Marketing and PR Presentation

Objectives

What are the objectives for this project?The objectives are to create a marketing and PR campaign for a new album launch for a band. I will need to plan my work before I do it, so I am able to get my work to a professional standard. I will need to make sure that I have know what type of band I will be working with, and in turn what audience type they are wanting to attract. The PR campaign would need to be professional, and it would need to show that the band is worth knowing about. I will need to use the information that I gather from the band to make posters and other materials that would draw people in. for example I will need to figure out what genre my band is, what ages are in the band, what style they are putting across and what type of band or group they are trying to look and sound like.

Who do you want to target? The target audience for this marketing and PR campaign would have been anyone that is interested in classical music. The music is aimed at everyone however, since the band is trying to get more people interested in classical music. The main audience would be people who listen to classical music already, since it would be to their taste. However the band would target other types of audiences too, which means people that wouldn’t have listened to classical music before. This would mean that the PR campaigns that I will need to produce would need to be appealing to all different type of people, which would be quite hard but I don’t believe that this could be too much of an issue. For this I could make posters and advertisements that aren’t too focused on classical music, I could use calm and simple colours, and I would try to get everyone's attention by using words that would draw people in. For example I couldn’t use an advertisement that focuses on the group singing in a cathedral, I would produce an advertisement that shows the group singing on the street in a town or city, or in a concert. This would be seen as different, so it should grab peoples attention.

How many records do you want to sell?We want to sell a lot of records, and we’re trying to compete against other classical music singers and bands. The first album is expected to sell less than the rest, so the PR campaign would be there to try and get people interested in the band from the start, so it sells and people pick up interest. Since the band is new, this could be an issue, but if enough decent campaigns are created then it shouldn’t be a problem.

What would make this a successful exercise?To make this a successful exercise I would need to make sure the marketing campaign is targeting the right people. This campaign needs to stand out, the band need to appeal to people, and from the use of the PR campaign, the band would also catch the eye of other types of audiences. Another aspect that would make this a successful exercise would be to make sure the PR campaigns that I do are different to any other that has been done before. Since the group are trying to push the boundaries I would need to do the same. For example I would need to create products that aren’t seen as products that you would normally create for a classical band, and I would produce products like mugs, wristbands, t shirts, posters, billboards and web banners to draw in a lot of peoples attention.

Band Profile

Name: Medici Codex

Age: between 20 and 30.

Previous releases: none that reached the charts. They need a PR campaign to help them get noticed.

Genre: Classical

Style: Modern Classical

Contemporaries: Richard and Adam (BGT)

Think SMART

Specific: the aim for this campaign to get the new band recognised by people who like classical music, and to promote their album release. Another clear aim of this campaign would be to get classical music more mainstream. Young people normally don’t listen to classical music, and this band want to challenge that.

Measureable: it will be measurable by how many albums they sell after the media campaign. It will also be measurable because when the band have sold a certain amount of records, and when they go on tour or go to concerts, then I could look at the audience for those, and see who's interested.

Achievable: I believe that this is achievable because classical music is becoming more popular. Since more and more people are applying to appear in talent shows like Britain's Got Talent singing Opera, then people are becoming more interested in this style of music.

Realistic: yes, because more people are getting into classical music.

Time-related: There will be for creating the album and releasing it, but after that there wont be.

AudienceThe audience for this band will be anyone who's interested in classical music. The band would also try to target people that aren’t into classical, to get them into the genre as well. This means that the audience is everyone, from every age group and background. They are trying to change what people think about classical music, and this could mean that without a decent PR campaign this could end up not working, because it takes a lot to change peoples views. Even though this group is trying to appeal to everyone, there could be a problem with a younger audience. This would be a harder group to persuade, so I believe that a large majority of the PR campaign will be aimed at people aged 21 and under. For this to work I will need to try and persuade this age group that classical music isn’t that bad. The band themselves will help this, because they are trying to be a modern type of classical band. The audience for this group will be stereotypically middle aged, with a decent job and lifestyle. However this band is trying to appeal to everyone, so there isn’t a category that the audience can be placed in. they won’t look a certain way, which might make the PR campaign a bit harder to do. Stereotypically the audience for classical music would like this band because they would believe it would relax them and that its classy, but this band is trying to get everybody to believe this; not just people originally into classical music. Stereotypically people would listen to classical music because they people it is better then anything else, something that, again, this band is trying to get more people to see. Stereotypically people who listen to classical music like other classical music, but the audience for this particular group would be interested in all different types of music, including pop and rock, depending on their preferences.

Media

What media will you use and why? Be specific about the platforms you will use. The media that I will use will be posters, billboards, printing onto products like mugs, t shirts and wrist bands, and I will also have web banners that produce a link to their website. I will get them onto social media like Twitter and Facebook, and I will make sure that this information gets posted in every major town and city.

What magazines might they get in to? They could get into magazines like All Things Strings and BBC Music Magazine. It could also get into magazines like Star and Reveal, since the band is trying to be more modern. They might get into newspapers as well, depending on how well they do. They could be on bbc news and itv news, and if they become well known then they might be able to be on tv more. The radio stations that would play there music would be Classical, BBC2 and when they become well known, other stations too. The band is trying to break away from the usual classical stereotype, so they would hope to appear on more media networks. They would give interviews to magazines and radio stations that suit them the most, and who are most popular. The forms of social media that I will use will be Twitter, because this is the main form of social media, so more people will notice what the band will have to say. I would use the social media site to promote the band, and I would set up a twitter account for them to use. This would help people recognise them as a modern classical band.

Merchandise

What merchandise would you use to promote this band?

I would use t shirts, key rings, phone cases and wrist bands to promote the new band. I would also make posters for magazines to get their message out to as many media outlets as possible. I would make sure that there is a whole different range of products that people can buy, because this will make them more interested. Eventually I will make sure that there is a phone case available for most phones, when the band are picking up interest. At the beginning I will make sure that there are different types of images that can be bought on all of these products, so that people can pick out the one they like the most.

Manage the message

What is the message you want to communicate about this band?

The message that I want to communicate about this band is that classical music can be listened to and enjoyed by everyone. No matter what age group or class a person is. This band is trying to challenge something that hasn’t been achieved before, but since they are opening trying to change views, which hasn’t really happened before, then it should work. The main selling point would be that even though the bands music is classical, they are modernising it, so that people would hopefully be more interested in it. It’s a new type of music, which hasn’t really been made before, so peoples instincts will already make them interested.

HyperboleThe type of words that would appeal to the audience type would be words like ‘neo-modern classical music.’ This type of band want to appeal to the usual audience type of classical music, whilst appealing to people that are new to it. This type of music would sound similar to the classical music that’s already allowed, but it would be modernised to try and appeal to more people. the overall look of the band would be different as well. The words that would be used would be words like ‘brand-new,’ ‘different’ and will include phrases like 'you've never heard this before.’

EventsThe events that I would put on for this band and their new album would be a press conference and a concert. This would show who the band are. I would make sure that there is a lot of publicity for this band before they play, so that more people know and come along to watch. They would play at small, secret gigs to start off with, then they would also play for huge arena tours when they are well known. They would perform in orchestras as well, and they would mix up where they play to get a whole range of people interested. Since they are trying to make classical more mainstream they would also play on TV chat shows. They would do this quite often because I believe that this is the best way to create a hype about a new group. After they have played in these different venues for quite a while, they would appear for signings in record stores, when they are quite well known. I would also make sure that this group appear in quite a lot of interviews, since they are new and they are trying to become known. I believe that interviews will help them do this, even from the beginning. I would need to make sure that people simply know their names at first, then will the gigs and the tours that they will do, then hopefully I will manage to get this band to where they want to be.

Internal motivation

What is the motivation behind this project?The motivation behind this project is to get more people interested in classical music. This project is important because it would help the band become well known if I use the right media outlets. This project is also important because it would show the media industry that this is the company that can promote bands well. This would appeal to bands that want to be recognised, and it will create more work. It will help the PR company and the band, and when the band is well known and is offered to play at different gigs and tours, then that will help the PR company to make contacts to other bands that want to become known. It is an important project for the band because they need to be known by the general public, so using PR will help with that. It will create sales for the band, and it would ensure that people are interested in their music and are willing to keep buying their albums when new ones come out.

Motivation of mediaThe media would be interested in this project because the band is trying to make classical music modern, so they are going to sound quite different. This would interest the media because it will show that there is something new in the charts, something that people don’t really know about. The parts of the media that might be interested in this project would be certain music magazines, the radio and certain music channels. For example most magazines, like Reveal and Star, and most tabloid newspapers. I am hoping that eventually they will get the attention from broadsheet newspapers like the Guardian and the Times. This would be a great achievement. I would also like to get the attention of specific classical magazines like Classic FM and Classical Music.

SMART

Specific: the aim is clear; to get a modern classical band known to the public, and to try and change the views of the majority of people who don’t like classical music.

Measureable: it will be measured by how many gig tickets they sell, then how many singles they sell, then how many albums, then how many tour tickets they sell. It will also be measureable by how much merchandise is sold too.

Achievable: I believe that it is something that I can do, because with the right PR events and TV interviews they do, I believe that they will become well known, because they are seen to be a new band.

Realistic: Yes, because many new bands get started this way.

Time-related: There are no timescales for this project, and it might take a while to get the band noticed in the first place.