Dark Star Orchestra Ð Marketing Handbook
Guidelines For
A Successful Show
Dear Dark Star Orchestra Presenter,
This manual
is designed to help presenters of Dark Star Orchestra understand some of the
most effective ways to market the show(s) booked with DSO. These are guidelines that have worked
effectively for the band over the past 12+ years as attendance crowds
nationwide continue to grow as the nationÕs premier group recreating the
Grateful Dead live concert experience. 99% of Deadheads agree.
Each market has its own unique nuances that presenters must tap into to reach
the target demo. Results of a DSO marketing campaign are considerably improved
with a coordinated, tag-team approach of the venue/promoter side collaborating
with our artist side. These ideas and concepts are meant as a guide to help you
accurately target and promote your Dark Star Orchestra concert effectively.
Mixing the promotional outreach over various media formats along with the showÕs
specific marketing plan of paid advertising and targeted, strategic marketing
can effectively sell the show and put butts in the seats.
On average, Dark Star Orchestra will sell 30-40% of their tickets leading up to
the final days prior to the show. The majority of tickets sold for the DSO are
sold the week of the show and the night of the performance.
Target Demography:
Age: 13 Ð 65+
Dark Star Orchestras wide age range makes great use of mainstream media.
Important Dark Star Orchestra Contacts
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Media/Publicity/Street Team Facebook Ad Buys Dave
Weissman 614-396-7000 mailto:dave@darkstarorchestra.net |
Marketing
Jack Barton
856-625-7153 mailto:jack@walther-productions.com
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Booking
Agent Jeff
Laramie 608-664-8160 |
Manager Tim Walther 301-834-4100 mailto:tim@darkstarorchestra.net |
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Tour
Manager Matt
Reynolds 864-918-8347 |
FOH
Engineer/Sound Advance Cotter
Michaels 203.984.8747 |
Dark Star Orchestra Marketing Materials
*Please
only use these materials in you advertising, as they are the most current*
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Logo: |
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Press Photo: http://tinyurl.com/DSOPressPhoto3 |
Live Photo: http://tinyurl.com/DSOLivePhoto |
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2011BobMinkin.jpg)
Dark Star Orchestra Ad-Mat: http://bit.ly/DSOAdmat
Press Archive: http://tinyurl.com/DSOPressArchive
Premise: http://tinyurl.com/DSOPremisedoc or http://tinyurl.com/DSOPremisepdf
Press Release Template: http://tinyurl.com/DSOPressReleaseTemp
Band History: http://tinyurl.com/DSOHistory
Music Sampler: http://tinyurl.com/DSOCDsampler
Online
Promotions:
Music fans are flocking to the web. Reaching Deadheads and DSO fans there
provides value in dramatically lower CPM (cost per 1000 impressions) costs than
nearly any other outlet: thus a cornerstone of our marketing.
Facebook:
The mother
of all social networks allows for hyper-targeting its user base by age, sex,
geographic location, keywords, and other metrics. For the marketing of Dark
Star Orchestra it has proven effective in driving web traffic to ticketing page
or other site with show details at an extremely low CPM. (cost
per thousand views). Many sites charge $12 Ð 20/CPM: the bottom line is that
Facebook delivers this hyper-targeting for less. It is a crucial piece of the
puzzle for this band.
Facebook Ads uses the IP address and a user's profile information to pinpoint
each user's location. Brilliant!
To administer the best, most cost-effective Facebook campaign Ð Dark Star
Orchestra suggests that you contact Dave Weissman at dave@darkstarorchestra.net 614-396-7000 to coordinate having
DSO arrange, place, purchase and administer the available budget for this show
advertising expense. The reason is that with our 3+ years of Facebook
advertising, we are able to secure CPC (Cost Per
Click) at up to 5-10x lower than you may be able to.
For this reason alone we feel it is extremely worthwhile to have Dark Star
Orchestra run and maintain the Facebook ad campaign. A completed traffic report
will be sent over the day of or day before the show for proof; additionally, a
check would be written to ÔDSO Inc.Õ for this line item expense since Dark Star
Orchestra actually ÔpaysÕ for the ads as they run. Please contact Dave Weissman
to set up your DSO Facebook ad campaign!
Some examples of copy and images for Facebook ads:
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Email
Blasts:
Take
advantage of all email lists you have access to when promoting a DSO show. Do
not rule out any past ticket buyers or email subscribers as we have found time
and again our fans come from a variety of musical backgrounds. In addition to
using your venues/companies email list contact your ticket provider
(TicketMaster, Ticketweb etc.) about having the show featured in their emails
to push the show from all possible email angles.
Follow this
link: http://tinyurl.com/DSOemailsample to view one of the Dark Star Orchestra
Emails for reference.
Jambase:
A web based
concert database. In addition to an extensive concert database the site has a
wealth of band information as well as an extensive festival and contest
listing. This is a way to reach a niche demographic and can provide very
specific targeting. Advertising options include banner ads that can be placed
on their web pages or targeted to specific zip codes and email blasts to their
members. Make sure to cast a wide net (60+ mile radius), DSO fans will travel
long distances for shows.
Social
Network Sites:
Facebook was
addressed at length earlier but there are many different ones out there. If you
have a Twitter page make sure to get the word out there as well as posting the
show on your Facebook page, MySpace page and Yahoo events. Be creative. Engage
people by offering them something about the show they would not receive
elsewhere. This will get them talking and build a buzz for your show. These
networks are great resources; they just need a little spark to get the
excitement started.
Street
Team:
Take it to
the streets! This is another one of the strongest ways to reach our fans. You
can find them anywhere: area concerts, lifestyle stores, bars, restaurants and
festivals. If you have a pre-existing street team contact
Dave Weissman, who manages the DSO street team, to coordinate your efforts. If
you do not here are some tips to get the ball rollingÉ
- Provide
incentive for people to get involved. Offer them tickets to the show in
exchange for a set amount of promotion; you can measure that by time or promo
distributed that is up to you.
- Evaluate
your local area for hot spots to target potential ticket buyers. Bring the
message to them.
- Make sure
you hold your street team accountable for their work. Have them take pictures
of their promotions or provide some sort of verification that they have done
their due diligence.
Click to
download Dark Star Orchestra promotional flyer templates:
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Southbound Winter Tour
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Spring Tour 2012
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Other
Local Activations and Promotions:
-Enter to Win: coordinate an Ôenter to winÕ box with local area music store,
head shops (hippie outlets), or other music-related store aimed at the tie-dyed
crowd and do a giveaway for one pair of tickets.
*** A note on
ticket giveaways: Please limit promotional giveaways to 10% of the house
capacity. With our typically late buying crowd it is best to hold as many
sellable seats as possible.
ÒTraditional
MediaÒ
Local
Radio:
Use area
classic rock and AAA radio stations to get the word out as well. Work within
your budget to maximize the advertising. Use ticket giveaways to leverage for
more coverage and promotion.
For all radio
ads please use our approved copy and music.
Suggested Ad Copy: http://tinyurl.com/DSORadioCopy
Music: http://tinyurl.com/DSOCDsampler
Targeted/National/Syndicated
Radio:
Find your
local broadcast of niche radio shows like the Grateful Dead Hour, KellerÕs
Cellar and other jam band/Grateful Dead related programming. Consider
sponsoring the program for a few weeks leading up to the show. This is a great
way to ensure you are hitting the target audience.
*** A note on
ticket giveaways: Please limit promotional giveaways to 10% of the house
capacity. With our typically late buying crowd it is best to hold as many
sellable seats as possible.
TV:
Professionally
shot, mastered and produced DVD footage available upon request by media seeking
a DSO video component. We do not have access to B-roll (Beta) footage.
DSO online
video clips: Coming Soon!
Publicity:
DSO is available for
interviews!
Contact DSO Publicist Dave Weissman to coordinate any media inquiries and all interview requests 614-396-7000 or dave@darkstarorchestra.net