Music Marketing and Promotion

Putting Together a Solid Marketing Plan

Learning Objectives Understand the structure of a marketing

plan. Obtain a sense of how a marketing plan fits

into an overall business plan. Develop an appreciation for the critical

success factors in a marketing plan. Obtain the understanding needed to begin

the marketing plan project. Create a marketing plan good enough to

implement and professional enough to submit to a potential employer

Preliminary Comments The pathway to success in business is paved

with creating and implementing sound business plans.

Professionals who can create and implement a powerful strategy are far more likely to be successful and get promoted.

Without these skills, careers are greatly limited.

There is as much of an art in creating good strategy and plans as there is an playing any instrument. Virtuosos are just as rare.

What is strategy and planning? Every business organization must strategize

and plan. Generally, there are five strategies that the

organization must develop:– Financial Strategy– Human Resource Strategy– Manufacturing Strategy– R&D Strategy– Marketing Strategy

Let’s discuss a little on each.

Financial Strategy

From where does the firm get money/resources?– Taking on Debt (borrowing money, selling

bonds)– Selling equity (selling stock in the company)

How does the firm manage its cash flow. Many firms make as much money on cash flow as they do from operations.

Human Resource Strategy

What sort of people is the firm going to hire?

How much training will the firm provide?

For what time period will the firm hold employees?

What sort of culture will exist in the organization?

Manufacturing Strategy

How will the organization go about creating products?

Will they be produced by the organization or produced externally?

How much will the organization invest in its ability to produce products/services?

R&D Strategy

Every organization must produce new products and services.

How will the organization go about creating new products and services?– Create internally through a creative process?– Buy innovation from outside?

Marketing Strategy

To which customers is the organization going to target its efforts (market segmentation and target marketing)?

How do we mix the following elements to create a plan for success:– Product– Price– Promotion– P-distribution

We will spend the rest of the semester addressing each of these issues.

Business Plan and Marketing’s Role How a business goes about setting its

strategies and plans is largely a function of its strategic direction and the environment in which it operates.

That is, a firm will scan the environment and see the possibilities, in the context of its capabilities. Based on this assessment, it will create a strategy for moving forward. Plans will be created for implementing the strategy.

The firm will make general decisions on all five strategies and then dictate objectives to each area of the firm.

Marketing’s Role in the Business Plan

Marketing is generally given objectives that are non-negotiable, but most everything else is.

That is, marketing must meet some target (10% increase in revenues with a 5% increase in profits) but how to meet those targets is up to the marketing experts.

In many jobs in the music industry, you will be the one that is expected to make those expert decisions.

What we will discuss assumes that the decision on objectives has already been made.

The Steps in Creating a Marketing Plan Conduct a SWOT analysis/current situation

Convert the SWOT into a TOWS analysis Identify the organization’s aims, goals, and objectives. Identify the customers/target markets. Identify the customer requirements. Articulate the objectives. Create a strategy for accomplishing the objectives (4-Ps+). Create action programs for carrying out the strategy. Project profit/loss for at least two years. Install controls for monitoring progress.

Conduct a SWOT Analysis Look at 35,000 feet to assess the Strengths,

Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and Weaknesses are internal. Opportunities and Threats are external. Successful examination of strengths and

weaknesses requires an objective assessment of what the organization does well and what it does not do well.

Successful examination of opportunities and threats requires an accurate assessment of the industry and its competition.

Conducting a SWOT Analysis

There are tons of industry specific data available on the music industry.

The current dynamics in the music industry are particularly relevant to anyone creating a SWOT analysis. The web is a great source.

Other sources include periodicals (Music Biz, Billboard, etc.) and research documents (Mediamark and Lifestyle Planner).

Conducting a TOWS Analysis The broad trends unearthed in the SWOT

analysis must be converted into relevant issues.

A TOWS analysis is one way of looking for patterns. Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities

S/O O/W

Threats S/T O/T

Output of SWOT and TOWS After completing a SWOT and TOWS

analysis the strategic background of the project should be addressed.

All the relevant dynamics in the marketplace, especially competitive ones, should have been addressed.

This background is critical for establishing the possibilities.

Identify the Organization’s Aim, Goals and Objectives

Most marketing plans are set inside an organizational context.

What organizational objectives must the project satisfy?– The project cannot violate the aim of the organization

or its mission.– The project must contribute to the accomplishment of

some organizational goal(s). The organization can be an important “customer”

of the project. What constraints have been placed on the

project?

Identify the Target Market No project/product can satisfy every

potential customer. You must select a target market for

your project that can be satisfied and has a demand for the product/service.

This identification must be very specific.

Identify Customer Requirements The more that is known about the target market and its members’ needs, the more likely is success.

These needs are oftentimes not easily manifest and may not even be well-understood by customer.

You must have a concrete sense of what customer requirements are being satisfied.

Articulate the Objectives What performance is necessary to

satisfy customers and achieve the objectives?

This performance must be translated into measures that can be tracked.

When the objectives are fully reached, the project will be a success.

It is critical to define the objectives accurately. What gets measured gets done.

Develop a Strategy There are literally thousands of methods

that can be used to accomplish an objective. Strategies are “grand designs” for achieving

an objective. For example, suppose an objective is to sell

20,000 CDs. The following would be strategies:– Try to get airplay and then distribute them

through one-stops and moms & pops– Set up promotional events with sales in the back

of the room– Get access to an internet portal for “teaser”

downloading. Sell through your website.

Create Action Plans

Once a strategy is chosen, more detailed, concrete steps must be taken to ensure proper execution of the strategy.

These action plans must be sufficiently detailed to ensure success.

Methods for executing these action plans must be created.

Methods must be created for monitoring progress on them.

These are generally presented effectively on VENN diagrams.

More on Action Plans Each action plan must contain:

– The objective to be achieved in the action plan

– The target market of the action plan– A comprehensive, detailed description

of the action plan– Responsibility assignment for executing

the plan– Timing horizons– Budget– Controls for monitoring implementation

A Budget All the expenses incurred in the action

plans must be rolled up into an overall budget.

Revenues must be estimated from sales for each time period.

These are subtracted to from a potential profit/loss statement.

Controls Document All the controls in each action plan must

be rolled up into a comprehensive control plan.

There will always be overlap in controls (i.e., some control devices will ensure the success of several action plans).

Generally, these are consolidated by people (who is responsible) or by action (e.g., survey, action report, etc.).