Logbook Entry: Describe the general profile of your current consumer? Who are your missing consumers? Describe the market segments that need attention. List your direct competitors: What makes your product unique from them and what similarities do you share?
The current consumer for Beats & Brushstrokes would most likely be someone affiliated with ELAN and/or the Arts Administration Program. The large number of attendees will be the AAD students, faculty, community partners, supporters and friends. Since the main purpose of Beats & Brushstrokes is to sell art, we are trying to attract people who would spend money on art. Last year, this was difficult because the event quickly became more of a party than an auction. This year we are trying to deter that from happening by ending the auction at 9:30pm and saving the party for the rest of the event. We will also have an MC that will be prompting people to buy art. This will allow both of our main consumers to enjoy the event. Those who want to just purchase art can come to first half of the event and those who are looking for the party atmosphere can come to the later half. This will hopefully have the result of attracting more people with discretionary income who were previously deterred by the party atmosphere, but still maintaining our core group of consumers (especially those who buy beer).
Currently, our network is well connected to AAD students, some other graduate programs and key arts organizations in Eugene. However, ELAN does not have a strong connection with the University of Oregon as a whole and with community members. It is difficult to market to a whole campus, let alone a city when you are only a team of 6 with very limited funds. Thus, we are relying mostly on our existing network to make this event a success. However, we will be using the WOW Hall’s flyer distribution system to post fliers at over 200 businesses around Eugene and Springfield. This will hopefully pull in some new consumers from the community. Furthermore, we did tabling last week to advertise making art for Beats & Brushstrokes in Lawrence. I handed out at least 75-100 fliers. If anything, this marketing strategy increased name recognition of the event within the AAA department. However, ELAN is still housed at UO and therefore rarely reaches community members not affiliated with the university. In order to address this issue, I and a small group of students are going to First Friday this week and handing out fliers for Beats & Brushstrokes. We are also thinking of bringing a record player and dancing down the streets for a kind of guerrilla marketing. Perhaps this will bring in more community members who are already attending art events.
After reviewing Ch. 3, I would say that at this point the partner market (in particular a focus on the media) and the private sector market need more attention. We have only been marketing though social media so far because we’re waiting on confirming sponsorship before printing the fliers. This will definitely need to be addressed in the timeline for the marketing plan. The sooner we have the sponsors (specifically Ninkasi) confirmed, the sooner we can start advertising. Furthermore, we have just sent out sponsorship packets for food and decorations, which may also be pushing the deadline. I will have to review how and when we reach out to the private sector in order to create a timeline that has the best possible effect boosting media attention and forming strong community partnerships.
What makes Beats & Brushstrokes unique is the content of the art (art made from records and record sleeves) as well as the very cheap entrance ticket ($5 including drink tokens). I actually don’t know what other events are happening that night, but I do know that we will have free parking at the Hult Center (who is not having an event). Our event is off campus so we will not have to compete with campus events though we may not pull as many students. I don’t believe there any other big arts events happening during our date, but there will probably be some plays running that day as well as concerts. Our event is similar to many others as it involves art and alcohol and music, however it covers a wide range of incomes and is at an exciting new location (the new Crossfit gym with glass windows!). We are hoping to project Ninkasi’s symbol on the windows to attract people from the street. Also, we are planning to have the DJ at the front so people can see and hear the music from outside. Now, we just need to get some art!