffic of the event and therefore sales were impacted.
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Class Statements “The lessons we learned in the class will be extremely valuable moving forward both with my education and career.” -Graham Sauser “I really loved this class it has helped me understand the steps that must go into planning events. I know that this is something that I will carry with me throughout my career.” - Ashley Dunn "This class gave me the opportunity to learn marketing skills by doing a real world experience that will be valuable to my future." -Kelsey Peterson "I love that this class taught me all the different aspects of marketing for an event, while being completely hands on." -Delaney Burnham "Promoting the event gave me a chance to get real life experience by creating and designing a blog for the event that I can use on my resume for the career path I am on." -Grace LaVier “This class gave me an opportunity to learn about the various aspects of marketing. I enjoyed the hands on experience. It was a valuable experience that would help me in future.” - Neha Nagpal 16
“I have learned more about organizing, planning, marketing and creative problem solving in this class than any other at Columbia College. I will refer back to this experience for the rest of my career.” - Danea Mather “I have learned to be organized when it comes to marketing I learned about problem solving in this class prepared me about what to expect when I start my own business.” - Diamond Dillard “This project has taught me about the marketing and promotion aspect of businesses. I never really thought about going into a career that involves advertising/marketing.” - Joshua Sanches “This project was interesting, and taught me about the value of being flexible when challenges arise.” - Rachel Pierce “This has been one of the most engaging classes I’ve ever taken. The handson opportunity is the type of experience that attracted me to Columbia, plus Rose was a great instructor!” - John Arnold “The best way to learn is through experience and that is exactly what this class brought me!” - Aaron Sweatt 17
“I enjoyed the hands on experience working with the Holiday Market. I learned more about how to market and communication skills.” - Michelle Hindle “This class was a great learning experience and much better than just reading for a book.” - Jodeci Coleman “The class was a great experience of how to apply marketing in the field, and we did just that from day one! I learn by doing not just being in the classroom, it was great to have the opportunity to take a class like this.” - Alicia Austin “I have really enjoyed this class this semester and I have found a new love for marketing. I think the fact that this was an experiential course made me appreciate it so much more. I have in turn changed my minor to Marketing!” - Alexia Redus
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Group Statements Videos: The video group put together a teaser video, an artist spotlight and promotion videos for the event. The teaser was a short 1:30 video showcasing some of the work already in ShopColumbia as well as informing the viewer about the Holiday Market. The music features a Columbia College band whose merchandise is sold in ShopColumbia. This was filmed and edited by Aaron Sweatt. Following the teaser video, we shot an interview with Mohammed Sheriff to discuss and promote Ester’s, his natural beauty and health care products. This was produced by Rachel Pierce, filmed and edited by Aaron Sweatt and the interview was done by Alicia Austin. There were two promotional videos posted on ShopColumbia’s YouTube page, and promoted on their Facebook, WordPress blog, Twitter and Instagram. Classmates also shared the videos on their personal social networking websites. Poster Distribution: The Direct Marketing group was in charge of making sure Columbia College Chicago students, professors and the surrounding South
Loop
area
was
well
aware
of
ShopColumbia’s
event,
The
Market. Putting posters up in Columbia’s buildings and dorms was the first step of our direct marketing plan. We made sure to post on floors that were busy in the buildings, such as the Art and Design building, 33 E. Congress, and the Michigan Avenue buildings. We also made sure to have a plan for distributing flyers and post cards, by handing them out to peers in other classes, handing them out whenever we can as well. We also made sure to hang up posters in popular areas such as Wicker Park. We made sure that we hung the posters up in high traffic stores that attract students. Stores that were picked to market our event were clothing stores, restaurants, coffee shops, bookstores, and music stores. All posters were placed in high visible areas for the general public to see. 19
Social Media: The social media team, Neha Nagpal, Kelsey Peterson and Ashley Dunn, was created to promote ShopColumbia’s event ”The Market,” since social media is the key for all marketing and promotions in today’s world. Our team was responsible for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We divided ourselves so that each of us could concentrate on one aspect of social media. Ashley was responsible for Instagram, which was a new media that we introduced for ShopColumbia. She was responsible for posting pictures with details on Instagram on a regular basis and gain followers. Images posted by Ashley were of the vent poster, participating artists, goods that were available for sale during the event and also pictures from previous year’s holiday market. Kelsey was responsible for Twitter. Since ShopColumbia already had a Twitter account, she was responsible for posting regular updates about the event, hash tagging and following participating artists and increasing followers. Neha was responsible for Facebook. Since ShopColumbia already had a Facebook page, she created an event page for “The Market” on Facebook and invited people who were already connected to ShopColumbia. The Facebook event page contained the poster image, information about the event, venue and directions. Neha made regular posts on ShopColumbia’s Facebook page and the event page about participating artists, links to the blog about the event, articles that were being written about the event and other updates about the event. Neha also created an ad campaign to be promoted on Facebook. The ad contains images from the event poster, venue, date and timing. The ad campaign will be aired for about nine days and is expected to reach about 163,420 people. As a team everyone worked together to come up with new ideas to develop plans to achieve ShopColumbia’s mission for the event. Press Release: As a team, Michelle and Josh were responsible for finding 20
event sites and blogs online in the same category as the Holiday Market to post the press release for the event. We started by researching using Google to find these sites that are for the city of Chicago. From the results of our searching, we found art relates event sites as well as entertainment event sites that would benefit the Holiday Market if they posted information about the event. After finding these sites, we looked at how to post on the sites. We then gathered the press release as well as all of the links for each site we had for the Holiday Market and sent them to a list of event sites around the city. We also have been direct marketing by posting about the event on our own social media networks, spreading the word to our friends and having them spread the word to others as well. We had a post about the Holiday Market on a Chicago Now blog called “Jen Chicago.” We worked as a team to distribute the information and used creative ideas to do so. Email Group: The email group was responsible for personally contacting teachers and faculty of Columbia College, inviting them to the vent and requesting that they spread the word to others, specifically their students, about “The Market.” We sent a total of three email blasts to the teachers and faculty. In order to send these, we had to compile a list of emails. We found the emails on oasis.colum.edu and gathered them alphabetically. We also drafted and edited three emails before sending any. The first email was a “save the date,” and it was sent out two weeks prior to the event. The second email was a “personal invitation” and it was sent out one week prior to the event. The third email was an image and a short reminder of the event that was sent out one week prior to the event, on Monday. The list of emails that we compiled is over 21 pages in length and reached hundreds of people college wide. We also got a number of responses from people that were excited about the event. The members of this group changed a few times. The 21
two constant members were Diamond Dillard and Danea Mather. Also involved were Joshua Sanches, Rachel Pierce, Alicia Austin, Neha Nagpal and Kelsey Peterson. Blog Group: The blog team, Grace LaVier and Sidney Hall, was created to bring all the social media coverage into one location that would be used as a tool to attract more traffic to "The Market". First, Grace set up an account on wordpress.com. She created the layout and design of the blog. The layout is a simplistic set up where the information could be read easily, yet made a clear focus of the event using a picture heading. The images used to create the background and heading were supplied by ShopColumbia and the poster images being used for the event. The layout also included links to social media sites of Facebook and Twitter. The layout has other attributes to connect the reader like a tag cloud, countdown clock to the event and different information pages, such as FAQ's, RSVP (link to Facebook event), Spread the Word! (Flyer image) and Featured Artists. Other tasks completed by Grace are to write posts about background information regarding the event. Sidney had the tasks of focusing on artists being featured at "The Market" and also attracting followers to the blog. Her posts focuses on different artists that can be found at ShopColumbia and/or at "The Market". Along, with the focus on the artists she was the communicator between the video and blog team to get their video's posted on the blog. Lastly, concerning the artists, Sidney created the Featured Artist page where readers can find the artists at "The Market" this year and links to their websites. Sidney also worked on getting new followers of the blog by searching for blogs with the same interest as "The Market". Both Grace and Sidney, are continuing the post on the blog and actively trying to get as many followers and views on the site as possible before the event. 22
Conclusion Outcome: From the feedback we received, we should expect a significantly large group of attendees. We have gotten enthusiastic responses to our emails and have 120 people on the Facebook event page that have confirmed that they will be coming. Also, we have reached many people with our personal direct marketing that has confirmed attendance.
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Thank You
To Shannon Bourne from Shop Columbia for collaborating with us and giving our class the opportunity to market this event. To our teacher, Rose Camastro - Pritchett, for providing us with this wonderful opportunity and showing us what we can create if we work together and that nothing is impossible. To Carbon Tigers - "What I Say" for the teaser video and Audiences "Ghosts" for the spotlight video for allowing us to feature their song in our promotional videos. Videos Aaron Sweatt, Alicia Austin and Racheal Pierce Editors Neha Nagpal, Kelsey Peterson and Danea Mather Entertainment Marketing Class Graham Sauser, Alexia Redus, Grace LaVier, Jodsci Coleman, Delaney Burnham, John Arnold, Alicia Austin, Aaron Sweatt, Rachel Pierce, Michelle Hindle, Neha Nagpal, Sidney Hall, Kelsey Peterson, Ashley Dunn, Joshua Sanches, Danea Mather, Diamond Dillard
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