Marketing Plan for the Unsigned Band Yung Mur - Essay Example

? Marketing and PR Number Music and New Media Contents Contents 2 The Media Plan 11 Timeline 12 Marketing Budget 12 Expected Outcomes/Summary 12 Executive Summary Marketing plan is a crucial tool in the marketing of existent and emerging companies. The marketing plan provides a framework in which the business or the company adopts different marketing strategies to accomplish its overall strategy. The marketing strategies are many and the choice of the correct strategy will determine the success of the business or the company. In this regard, the company developing the marketing plan is a new media and music company. The company lacks a brand image; several marketing strategies were adopted. These marketing strategies include differentiation strategy as a suitable generic strategy, and operational strategies such as pricing, promotion, distribution, and the environment. Other strategies adopted were push strategy for distribution of the products and services, and direct sales for the pricing of the commodities. The expected outcomes of the implementation of the marketing plan for the company were; (a) to reach 60 percent of the target population, (b) improve the brand image within four months, and (c) adopt and implement the most appropriate and efficient marketing strategies to reach the targeted consumer. Marketing Plan for the Unsigned Band ‘Yung Mur’ Publicity for the music artist means everything. Proper publicity ensures that the artist or music band are well known and received among the target audience. Gone are the days when musicians and music bands used to rely on record labels for publicity (Griffin, 2010). The world of music and media promotion has shifted to online promotion. This has leveled the playing field as artists can now compete at the same level. Everyone has a fair chance at success, as long as they make good use of the new promotional opportunities available on the internet. Unsigned bands such as Yung Mur, with the right marketing strategy, can gain even more recognition than their counterparts who are signed by big record labels (Business Resource Software, 2011). The marketing plan should aim to increase the band’s fan base. To do this, the band’s publicity strategy should be targeted at the right audience. The image and brand of the band should be unique and authentic. Authenticity is vital for musicians planning to run publicity campaigns on the internet or using any other new media for promotion. The most important aspect of online marketing for unsigned bands is having a website. A customized website that has been designed professionally is vital to success in the business of music. The website should be about content marketing, and the content needs to be original. The best music promotion websites not look anything like marketing, but they actually function like marketing (Luther, 2011). This is how the Yung Mur website should be like. The website should enable the band to build its own unique platform, find its own fans and sell its music to them directly. Other new media forms that the band can make use of in their promotion include social networking sites and video-sharing websites such as youtube. These two are powerful marketing tools since they have the capacity to form a bulk of the band’s target market. Although internet PR is a wise marketing strategy for musicians and music bands not yet signed to record labels, there remains the issue of competition from these conglomerates. Their influence is still significant because they also make use of the internet as a promotional tool for their work. However, there is also the option of collaborating with them for the purpose of online music marketing (Business Resource Software, 2011). As an unsigned band, Yung Mur can gain much exposure by collaborating with a music marketing conglomerate which is likely to use its established platform to sell the band’s music. General Overview This marketing plan aims to popularize the name Yung Mur, not only in Britain, but in the rest of the western world. The goals of the marketing plan are to increase Yung Mur’s fan base and sell more records and digital downloads. The marketing plan will include the planned application of the marketing resources that are meant to achieve the marketing objectives. In other words, it will be comprised of the activities and logical sequences that will lead to the formulation of plans and the setting of marketing objectives in order to achieve the marketing plan. The key elements of the plan include: an overview of the marketing strategy, campaign targets, target audience, the marketing mix, advertising plans, strategic marketing initiatives, promotional items and live shows, timeline of activities and a marketing budget (McDonald, 2007). In regards to publicity, the marketing plan will aim to expose the band to the public through the new media. It is critical to note that the publicity or the exposure of the artist should not be in the form of advertising. The publicists are entirely responsible for getting the artist feature and news coverage and also exposure on the television. The publicist acts as the link between the media and the artist. The publicist makes use of the press kit for publicity. The press kit consists of the publicity shots, discography, publicity photos, tear sheets, biographies and press releases (Hull, Hutchison and Strasser, 2010). The marketing strategy for Yung Mur will include a thorough internet campaign to get people to now about the band and their kind of music. Focus will be on popularizing the band’s brand and image so that more people can associate with it. The marketing strategy is based on selling the band to the young generation of music lovers since Yung Mur’s music is the kind that is likely to make a hit among this age group. This target audience is also ideal for this marketing strategy since many of them frequent the internet for many of their needs, including entertainment (Luther 2011). Many of those people who frequent youtube and social networks do so in search of their favourite videos and to share information about the latest entertainment news. This marketing strategy is developed in the context of complex competition from other bands and artistes who are successfully using the new media for publicity. There is also the issue of music franchises and companies which use the internet and other new media to promote their signed artistes. As an independent band, Yung Mur has to create a marketing strategy that will not only surpass that used by the established artistes and bands; it should also offer maximum publicity in the highly competitive market for the band. To achieve this, the band’s image and music should be as catchy and attractive as possible. The timing of operations is also crucial as it will dictate how well the audience receives the band. The marketing plan should be implemented during such a time when many young people are looking for something new in the music industry (Hull, Hutchison and Strasser, 2010). Marketing Strategy Overview The marketing strategy should take in the following components; (a) how the business will handle the competitive marketplace, and (b) how it will implement and support its day to day activities. The present competitive marketplace requires a strategy that ensures a steady approach in providing the service or the product with means that it will outperform the competition. A suitable generic strategy for this band will be the differentiation strategy. The differentiation strategy entails the creation of a service or a product that is thought to be unique in the industry (Luther, 2011). More emphasis will be put on the brand image, special features, strong distributor network, superior music products, and other features that might be necessary for the band’s popularity. The uniqueness of the industry is supposed to translate higher profit margins that are beyond the industry’s average. In addition, a number of conditions should exist for the support of the differentiation strategy and they include effective product engineering, strong marketing abilities, creative personnel, good reputation, and the capability to conduct basic research. The band must decide on a number of operational strategies. These operational strategies include the following; pricing, promotion, distribution, the environment, the prospect, the service or the product, the competition, the enterprise, development, production, sales or marketing, and the customer services. The pricing should reflect the market needs of the target audience. Young people are not likely to spend too much on entertainment; therefore the pricing of the band’s music should reflect this fact. Promotion should consider that people want a feel of the product before they actually buy it. Therefore, offering a few free songs or videos is a good thing. Distribution of the band’s products on the internet should not be restricted to a single website, rather it should be spread across many sites, including social networks and video sharing websites (McDonald, 2007). Campaign Targets Promotional campaigns are essential when developing the campaign targets. If the band requires large scale promotional campaign, then a request for proposal (RFP) is supposed to be issued to a number of public relations companies. The RFP provides description of the service, goals, objectives, and the target market (Business Resource Software, 2011). The band suggests the promotional techniques, the strategies, and the required budget, the need to achieve the objectives and goals, and the desire to implement the strategies. After the selection of the desired band, the band’s professionals are provided with the completed worksheets and the positioning statement to assist them in the development of the appearance, technique, and the message for the promotional campaign (Fisher, Miller and Pride, 2006). In the case of a small scale campaign, the completed worksheet is used to determine the promotional techniques that are effective in order to reach the target market. The most effective technique to reach the youth will be use of word of mouth. Once the decision has been made concerning the best promotional campaign to be used, tactics and strategies are developed to utilize these techniques. It is also imperative to determine the amount of money to be used for the promotional campaign (Business Resource Software, 2011). In the case of this band, the promotional campaign should be based on both the large and small scale. Both strategies are very important and they will assist the band in reaching the target market. Since the main target is the teenagers, the small scale campaign will be the most appropriate method; most of the teenagers are music oriented. Use of word of mouth will be the most effective method; the band will need to evaluate the resources required to effectively reach the target market. Another campaign target technique that can be used is the internet marketing technique. The use of internet is popular among the young generation and this platform if effectively utilized can reach a majority of the target market (Fisher, Miller and Pride, 2006). Target Audience A broad knowledge of the music business as well as the maintenance of the current trends of the digital media among the target market is important for the success of the artist and the band. Today, there is a very large number of young people who frequent the internet for entertainment reasons. Many of them even prefer buying their songs from their favorite artistes online (Business Resource Software, 2011). It is possible for Yung Mur to target this audience and get the most out of the publicity if it is done right. The band will have to ensure that its overall image and aesthetics are designed in a way that will draw people to its products. Young people are attracted to colorful and original products. The same should be considered for the band’s music and image. They should all be authentic, and not a copy of any other star (Chaffey, 2006). The band should sell itself as a unique entity, whose music is as good as, but pleasantly different from the rest. The Mix The strategy that will be used for pricing is the market penetration strategy. The reason behind the choice of this strategy is that income is not very important at the moment (Allen, 2011, 134). The main aim of the band is to penetrate the market in the shortest time possible. The prices will be set low in order to penetrate the market easily and capture the targeted consumers. The promotion strategy to be used is the push strategy; the push strategy makes maximum use of all the available distribution channels to push the marketplace offering (145). The strategy requires substantial discounts to accomplish the objective of providing the channels with the incentives of promoting the offering the requirement for advertising is minimized. The media to be used for promotion will be the internet. Channels such as social networks, websites and video sharing sites will be used for publicity. The choice of these channels is pegged on the basis of the target audience being primarily young people (Griffin 112). This section of the market is oriented towards the use of the recent technologies. For the distribution plan, the band will adopt the direct sales strategy. Direct sales entails the sale of the offering using the in-house and direct sales; the selling is done through the telephone, mail order contact or the internet. The essence of distribution is to make sure that the product and service reaches the customer at the right time, the right place and in the best conditions. The estimated cost of promotion will depend on the channel of new media promotion to be used (Business Resource Software, 2011). In this case the media is a website, video sharing sites and social networking sites and other promotional websites. These media require a lot of capital for effective reach of the target market; the estimated cost will be 200,000 United States (US) dollars. Distribution and promotion are both connected in the marketing of this band. This is because distribution techniques to be used will determine how well the audience will receive the band. The distribution, in this case can be used as a means of promotion where there can be special offers for music bought online through the band’s website or through any other new media channel. Price and promotion are also connected in this marketing plan. The kind of pricing adopted by the band should help promote the band’s music to its online target audience (Business Resource Software, 2011). This means that the prices of the band’s products should not be too high or too low. They should be affordable so that many people are able to buy the music. Advertising Developing a marketing and advertising plan will put the band’s business in a position that will make it capable of achieving its goals and objectives. The written marketing and advertising plan will contain information about the marketing objectives and the target market and it will plot out the marketing strategies planned to attract and convert probable customers into purchasing the band’s music (Lorette, 2011). A message that is catchy will be drawn up and used in the ads; the message will be in such a way that it will attract and convert the customers. The message will be in line with the desired brand image. The adverts should appear in both the mainstream and niche media so that as many people as possible get the message. The media plan will look as below: The Media Plan The advertisements will be booked at one of the local radio stations such as Kiss FM. The station plays music genre that ranges from Indie rock to Hip Hop to R &B. The ad is expected to reach close to 20 million people in the United Kingdom. This is a considerable number since close to 62% of the population is between the ages of 16 to 64 years (Office for National Statistics, 2010). According to the Office for National Statistics (2010), this age is regarded as the working population. This is the best portion of population to capture and sell out the products and services of the company. The estimated cost for the advertisement campaign is estimated to be $200,000. The campaign ad will run for four consecutive months; the overall objective of the company is to reach as many customers as possible and improve the brand image. Live Since there will be promotional concerts, they will be culminated by live shows & events. Other than physical presence of these artists in the live shows and events, there will be live streaming on the internet of these events for those unable to attend the events and the shows. The live streaming on the internet will come at a cheaper fee that is affordable to majority of the target customers (Luther, 2011). It is imperative to note that the live events and shows will come in handy in meeting the costs to be incurred in the implementation of the marketing plan. Timeline ACTIVITY/ Month 1 2 3 4 5 6 Drafting of the marketing plan Implementation of the marketing plan Advertisement & Campaign Marketing Budget Cost in US$ Drafting of the marketing plan 50,000 Advertisement & Campaign 200,000 Other costs 40,000 Total Cost 290,000 Expected Outcomes/Summary To reach close to 60 percent of the target population. Improve the brand image within four months. Gain customer loyalty for some of the significant products and services. Apply the different marketing strategies to reach these customers. Adopt and implement the most appropriate and efficient marketing strategies to reach the targeted consumer. References Allen, P. (2011) Artist Management for the Music Business. Oxford, UK: Focal Press. Business Resource Software, Inc. (2011) Marketing Plan [online] available from [10 May 2011] Chaffey, D. (2006) Total e-mail Marketing: Maximising Your Results From Integrated E-Marketing. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann. Fisher, P. H., Miller, E. G. & Pride, M. M. (2006) Blueprint for Your Library Marketing Plan: A Guide to Help You Survive and Thrive. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. Griffin, R. W. (2010) Management. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Hull, G. P., Hutchison, T. & Strasser, R. (2010) The Music Business and Recording Industry: Delivering Music in the 21st Century. Oxon, UK: Taylor & Francis. Lorette, K. (2011) Advertising & Amp: Marketing Plan List [online] available from [11 May 2011] Luther, W. M. (2011) The Marketing Plan: How to Prepare and Implement It. New York, NY: AMACOM Division of American Management Association. McDonald, M. (2007) Marketing Plans: How To Prepare Them, How To Use Them. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann. Office for National Statistics. (2010) Population Estimates [online] available from [12 May 2011] Read More