Jimmi and The Band of Souls

Nate Heinz (Top Left), ) Jay LeClair (Bottom Left), Jimmi Langemo (Center), Al “White Wine”

Meyer (Top Right), Ben Roselius (Bottom Right)

Integrated Marketing Communication Plan

December 2013

Ellen Kokes Alicia Huber

Mariam Shamsid-Deen

Table of Contents

Section I Overview, History & Vision

● History ● Mission ● Vision ● Values ● Associated Industries

Section II Market Analysis

● SWOT Analysis ● Demographics ● Psychographics

Section III Strategy

● Marketing Objectives Section IV Traditional Marketing and Social Media Platforms

● Social Media ● Radio ● Print Media

Section I: Overview

“Jimmi and the Band of Souls. Energetic. Soulful. Genuine. It’s about the passion for the music. It’s about the love of the story. It’s about the joy of playing for people.

The band pulls from the vast array of blues, roots and R&B in their original songs and covers. They play boogie-woogie. They play slow and lonely. They play toe tappin’, deep groovin’ and hard drivin’. You’ll hear Muddy, Minnie and Sonny Boy. You’ll hear Eric, Mayall and Etta.

It’s about diversity: Guitars. Slide. Harmonica. Mandolin. Bass. Drums. Two-part harmonies. It’s a full sound that changes in tone and timbre with every song.”

The Blue Wren Recording record label holds Jimmi and the Band of Souls with

members: Jimmi Langemo ( Vocals, Guitar, Slide and Lap Steel, Mandolin, and Harmonica), Nate Heinz (Bass, Harmonies), Jay LeClair ( Guitar, Slide, Saxophone), Al “White Wine” Meyer (Drums), and Ben Roselius (Guitar). These different string instruments sets them apart from other bands creating unique, live, and fun music on stage. They play informative and wildly entertaining shows in their hometowns of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

History:

Starting three years ago in 2010, the band was created by Jimmi Langemo. They play a background of the gypsy blues, American roots, and R&B in their own classic music. Jimmi has written two books and is now writing a third in the trilogy. He is motivated by doing fundraisers, benefits, and charity concerts for the likes of The Takoda Institute and United Way. They play in many places to provide great sounds and make people feel like they have been through an experience.

Mission: Jimmi wants to focus on his talents and to create a safer, fairer world for people to

live more enriched and rewarding lives as well as people to take responsibility for their words and actions. He want to use his music, novel writing, diversity/leadership development, training/consulting and blog writing to push this message.

Vision: The vision that Jimmi has is to extend his message reach through bigger venues and

more gigs. He would like to market the music and in turn increase the sales of CDs and merchandise. Another vision is to use social media and online sources to help with marketing.

Values: They want to use their music to inspire people to treat each other with love and

respect. Also to use their talents to make the world a better place and enjoy life by having fun living it.

Associated Industries:

Music Industry: The largest industry they are involved in is the music industry. Music is expensive and things are often slim for artists, bar/club/theater owners and festival organizers. Apple and Amazon do have the bigger market on making sales within the music industry. The book industry is another opportunity to look into bringing a different audience to Jimmi and The Band of Souls. This would be a wider net and opportunity to get their name out in the industry. The band is also involved in benefit concerts for a couple different non-profit companies. This would also be a related industry with fundraising and volunteering. Book Industry: Jimmi wants to expand his next upcoming book, the Trilogy. The book industry is a good business to get into as it still rising in great revenue over time. Jimmi will find it to be a good investment for good profits in return along with bringing a different audience to Jimmi and The Band of Souls. With this type of expansion people will get to know more about them which will make them well known to others and bring a personal field/ relationship to their fans. Though, getting in to this type of business the need of knowledge to this field will be necessary as the book industry becomes more modern. He must then decide whether to make his book hardcover, trade paperback or Ebook, which is becoming more popular. To self-publish Jimmi’s book will be more profitable but needs to think about creating a major marketing presence on his own. Either way Jimmi decides to go through the process of his book, it will open up to a wider clientele to introduce himself and the band. Diversity Training: Jimmi has another priority beside his band which, is his devotion of being a diversity trainer. This occupation gives cultural awareness, educates, and provides skills to benefit an organization. It protects against civil rights violations by

increasing different identity groups and promoting better teamwork. Jimmi carries this motivation everywhere he goes and continues it with the band. Jimmi and the Band of Souls goes to charities, benefits, and fundraisers encouraging others to be aware of diversity. Their dedication to uplift and their love for music helps everyone understand the power of diversity in everywhere you go.

Section II: Market Analysis

SWOT Analysis: Jimmi and the Band of Souls has many strengths as innovators in pursuit of a safe,

meaningful, and joyful world for everyone. They do have some opportunities that can be managed to help further their career. The below points show these strengths and weaknesses to help the band further their pursuit of happiness to all people.

Strengths: ● Loyal fan base, dedicated to the

music ● Many different events (gigs,

charities, fundraisers) ● Featured on KARE 11 NEWS

“Find Something to Do” events ● Part of the Minnesota Blue Society ● Very unique style of music ● Minnesota based

Weaknesses: ● Minimal use of traditional and social

media ● New book, minimal publicity ● Not a lot of collaboration with artists

outside of Minnesota ● Band is not all the member's top

source of income

Opportunities: ● Use album, book, and message

through social media platforms ● Advertise through specific

mediums (StageIt, local radio, print, blog etc.)

● Continued use of charities and fundraisers

● Colleges/University venues ● To partner with local businesses

and restaurants

Threats: ● Other local bands gaining popularity ● Over-saturation of bands in the area ● Competitors use social media

effectively and have large presence ● Venues can be music specific, many

may not cater to JBOS style ● Physical book sales are declining

Demographics: Age Currently, fans of Jimmi and the Band of Souls reside in the age range of 35-54 years of age. Geographic Location The current fan base is primarily in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Gender The gender of fans is nearly an even 50/50 split. Ethnic background Currently, the ethnic background of listeners is mostly European American.

Psychographics:

Personality The personalities of listeners are Blues enthusiasts that are interested in attending live shows that are entertaining, fun, and interactive. Interests/Hobbies Interests of current listeners would be: ● Music ● Dancing ● Attending concerts and performances ● Bar “hopping”

Section III: Strategy

Marketing Objectives: 1. To extend reach, measured by a 20% increase of "likes" on Facebook and a

minimum 25% increased average pay for gigs. 2. To market the music and in turn increase sales of CDs and merchandise by 25%. 3. To weave his 3 focuses together (New album, upcoming book and the message of

inclusiveness) with use of social media. 4. To connect all social media to his main website (Think about YouTube more,

Instagram and reformat Twitter page. Also advertise iTunes on website) 5. To connect/partner with and open for Davina and the Vagabonds. 6. Look into online music offerings such as StageIt.com

Strategy:

Jimmi and The Band of Souls is a band with a message. The goal of the band is to promote a message of diversity as well as create a fun environment for fans. Jimmi himself is also working on a trilogy of books. The books are new and should be present at the bands events. The three areas of focus for Jimmi and the Band of Souls are (in no order):

1. New Book 2. Band and Music 3. Message of Diversity

The primary forms of advertisement and work for the three focuses is through social media. Other types of mediums that should be explored are print media and radio. The last two types hold a lot of opportunity for the three focuses. They are traditional marketing platforms than an older audience would enjoy. The demographics (35-54 years of age) would appreciate this and, hopefully, attend the many events Jimmi has to offer.

Section IV: Traditional Media & Social Media Platforms

Social Media: The use of social media is huge for Jimmi and the Band of Souls. The world is catching on to this free marketing platform and can be highly effective to reach the bands marketing goals/objectives. Social media upkeep requires a couple things, one being consistency with posts on all websites. Creating engaging content to hand out to fans. In a blog there should be 750 words or less, a catchy headline and a lot of bullet points. A call-to-action should be on each social media site. Ask your fans to do something after they visit your site. It will engage them even more and keep you in their mind. Talk to your fans any way possible...email, Facebook, Twitter and other. Try to comment back so they feel close to you all as people. Lastly, be vulnerable, be real and be unique. Email List: This is a current and effective way that Jimmi reaches his fans. A use for emailing is to connect the receivers to the other social media sites. A future goal is to create a buzz about his upcoming books. A possible way to do this is to offer the first chapter or a blurb from the book FREE if fans sign up for the email list. This can also be done or advertised through the websites listed below. If the readers enjoy this free segment they will buy the book. This will be a great way to increase sales of the book when it is released. LinkedIn: Jimmi and the individuals of the band can use their personal pages for further job opportunities. Jimmi could post some projects from his diversity work. LinkedIn would not be enormously helpful for the band as a whole. They could possibly get a corporate gig through this, but it could be rare. LinkedIn could help for networking, if they need it. They might be able to have a page to advertise themselves to other venues, people or other fundraising opportunities like the Takoda Institute. It could also be used if a member of the band needs a replacement, LinkedIn is a great way to look for new employees/band members. Google+: The band uses this to post their events. These events should be made on Facebook and a blog as well. Can also use this to share with specific people or all the people that follow the band page. Google+ can help connect with other bands or businesses. It also increases Search Engine Optimization (SEO). ● Utilize Google Hangout - Do some kind of “meet the band” type thing

Twitter: Very useful for during an event for the band or book. It makes it easy to communicate with fans. Easy reminders and replies to fans comments are vital to the success of a Twitter page. This should be present on other sites the band has. Such as: Band website, Facebook, YouTube, Google+ and the blog. ● Twitter Campaign to get the word out about the band and book

○ Ask fans to send their favorite message of diversity using the hashtag #JBOS

Facebook: Facebook is vital to businesses today. Jimmi and The Band of Souls being one of them. They currently have a Facebook page with 695 likes. They could use this page much more often with more of his wife’s pictures, video from the shows and creating events for each show. They already have posts thanking different venues and people for the opportunity to play. They should make sure to tag/mention these places and people. This will create more buzz and bring more people to their page. Facebook can also be a portal to all other social media and links. One of the objectives is to extend reach by 20% increase in likes. This needs to have a time frame to make it an attainable, reachable goal. Facebook provides analysis of this type of information for administrators. The band members should use this opportunity for measuring and achieving this goal. ● Picking a popular song to give as a free download for a month ● Posting homemade videos

○ “Meet the Band” ○ “Day in the Life” ○ Cover songs in JBOS style

StageIt.com: “Stageit is an online venue where artists perform live, interactive, monetized shows for their fans directly from a laptop, offering fans unique experiences that are never archived” (StageIt.com). This type of media could be very useful for expanding reach to potential listeners. If promoted correctly, using other social media mediums, the shows performed on StageIt could reach listeners in different states and countries, as well as current listeners.

StageIt.com takes a percentage of the revenue made from each prefomance to cover costs accrued, including costs for bandwidth, servers, transaction fees and a blanket license with PROs so cover songs can be performed legally. Please see appendix for more information about earnings for performing on StageIt.

We recommend that this is used a minimum of twice a year and promoted vigorously to reach the maximum amount of people. Online tickets could be sold at either

“Pay What You Can” or a maximum of $5 to begin with, in order to get people interested. The $5 maximum could be raised as the band becomes more popular on the site.

Blogs: Can provide many details and expand on the businesses wearabouts. Writing a blog boosts SEO so your business looks active and can be searched easily. If the blog contains more words and has a catchy title it is easier to find for someone interested. There are not many limitations with a blog. It can be whatever the band wants it to be. A blog must be timely and something your fans can rely on. It should also link fans to their other social media sites. The blog they create or use could be used after every show or once a week to recap on the shows played as well as give information on upcoming shows. The blog should include pictures, music clips and songs played. Some topics they could write about can be on his trilogy, the new album coming out and the message of diversity. The use of a blog would be great to introduce and weave these topics into the fans minds.

Radio: Local radio shows are an awesome opportunity for Jimmi and The Band of Souls.

In the Minneapolis/St. Paul area there are many shows to contact. The one that is recommended for the style of music that JBOS plays is 89.3 The Current. This station is all about alternative music and different styles of music from the area and around the world. The Current is also streamed around the world. This could very much increase the reach of the bands message of diversity and their music. The new book could also be mentioned on the radio.

Print Media: In-Venue media: In-venue media is a great source to attract the people who already attend the venue on a regular basis. By leaving posters at the venue or handing out small flyers to people the week before, Jimmi and the band have a greater chance of those people coming back to see them perform the following week. The band can also sell CDs, T-Shirts, buttons, and signed posters to the fans that attend the show.

We recommend that Jimmi and the band attend at least one show the week before a performance at the venue they will play at. By doing so, they can talk and connect with potential fans and give them a flyer.

Posters: Posters can be one of the most eye-catching types of print media, especially in regards to bands. By presenting posters in the cities and in the venues the band will

promote towards frequent venue goers. “Special Edition” posters can also be created to sell to fans that attend shows.

Our recommendation is to sell signed “Special Edition” posters that can be sold to fans at a cost of $3. These posters can be very limited (no more than 250 copies) and be changed out every six months. These posters can be simple and eye-catching, promoting the band and diversity. This will also generate a little extra cash-flow for the band of about $750 for every 250 posters sold, not including the cost to make the posters.

Partnerships: Davina and The Vagabonds, a fellow Minnesota based Blues band, would be a

great opportunity for partnership. Their popularity would bring more fans to Jimmi and the Band of Souls. The recommendation would be to contact Davina or the band members about a possible combined show or opening for them. The band email is info@davinaandthevagabonds.com or contact the band manager at alaina@traincasemanagement.com.

One other opportunity for partnership or a connection would be with Kristen Brown. Kristen Brown is a best selling author of two books, The Happy Hour Effect and The Best Worst Thing. She would be a great resource for Jimmi and his book. She knows exactly how to get new books on the Amazon Best Sellers list. Her contact information is: kristen@happyhoureffect.com and 612-618-1808.

Appendix