Marketing Plan

“An Evening With Heir” - Marketing Plan

Initial Thought Shower of Marketing Ideas:

• Social Media:
• Create Phac Promotions Facebook Page.
• Create Facebook event to share on both Phac Promotions Facebook page as well as Heir’s page.
• Promote the gig from Heir’s Facebook page to engage directly with Fans.
• Posting promotional content/activity such as rehearsal videos, new song teasers, photos, band vlogs, etc, leading up to the event, on all social media platforms, including Facebook pages, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Snapchat, Soundcloud.
• Competitions - Further make use of promotional content such as a band vlog about the forthcoming gig by giving an incentive to the audience to share it. For example, if a fan shares the video on their profile, they will be entered into a lucky dip draw to win two free tickets, as well as an early copy of the new EP.
• Youtube live streaming.
• Create a Snapchat profile for the band to engage directly with fans using the Snapchat story function.
• Making sure anything that is posted about the gig to fans has an action the audience can take, for example, “Like this post if you already have your ticket!”
• Other:
• Promotion from the venue - Making use of the venue’s mailing lists by including our gig.
• Market the venue as well as the gig. Headrow House is a new venue in Leeds that people may not have been to yet.
• Posters/Fliers - Handing them out, as well as making use of free poster boards around LCoM, as well as other universities, in the venue, around the city.
• Student unions - Make use of student union mail outs/what’s on messages, as well as making this an event for ‘refreshers’.
• Leeds College of Music, as well as other university TV advertising screens.
• Press - Promoting the event in local Leeds press such as The Tab Leeds, Yorkshire Evening Post, ‘Life’ Magazines, The Leeds Guide. Also sites such as leedsgigs.co.uk.
• Radio - Including the gig in ‘what’s on’ features, as well as making sure the band promote it during radio interviews/performances.
• Remix competitions - appealing to a wider audience by asking DJs/Producers/Audience to remix a song with free tickets being the prize.
• Treasure hunts - Getting fans to search for free tickets around Leeds city centre. Hiding places would connect with the audience demographic, for example a popular clothing store with the same audience profile as the band.
• Leaving tickets/hard copy EP with a note in places where the audience demographic would be - Like the treasure hunt idea, but just letting a random member of the public find it. Within the note, the band could ask the finder to post a photo to their page with their tickets; giving the band more material to promote the gig with

SWOT Analysis of 3 Marketing Ideas:

1. Social Media Competition - “Share for chance to win”

Strengths Instant incentive for audience to participate. The event being seen by a considerable amount of the sharer’s Facebook friends via the News Feed. No Cost. Offering a limited edition/one of it’s kind prize would create excitement. The ability to connect directly with fans, for example, offering a prize which included a handwritten thank you note. If it was shared by a lot of people, it generates a positive perspective towards the gig.

Weaknesses Giving away tickets for free; no money made. Some fans may be under 18, so may feel excluded if the gig specifies over 18’s only. The chances of the event appearing on lots of other news feeds can vary between great, and very bad. If there was a bad response of shares, there is no back up plan.

Opportunities Gain new fans through the profiles of the fans they have already. Generating awareness of the band in places other than Leeds. More tickets being sold to the gig. More likes for Heir’s page. More buzz about the new EP

Threats Getting a bad response of shares, resulting in a negative perspective towards the event overall. Fans can’t actually go to the gig. Fans getting upset if they don’t win. If the prize is an early EP before the actual release, it could leak.

2. Student Unions - “What’s on” mail outs.

Strengths A very large number of students in Leeds to connect with. The exact audience demographic the band want to connect with. Ability to include the gig as a university ‘refreshers’ event. Generates more awareness for the band. Ability to include links to the band’s Facebook/Soundcloud/Website. No Cost. A local ‘students to students’ relationship between the band and audience could well make the event more supported.

Weaknesses High competition with other student events. Students who haven’t heard of the band may not decide to look into them. Some students may not enjoy the genre. Mail outs not fully read by students who are busy. No guarantee there will be any response. Students with limited money may not be able to afford the gig.

Opportunities More tickets being sold to the gig. Generating a bigger, local fan base. Potential future promotion. Potential future gigs at universities.

Threats The event not being included in mail outs. Students being more interested in other events on the same night.

3. Posters/Fliers - Handing directly to audience/putting on poster boards.

Strengths Instantly visible information about the gig. Something physical is more memorable than a social media event. We can hand them directly to the specific audience demographic ourselves. Ability to talk about the gig when handing out fliers. Full control over who and where posters/fliers are handed to. Many free poster boards to use.	Weaknesses Cost of printing posters/fliers. Takes a lot of time and effort to hand out yourself. Not as much reach as social media can offer. Potential for being the cause of littering. A general disinterest in the receiving of fliers. High competition with other posters on poster boards.
Opportunities More tickets being sold to the gig. Generates more awareness for the band. We can generate a positive perspective towards the gig.	Threats Potential fine should littering happen. Weather permitting. Poster boards not actually being free then getting fined.

Target Audience Profile:

• Gender: Male and Female.
• Age: 18-35.
• Income: Student budgets to middle class.
• Education: Current students as well as recently graduated.
• Location: Leeds mostly, as well as the rest of West Yorkshire.
• Psychographics:
• Outgoing, chilled out personalities.
• Fans of pop music, in an acoustic form.
• Enjoy supporting new and live music.
• Enjoy a relaxed evening out over a clubnight.
• Enjoy being with groups of friends and having chilled out drinks.
• People looking for a cheap evening out.
• Benefits audience will seek from us?
• High quality music and live sound.
• Friends with the band deals.
• Reasonable drink prices.
• Other offers/deals, for example, free EP with tickets sold before a certain date.

Pricing and Distribution

Because our target audience is mostly students with a low budget, the aim when pricing the event is to keep it affordable for all. A quick and easy method for buying tickets is essential, to make sure the event isn’t forgotten about before the ticket is bought. For this reason, selling tickets online via sites such as wegottickets.co.uk and seetickets.co.uk, as well as having physical tickets that can be purchased from local record stores (crash and jumbo) and LCoM, it is very easy for the target audience to buy the tickets and book the night out in their diaries.

By researching the other events that are taking place early next year at Headrow House, ticket prices vary from £5 to £20. It would be a selling point against other events if this event was less that £5 for the night, which is why we have opted for an advance price of £4 plus booking fees, and an on the door price of £6. This price model ensures the target audience is getting a stand out deal, that isn’t inaffordable. Please look at the costings sheet that explains the money flow for the event.

Branding the Event

A relaxed, chilled out, ‘evening with’ styled event will be the main focus of the branding. By looking at the press kit, you can see that the posters/fliers have been designed with a simple colour scheme of black and white, using a fun, chilled promo shot of the band, as well as easily readable fonts so that the audience are instantly aware of what, when, where and who the gig is all about. In recent months, there has been an increase in posters in and around Leeds that are very simple, with limited, but key information about the event written. This makes the viewer instantly aware of all the necessary information for the event, as well as making the poster stand out from other posters. We have adopted this idea, by just stating the important details of who, when, where and how much.

When cross platforming the branding onto social media, we will make sure the same fonts, colour schemes and promo pictures are used when creating the Facebook event, and generally sharing the event on each platform.

Developing Online Marketing and Social Media

Facebook will be the main use of social media to market the event. We will firstly make use of the Facebook event function, where we can invite the band’s fans, as well as our own Facebook friends, and then direct everyone else to this event page on other social media platforms. Once this has been created in early January, and there has been some response, we will look at our initial marketing ideas and implement them from mid Jan, leading up to the date. For example, a free ticket lucky draw for the fans who share the event page to all of their friends. We will post regular promotional photos and videos of the band in the weeks leading up to the show date, so that once an audience has said they are going, the event stays in their heads. For continuity, the Facebook event will have the same design schemes as the posters for the event, and be focussed on conveying the relaxed, chilled out feel that the gig will have.