Merchandise

The music events industry is uses different ways to create income other than the cost of the tickets. The most popular way of doing this is by selling event merchandise. Think of a time when you went to an event…What did you buy?

 ‘The purpose of merchandising is to generate an interest for the product in the consumer, to sustain that interest and to eventually sell the product based on that interest’ (Caldon, 2008). For these type of events customers are likely to buy a sentimental product such as a T-shirt or Album meaning the products will remind customers of the event.

·         Katy Perry has an online store. This is easily accessed from her website www.katyperry.com.  Fans can purchase a range of Katy Perry “California girls tour” products. Not only that but at her show (oh the 17^th) products were available before and after the show.

·         The Brits has an online site is linked with I-tunes and some retail shops such as HMV.

Below is a picture of a friend , who was lucky enough to buy tickets before they sold out.

This grabs peoples attention as its the main window display.

Merchandise can increase both of the events marketing objective for instance the Katy Perry T shirt attracts attention from other people, on the back of the T-shirt it lists her tour dates therefore people who haven’t brought tickets may be interested. The Brit has an online store where you’re connected to I-tunes where you can buy all Brit winners singles and albums. Also in HMV the day after the Brits in store displays were used. This not only encourages point of sale purchases but buyers will link the album to The Brits therefore awareness is increased.

PR

CIPR (2011)



Black (1992) suggests  PR has two roles firstly is it supports the marketing activity using promotion. The other role is to announce information on the event to target publics which are involved in the organisation. Event organisations can report information but also require a response for PR to be successful.

Masterman (2004) The roles of PR:



The Events have to have a valued story or popularity to engage readers, viewers and listeners. I think both events have huge target audiences therefore getting PR is not a problem.

The Brits have got PR every year from the media leaders. The Brits celebrates music talents. Music Artists are always mentioned in entertainment news through, television, websites, newspapers and magasines. This Year’s Pre event PR focused on announcing music categories, nominations and the artists which were going to perform such as Jesse J.

PR after the event focuses on the success on the event, artists, performances, speeches and celebrity gossip…Who wore what!? Below are some pictures of articles after the Brits.

PR is additional marketing tool which can increase the viewers of the Award Show before and after. After the Brits viewers will want to know more gossip from the after party (which James Cordon, mentioned on the night).  The Brits guarantees PR every year as the event is held annually and is iconic to the British Music Industry.

PR on Katy so far has been more focused on her as an artists where she's mainly in interviews such as Oprah Winrey. SHe features in an editorial, ELLE.Although this does not focus on the tour she mentions it.

On focusing her attention on her career: “I’m going to have to train like an Olympic athlete to get through the tour. I’m going to have to really focus, but that’s okay. A lot has changed for me this year, and I’m ready for it. I think that when you’re single, you spend a lot of energy just being available for love and looking for the right person, and then when you have that void filled, it’s like, ‘Phew!’ Now I can take that extra energy I had and redirect it.”




After her first performance in London on the 17th, the most PR coverage I could find on the event was from online articles.
For full article, click here.

"Katy Perry proved last night that she’s an all-round entertainer. Singing (completely live thoughout), dancing and entertaining the audience she showcased just why the world has taken her to its heart. The California Dreams tour will be back later in the year for a second leg where Perry will be touring arenas. If you don’t catch her during the first leg then go get your tickets for the second leg now. You won’t be disappointed."

For The Sun's article,click here.

"She then changed into a whole host of exuberant outfits, including a dress that had a lower half covered with cup cakes. And a feathered leotard that looked like something out of a superhero flick."

Press releases are a vital tool in music PR. They provide the media, record labels, promoters and managers with the vital information about Katy Perry's tour and music.

Direct Mail

Direct Marketing is a way of contacting those who are intresting in your event/product. This is done via email or letterho have previously shown an interest in your event. The most common form of firect marketing is direct mail, this method keeps former and potential customer interested and ensures that they attend the event or buy the product.

However direct marketing can sometimes be confused with direct mail, There are many other forms of direct marketting such as;

• Inserts in newspapers and magazines.
• Customer care lines.
• Catalogues.
• Coupons.
• Door drops.
• TV and radio adverts with free phone numbers or per-minute-charging.

Direct mail is sent out following database analysis that select recipients considered most likely to respond positively. Intrested fans visiting Katy Perrys website have the choice to submit to ‘the exclusive newsletter’

The Katy Perry team only want to collect basic infomation from fans, to ensure that the right type of infomation is sent out the the correct type of person. Below is the information that the need.



So why do they need this infomation?

1. Date of birth - This will target different age ranges with specific infomation such as say Katy Perry did a gig at KOKO only over 18's would be emailed.
2. First name - This improves customer interaction, connecting with the fan in a friendly mannor, we know Katy's name so its only fair they know ares?
3. Email Adress-This is how they contact you and how you will become part of the "mailing list"
4. Mobile number- this is optional but  more people like reciveing texts, keeping them more up to date with any news or promotional activitys.
5. Country- This is to connected with the tour as emails will be sent to people about dates and venues in specific countrys, but this also make sure there are no language barriers.

Registering for the Brit Awards is  very similar to Katy Perry’s mailing list where you fill in if you fill required details. ( all of the above) the only difference is they have an "about me" box. This will allow the brits to send out specifc infomation, for example an 20 year old might be intrested in a specific genre. This allows you to target specfic intrests.

Once an establised database is found it makes it a lot easier for the events team to directly make contact with the right type of person. Direct mail is very popular but it can also be known as "junk" mail, but a lot of the time people would of have to entered personal details to recieve the email. Both events use email marketingif they only used this marketting tool they would lose out on building customer relationship with those who have opted-out of the emails.

Direct mail's biggest advantages is its ability to make personal one-to-one contact with your customer/fan.

Other Direct Mail advantages include:

• Quick to produce. using the database, emails can be put together very quickly and be sent to a large number of people. You have complete control over the media, the audience, and your offer.
• Quicker response. Response time to direct mail is usually quicker as each respondanet would want to be contacted.You can build an advertising campaign with more confidence by testing small lists, then building to larger lists.
• Highly targeted. You can target your mailings more selectively than you can with most other media. For example the about me section allows The Brits to target precise intrests.
• Less competition. Your advertising message does not have to compete with other advertising messages.
• More personal.  Using more informal language in writing such as your first name, you can direct your letter to the specific interest of the reader.
• List of loyal customers. Direct mail allows you to build and maintain a list of prime customer for your future direct mail campaigns, such as when Katy Perry tours again they can mail the existing fans to let them know.

  

It's all about the Website

“Your website is you BRAND, your virtual SHOP and you virtual PRESENCE”

As seen in my first blog post, we know that in Great Britain around 46,683,900 people have access to the internet, where 70% of adults have a high speed internet connection, this is because of an increase in internet services. So we know it’s very popular, so let’s look at the internet usage.

Internet Usage

(TGI, 2007)

Who uses the internet?

The most popular usages of internet is more than 30 hours a week. After taking a look at statistics, generated by KMR, we can see that internet users are:

·         Variety of demographics

·         ABC1 national social grade

·         Age group 15- 44 use the most internet

·         63% female users (mintel 2010)

Websites and Events

An events website provides many functions for targeting the audience. A website is an important marketing communication tool. Internet users actively seek information on a specific topic/product or an event. Websites provide a clear link between communication and purchase behaviour.

Where to find these websites…Search Engine Optimisation?

When I began research on the chosen events, I used the most popular search engine Google to find out more information on both events. Google is the most popular used search engine, it was set up by Larry Page & Sergey Brin in 1996. Google allows internet users to quickly find our all types of information such as images, maps, news and weather. Google now has an online store. Using search engines such as Google, Ask or Bing allows potential customers to find out exactly what using pages of website choices, in the matter of seconds.

The Brits website was at the top of the search results along with over 1,860,000 other Brit related sites!

In comparison Katy Perry has around 76,300,000 results, this is a huge difference but this is because she is an artist so there will more news surrounded her other than just her UK tour.

Both events have first place when searched into Google, this is listings it is very promising as Females click on first choice in listings in 0.71 seconds and  males click at 0.74 seconds

Females less likely to go past first page this means both events are using their websites to their full potential.  Both events are using their websites to their full potential, using search engine optimization to the max, winning first place in the Google search!

Search Engine Optimasitation has changed advertising meaning companies can advertise there and position itself in a huge market.  ‘It revolutionized the ad economy, enabling marketers to pay for performance rather than space, time and eyeballs. It invented new means of targeting ads to make them efficient’ (Jarvis, 2009).

Check out my chosen events websites:

www.Brits.co.uk

http://www.katyperry.com

The BRIT's website is essentially an online "brochure" contains every aspect that you would want to know about the Brits, from the build up to the actual event. The website contains news, photos, voting options, the History and " something for the fans"

Not only can you find out information about any Brit updates there are also links to there social networking sites.

Social Networking allows events such as the Brit's to promote for free, word about the event will be spread a lot quicker and can reach a huge target audience. The Brit's loads images and logo into there profiles so there are visible for social network friends and all the users who visit your profile. To find out more on social networking take a look at the “its facebook time” post.

The website offers competitions to win tickets, below shows one of the competitions

Q: Who presented Coldplay with their award for best British group in 2003?

- David Hasselhoff

- Owen Wilson & Jackie Chan

- Jamie Oliver & Gorden Ramsey

- Katie Price/Jordan

Do you know the answer?

Competitions and promotions can be a quick and easy way for your company to help build awareness and attract more customers. Used as part of your long-running marketing strategy you can use online promotions to drive traffic to your site and gain invaluable insight into the needs and wants of your customers.

Katy Perry

Katy Perry’s website is slightly more vibrant that the Brits website but it has a similar simple layout. This site isn’t a specific tour site instead Katy Perry is the main topic. Fans can click on headings such as music, videos and news.

Social networking sites are advertised the top of her home page, where fans can go onto to find out any more information and become more involved with the tour and Katy Perry.

There is also
a section all about her tour. From this you can get tour dates, join fan discussion, and take a look at pictures and videos of performances from the “California Dreams Tour” (If you’ve for tickets don’t ruin the surprise!)

Masters of Sponsorship

MasterCard enters its 13th year of the  headline sponsorship of The BRIT Awards. MasterCard is now the longest-running music sponsor in the UK.

The BRIT's is not open to the public to purchse tickets. But by being a resgisterd Mastercard holder you can apply for tickets, this makes it exclusive.

To celebrate another year sponisring this iconic annual event. MasterCard has luanced 'Something for the Fans' . This is an promotion to engage cardholders across Britain who can enter to win a Priceless music collectable formerly cherished by their favourite artists.

Ill give you a clue.....

Take a look and see what some big artists are giving away! Click here

Sponsorship is the fastest form of marketing “Sponsorship is the purchase of exploitable rights and marketing benefits that arise from direct involvement with a personality, special event, club or agency” (Glenn Bowdin, 2007). Major events are most likely to have sponsorship. Companies spend a substantial amount of money each year on sponsoring. Sponsorship spending in the UK is over £8 million. Sponsoring an event or product is another method of interacting with the market, creating brand interaction with customers and stakeholders. MasterCard use in-kind sponsorship. In-kind sponsorship is where sponsors make their contribution in the form of goods and services rather than providing cash.

Why sponsor?
Sponsorship offers the possibility of achieving several goals at once. According to Schmader and Jackson in their book, Special Events: Inside and Out, a company can benefit from sponsorship in many ways, such as:

• Enhancing Image/Shaping Consumer Attitudes
  Driving Sales
• 
  Creating positive publicity/heightening visibility
• Differentiating from competitors
• Helping with good "Corporate Citizen" role
• Enhancing business, consumer and VIP relations

Ben Rhodes, vice president marketing at MasterCard UK & Ireland, said: "The Brit Awards is a significant component of our global entertainment strategy, allowing MasterCard to meaningfully engage with the British public in a way that matters to them, not only through traditional media channels, such as print and broadcast, but also through developing unique content for digital activities and social media, such as the Priceless Dance-Off promotion we ran in 2008 and this year's mypricelessgig promotion to celebrate 30 years of The Brit Awards

Marketting Through Magasines

Magazine advertising can play an important part in the overall marketing mix, with the main results being to maximise the target audience.The Brits and Katys Perry's tour are huge events, they will want to be regonised and gain as much coverage as possible for the upcoming events. Magazines are usually weekly or monthly publications. There are two categories: trade magazines (focus on business)and consumer magazines( lifestyle such as fashion or music). When looking at articles on the chosen events, both use fashion magasines such as heat,Elle,Company and more. This genre of magasine is used as it fits in with the intended target audience.

Advantages of Magazine Advertising

- The ability to reach specific audiences. They have highly defined readerships that allow you to focus on specific market niches. Specific groups can be reached by placing advertisements in magazines whose editorial content specializes in topics of interest to that specific target. For example, if you run an ad in an automotive magazine, you can be fairly sure the people who subscribe to it either own a car or truck, or are shopping for one.
- Relatively long ad life and repeated ad exposure. Magazines are often kept for months. Your message keeps selling.
- Excellent picture reproduction quality, and the paper is far superior to newsprint.
- Advertising messages are more image related and less price oriented
- Excellent pass-along value.

Disadvantages of Magazine Advertising

- Limited flexibility in terms of ad placement and format
- Higher production costs.

Keeping these advantages and disadvantages in mind, im going to focus on two particular magasines; The company where it covers The Brits and Elle, where Katy Perry is March's cover.

"Company signs six-month partnership with Brit Awards"

Lifestyle Fasion Magasine Company, signs a six-month contract whcih started last November. The magazine would feature coverage on The Brit Awards.

Checkout the article - http://www.brandrepublic.com/go/news/article/1035371/company-signs-six-month-partnership-brit-awards/



The Novemeber 2010 issue, mentions on the front page how Company readers could win BACKSTAGE access to the Brit's! WOW!The magasine covered topics such as nomintations

Katy Perry is the cover of this months ELLE. The magasine article focuses on Katy Perry lifestyle such as her fashion and her relationship with husband Russle Brand. She does mention how she will be busy this year with her tour. Even though this is not a article about her tour, just by mentioning the tour its a way of advertising the tour to Elle's readers.

BRIT's on the Radio

On the way to a marketting Lecture driving along listening to Capital they annouched they were offering a bunch of listeners 4 Brit TICKETS!

Heart's Radio station, later that day in the evening had the same style of competition, where listeners call up when a specific song is played.

The radio is an interactive marketting tool. It allows a higher degree of intercation to be made as listeners "hear" the message.The Radio advertises local and national events. Both events are music events therfore is listeners like a particular track such as "forget you" by Ce-Lo Green,they could then go on to finding out more infomation on that artist. The radio therfore is known as "radio with a buy button" (Smith and Taylor,2004) Digital radio offers instant interaction and has the power of building communitees such as Capital radio has a strong follwoing from "Londoners". The Radio contriubutes to the power of E-marketting as its another form of media which is linked to the internet.

Capital Radio is working alongside the Brits. Capital Listeners will be the "voters" for the Best British Single!

Check out the top 10 contenders or vote!. http://www.capitalfm.com/brits/british-single/