Kate Miller's Current Marketing Strategy and Recommendations - Case Study Example

1.0 Executive Summary: The report discusses Kate Miller’s current marketing strategy and recommendations. The elements of marketing mix including the 4 P’s of product, price, place and promotion are discussed in great detail with changes recommended for the present strategy. The recommended strategies are expected to increase the artist’s publicity, get a larger fan club and also enhance sales. 2.0 Situation Analysis 2.1 Current Product: Product refers to a tangible object or an intangible service that is produced on a large scale with a specific volume of units. Furthermore, intangible goods refer to services such as tourism, hospitality industry or the entertainment industry. In this case, Kate Miller-Heidke is an Australian opera singer who is also on Sony-BMG's Australian label. Miller-Heidke has been signed to Sony since 2006 in Australia while two of her extended plays were released independently before being signed on with Sony. Additionally, Kate Miller-Heidke has attracted a number of fans around the world. Some of her concerts were highly acknowledged by listeners and one of those was a history concert at Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia. Also, the MTV Exit event was the first rock concert which took place at the ancient site in order to create awareness about the unfortunate human trafficking business. Not only this but Kate was the only Australian on the bill featuring Placebo, Duncan Sheik, and local Cambodian bands. Kate Miller’s products include her concerts, merchandising, and compact discs (CDs). These products can be characterized as “specialty goods”. Specialty goods are those that interest only a narrow segment of the population. Since Heidke is in the music industry and her music interests a specific audience who prefer listening to pop music and opera. 2.2 Current Price: The price is the amount a customer is willing to pay for a product or service. It is determined by a number of factors including market share, competition, material costs, product identity and the customer's perceived value of the product. The business may increase or decrease the price of product if other stores have the same product, that is, as a competition tactic. The prices of Miller’s albums and CDs are available at almost the same prices at each store. At the same time, they are also sold online through amazon, ebay and other websites. Furthermore, songs can also be easily downloaded from various sites. 2.3 Current Distribution: Place is the next ‘P’ of the marketing mix which is also known as channel, distribution, or intermediary. Distribution ensures that goods or services reach the final consumer from the manufacturer/ service provider. The seller may use a number of alternate 'channels' of distribution for the purpose. For instance, a wholesaler or a retailer may be used for tangible products in addition to use of advertisements to reach the purchaser. Furthermore, both direct and indirect channels are used for distribution of Kate Miller’s music. Her music follows an ‘intensive distribution strategy’, that is, a large number of retail stores carry her CDs so as to make it accessible for the majority of listeners in the region. This strategy has also led the artist to stand amongst the highly acclaimed personalities in the music industry in Australia. Additionally, various websites also advertise her music intensively such as free downloads, music for IPOD or MP3, free gift vouchers, and discounted concert tickets etc. All of these schemes contribute to Miller’s popularity. Other distribution techniques followed by Miller’s marketing team is that of selective distribution which targets a specific audience to sell her music. This market particularly includes the youth or students who may arrange college concerts or sell CDs at school. Exclusive distribution marketing channel is also opted for. This helps lead the product to reach selected stores, franchises, resellers, authorized dealers, etc. As a product, the cd’s would be available to only selected stores of record labels and they can maintain their monopoly in order to maximize profits of business. Numerous channels of indirect distribution are involved in order to make product available to reach customer. In this case, starting from the recording of music and vocals at studio would be like manufacturer then the music is licensed and taken forward for further production of cds. And then cds are distributed through another channel of intermediaries via wholesaler to franchise stores around the globe. Another option can be selling electronic data directly via internet on record label’s site which diminishes the various channels of distribution and hence sales are made on popularity basis. 2.4 Current Promotion: Promotion is the 4th ‘P’of the marketing mix which essentially increases product awareness as well as creates and enhances its demand in the market. It has four distinct elements including advertising, public relations, word of mouth and point of sale. Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials, radio and Internet adverts through print media and billboards. Secondly, public relations are includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events while word of mouth is the strongest form of informal advertising about the product by satisfied customers. Marketing researchers have begun to measure consumer WOM communication and empirically infer its role in influencing sales (e.g., Chevalier and Mayzlin 2006), but no existing study examines how WOM and advertising interact to influence consumers’ purchase decisions. Further extant research (e.g., Jedidi, Mela, and Gupta 1999) recognizes the importance of advertising in influencing brand preferences. Hence, artists may also be interested in understanding the role of advertising in driving the dynamics of brand preferences. Miller’s single, "The Last Day on Earth" ranked third in Australia, her first top 10 hit, due to promotion through Neighbours. Due to the single's success, Curiouser re-entered the top 50 and ranked first on iTunes for three weeks. The song also became her first song to reach the top in any chart later being featured on the ARIA Australian Singles Chart at the top. On 19 September, 2009, the single "The Last Day On Earth" and the album Curiouser both went platinum. Interview is another form of promotion which is conducted and aired to enhance product’s demand. Miller also followed the same strategy and in September, 2009, in an interview with French musical magazine Hall-Musique, Miller-Heidke announced that 'Caught in the Crowd' will be re-released after 'The Last Day On Earth'. With little to no promotion beyond word of mouth, Kate began selling out shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane 3.0 Recommended Target Market: Target market is a group of individuals differentiated on the basis of noticeable aspects such as geographic segmentations, demographic/socio-economic segmentation, psychographic segmentation, behavioral segmentation, and product-related segmentation. Target marketing is conducted towards those who show a strong brand loyalty to that particular brand. Such consumers are persuaded by the characteristics in the advertisement and those of the consumer. In Miller’s case, youth should be the target market. Therefore, the artist should target her market on the basis of demographic as well as psychographic characteristics. Here, the demographic characteristics would include a young population of males and females living in the urban areas with a taste for music. In addition, a psychographic segmentation would ensure that listeners with similar attitudes, values and lifestyle listen to Miller’s music. Her music could also be targeted to the older population with similar attitudes towards Miller’s kind of music. The artist could even develop a relationship with her singers as pointed out by a researcher, “relationship marketing is a long term, continuous series of transactions between parties” (Doyle, 2002). 4.0 Recommended Marketing Objective: The basic purpose of marketing objectives is to achieve greater sales. They should be clear, measurable, and have a stated time frame for achievement. Kate Miller’s marketing objectives may be to increase awareness of her music among the target audience, increase sales of her concert tickets by a certain percentage, beat a competitor’s sales of CDs by a set margin etc. In case of multiple objectives, they should all be consistent and not in conflict with each other. 5.0 Product recommendations: A brand is considered one of the most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner is able to offer in the marketplace. As Kate Miller is an artist who would want to market herself as a unique brand she would pursue “Personal branding” which refers to how people and their careers are marketed as brands. She can use various methods to brand herself. For instance, she can create music for companies that motivate, inspire, engage and connect. Further Musicians are artists, and like artists they express their opinions of society through their art. These musicians target the younger generation simply because it is this generation that will be in the position to make society better in the future, but they must be aware of the issues and all aspects of society. They can use this tool as a way to create an emotional connection with their listeners. Next, Kate Miller could also give away free signed cards with a personal message on each. These could then be given to the fans at the concerts or at a school or a university etc who would find it inspiring. Also, collaboration with various other renowned artists or singing for international events like FIFA, or Wimbledon or other sport championships would also earn Miller a great name in the industry for times to come. 6.0 Pricing recommendations: Price is the final measure of customer value and competitive advantage. Strategic Pricing is a pricing strategy employed to clarify the relationship between market segmentation and price; using strategic pricing tools yields a better positioning approach. Being in the service industry Miller would have to price her music albums and concert tickets in such a way that it not only attracts her fans but also other people who listen to other artists. Additionally, she should also find more sponsors to do more and more concerts to generate more sales, revenue and popularity amongst masses. It is also recommended that Miller introduce greater variety of music with different genres of music for each region and generation so as to increase her audience. Also, she could price each of her concerts differently according to the region and popularity. Miller’s new products can be private shows for a smaller audience which could be charged at premium prices. This technique would not only add to her publicity but also earn her more revenues. 7.0 Distribution recommendations: Use of internet as a promotional tool for musicians has been growing at a steady rate. Musicians can get radio play, grow a fan base, create a distribution channel, manufacture and sell CDs and music downloads all online. Secondly, Miller could also market her products through a distributor or a middleman. However, finding a music distributor is crucial if she wants to see her album in the shops, whether it is a self release or a label trying to get several albums out there. One such distributor is Cdbaby and they charge a setup fee of $35 plus 9% of all income as a cut for Distributor. Furthermore, Miller will not have a choice at which online stores her music goes to, except for a very small list of selected retailers. The Cdbaby service is completely non-exclusive and doesnt tie up any of the artist’s rights. Their distribution partners include iTunes, eMusic, Hear Music, Last.fm, MusicNet, Napster, Rhapsody and others. Tunecore is also in the same line of business offering similar distribution services For an intensive distribution, Miller would have to ensure availability of an extensive set of press clippings for all of her releases; Radio playlists if the album has received any radio attention and tour dates or information about any tour plans underway. It would also be helpful if details of future plans for the label or the band and upcoming releases are conveyed. 8.0 Promotion recommendations: Integrated Marketing Communication involves coordination of a company's outgoing message between different media and the consistency of the message throughout. It is an aggressive marketing plan that captures and uses an extensive amount of customer information in setting and tracking marketing strategy. Steps in an Integrated Marketing system include: 1. Customer Database: An essential element to implementing Integrated Marketing that helps to segment and analyze customer buying habits. 2. Strategies: Insight from analysis of customer data is used to shape marketing, sales, and communications strategies. 3. Tactics: Once the basic strategy is determined the appropriate marketing tactics can be specified which best targets the specific markets. 4. Evaluate Results: Customer responses and new information about buying habits are collected and analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the strategy and tactics. 5. Complete the loop; start again at #1. 8.1 A few recommendations for Kate Miller’s promotion include distribution of free cds, launch of free music on the internet, artist’s personal interaction with people to gain popularity and hence make brand merchandising strong. Also, more and more concerts even with a small audience should be conducted. Another recommendation may be a live world tour by Miller to attract fans worldwide. Next, extra skills of artist should also be made public such as song writing and composition skills. Further, she could also launch cheap online youtube videos to save costs while getting more clicks. It should also be ensured that sponsors or label company bear promotional expenditure. Last but not the least, free cds with cereals like kellogs or other food items can also make the singer more popular. Miller could also use direct communication via blogging or online networking like facebook or even through her personal website to keep in touch with her community or peers. 9.0 Conclusion: Youth is the target market for Miller’s music. Therefore, the artist should target her market on the basis of demographic as well as psychographic characteristics. She should also find more sponsors to do more and more concerts to generate more sales, revenue and popularity amongst masses. Miller would have to price her music albums and concert tickets in such a way that it not only attracts her fans but also other people who listen to other artists. These and other steps would enable her to achieve here marketing objective of higher sales. Bibliography Earls, John. "Review: Kate Miller-Heidke/Curiouser" "Sales & Marketing Management" September, 1996 Read More