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Hannah Greb
Expanding Country Music to Spain
Introduction
As a lover of traveling and an avid music junkie, choosing two chapters from the Public
Relations textbook was simple. The chapters about global public relations, and entertainment in
public relations seemed like the perfect fit for this final public relations campaign proposal. My
campaign proposal is a public relations plan that expands country music to the beautiful country
of Spain. When deciding what specific country to target for the expansion of this American style
of music, Spain automatically seemed like the most appropriate country because of its fun
reputation and party lifestyle. I also have first-handedly experienced all of the wonder that Spain
has to offer because I have been lucky enough to have traveled to Madrid and Barcelona in my
lifetime. This project explores a public relations plan and how that could be implemented into the
Spanish society and added into their popular collection of eclectic music ranging from electronic
to the original Latin influenced flamenco music. This project first talks about all of the research,
to be conducted in order for this public relations plan to be based on accurate information. The
paper then moves into the action part of the plan, where it decides who the target audience is and
the objectives of this public relations plan. After the action comes the communication part of this
plan where we decide what channels we will be communicating through and what tactics we will
complete in a certain time frame. After all of this is laid out these tactics will be evaluated so that
the public relations practitioner can see how successful their campaign actually was in promoting
country music popularity in Spain. This public relations plan has multiple different layers to it
and is a risky one to conduct but in the end the magnificent country of Spain will add a new style
of music to their rupture.
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Research
The Country Music Association (CMA) has asked a public relations campaign to be
conducted expanding country music to the country of Spain for the celebration of their 70th year
as a functioning association. In an article posted by the CMA on their website they write, “The
Country Music audience continues to gain popularity across the board with the fastest growth in
listeners occurring among non-whites, Hispanics, and Millennials (2016).” This quote is telling
us that country music is expanding its audience, so now would be an excellent time to expand
this type of music to Spain. The CMA website continues to say, “Nearly 7 in 10 non-white adults
listen to Country Music weekly or more often, compared to white adults listening to the genre
(2016).” These statistics present us with an opportunity, and so a plan will be implemented to
expand this listeners of country music to Spain. To implement country music into Spanish
culture, we first need to understand what makes people enjoy country music. To begin research
for this campaign I will begin with secondary research by simply using an online database to find
information. In a novel found on a database entitled High Lonesome: The American Culture of
Country Music, it talks about that reason why Americans are so drawn to country music is that it
is very raw and unfiltered music with real instruments (Tichi 1994). The instruments that are
usually played in country music are similar to those of traditional Spanish music; classical guitar
is the main instrument played in traditional Spanish music as well as in country music. The novel
entitled High Lonesome: The American Culture of Country Music, also talks about how country
music can create a sense of belonging in individuals because of its relatable messages and
themes (Tichi 1994). To better identify the opinions about country music, a focus group would
be conducted in two locations in the United States that would explore the opinions about the
music style. These two locations would be Nashville, Tennessee and Los Angeles, California
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because this would offer two different opinions based on location. A focus group would also be
conducted in Madrid, Spain addressing the opinions and attitudes towards country music.
Quantitative research would also be conducted for this public relations campaign. Online
questionnaires would be sent to individuals living in Spain to test their preexisting opinions on
country music and what sort of events they would attend (see Appendix C). These questionnaires
would help direct the public relations practitioner and offer feedback during the program
planning. Using web analytics, country music YouTube videos, and iTunes purchases would be
monitored. This would allow us to see how often people in Spain are actually listening to country
music— which we assume is very little. Social Media Monitoring tools would be used to see
how many residents of Spain are viewing and following country music singers.
Action
Objectives
There are two main objectives for this public relations campaign.
The informational objective is: Increase popularity of country music in Spain.
The motivational objective is: Create a Country Music Association of Spain
(CMAS) and gain over 100,000 members by the end of the campaign
Target Audience
The target audience for this campaign is lively women aged 18-25. In an article on the
CMA website it says, “Compared to other generations of listeners, emerging Millennials spend
approximately 63 minutes more per day listening to music (2016).” This shows us that this age
range spends the most time listening to music and so they are probably more prone to being open
about a new style of music. The article goes on to say, “The Millennial audience is a big
opportunity up for grabs when it comes to music engagement (2016).” The millennial generation
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is constantly attending music events and festivals and continues to change the face of the music
world. In a study conducted in 2010 the authors talk about the millennial generation and their
ambition to be the first of their friends to discover new music (Pegg and Patterson 2010).
Targeting this specific age range will be excellent for this campaign because millennials
constantly strive to discover new music and be the first to hear it. Targeting millennial women
would be an easier way to reach more individuals because more women are on social media then
men. According to a study, “74.8% of women respondents reported using social media daily and
67.7% of men respondents reported using social media daily (Correa and Hinsley 2010).”
Targeting women would allow for more easy advertising through their social media accounts.
Objectives
For each objective there are multiple strategies to further develop the program plan. For the
informational objective, increase popularity of country music in Spain, the three strategies are:
1. Have strong media/social media ads (radio, Facebook ads, Instagram, twitter)
2. Have monthly country music concerts during the duration on the campaign
3. Open a country bar in Barcelona, Spain
For the motivational objective, the motivational objective is: Create a Country Music
Association of Spain (CMAS) and gain over 100,000 members by the end of the campaign, the
three strategies are:
1. Advertise the Spanish Country Music Association (CMAS) at every event (see appendix
B)
2. Provide links on social media
The reason why there is mainly technology based advertising strategies is because country music
fans are generally more accustomed to technology. In an article posted by Billboard, research
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found, “two in four of the people buying new technology are country fans, while four in 10
people who are asked for advice on technology are country fans. Seventy-six percent of Music
Fest attendees last year were engaged in some kind of social media, including Facebook and
Twitter, with 55 percent engaging with Facebook daily. That is up 30 percent from 2008.
Another 23 percent are active on Twitter, up 40 percent from 2009 (Hackett 2011). This proves
to us that advertising through technology would post likely be the most effective.
Key Messages
The 70th Anniversary of the Country Music Association (CMA). The association wants to
celebrate the 70th anniversary of its creation and launch a campaign to expand the fan
base of country music to Spain.
Party Country Style. A country style bar/club will open in Barcelona, the party capital of
Spain. Also a country music festival will be held at the end of the campaign.
Communication
Several channels will be used for this campaign so that they public is receiving
information in a variety of ways. To reach the more passive audience, the campaign will use two
separate radio public service announcements (see Appendix A). One of the public service
announcements will be 20 seconds and the other will be 30 seconds. According to Webster’s
2014 study, “we can estimate that Internet radio listening now averages about 14 hours and 12
minutes per month across the listening population. Listening hours are critical. They represent
opportunities to reach real people with advertising messages (Webster 2014).” Based on this
information from this previous study, radio advertisements are an excellent way to reach a large
public and would greatly benefit this campaign. In order to reach a more active audience,
websites, events and social media are used. The Country Music Association of Spain (CMAS)
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website will be one of the main focus’ for this campaign and will allow active audience members
access to all of the even information, as well as an opportunity to become a CMAS member. This
campaign is heavily based on the events that will be held. Each month there will be a concert
performed by a country singer in different cities throughout Spain. These smaller concerts will
all promote the opening of the new country club in Barcelona, Acme Barcelona. The third
channel that is directed toward an active audience is social media. Using the social media
channel we will advertise and gain a following on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.
Tactics
The tactics used for this campaign are strategically thought out and will allow for the
original objectives to be fulfilled.
Promote ticket sales all over Spain through social media, radio PSA’s (see Appendix A)
and the online CMAS website. Individuals can buy tickets to these events. These events
will be held on the last Friday of the month and will be held monthly from January 2017-
June 2017. After Acme Barcelona opens (July 2017) then all of the singers will perform
there through the end of the campaign in October.
o The country singers will include: Sam Hunt, Miranda Lambert, Smithfield, Anthony
D’matro, Lauren Jenkins, Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, The Last
Bandoleros, Post Monroe, CJ Solar, Jillian Jacqueline, Carrie Underwood, Zac Brown Band,
and Blake Shelton.
o The venues are: Kapital, Antique Theatro, Sala Metrópolis, Space Ibiza, and Acme
Barcelona.
CMA and CMAS will partner with Acme Nashville, to build the second location of their
honky tonk country club in Barcelona Spain. The club will be constructed by brothers,
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Ricardo and Piti Urgell, who constructed the “Pacha” nightclubs that are located in Ibiza
and Barcelona. There will be promotion through the concerts, social media outreach,
radio and a press release advertising the new club.
To have strong social media for this campaign we will have a Facebook account, Twitter
account, Instagram account, and Snapchat account. Each account will post multiple
updates a week and post pictures showing the events. All of the sites will have a link to
the CMAS website because one of the main objectives is to gain a strong member base
for the association.
Create a two radio PSAs promoting the campaign and have them play on various Spanish
radio stations all throughout the ten-month campaign (see Appendix A).
Create a press release informing the public about Acme Barcelona and building excitement
around the opening.
The Facebook account will have a monthly competition where Facebook users are invited
to share and like one of our advertisements and a random winner will be chosen. This
winner will receive free tickets to that month’s concert. This will provide free advertising
for the concerts and campaign because thousands of people will be sharing the post trying
to win free tickets.
To advertise the Country Music Association of Spain (CMAS) so that we gain membership
to the association, information will be provided on the ticket website, social media
accounts, and email. When event tickets are bought, the site will ask the individual for an
email address. Using this address, we will send a weekly email to the individual inviting
them to become a member of the CMAS.
To further advertise the Country Music Association of Spain (CMAS), we will have each
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country singer mention the association at their concert and urge guests to get involved
and become a member by visiting the website (see appendix B).
Timeline/Calendar
This campaign will last for ten months and will start in January 2017. As seen in a study
previously conducted that examined new year’s resolutions and the behaviors of individuals after
the new year, people are more willing to try new things, experience new experiences, and step
out of their comfort zone after the new year (DiClemente and Norcross 1992). This is why it
would be the best time to implement country music into the Spanish culture; the residents of
Spain would be more open to accepting a new type of music. Ketchum and other large public
relations firms also use this technique of trying to get a new product or idea across at the
beginning of a new year. People are more willing to try new things at this time of the year.
Below is a monthly schedule of this campaign.
January:
Launch CMAS website
Launch radio PSAs (see appendix A)
Promote opening of Acme Barcelona
Launch social media accounts
Announce first Facebook competition
Announce end of the month concert
-Sam Hunt in Madrid at Kapital on January 27
February:
Promote CMAS website
Create press release promoting opening of Acme Barcelona (see appendix D)
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Post on social media accounts weekly
Announce second Facebook competition
Announce end of the month concert
-Miranda Lambert in Seville at Antique Theatro on February 24
March:
Promote CMAS website
Promote opening of Acme Barcelona
Post on social media accounts weekly
Announce third Facebook competition
Announce end of the month concert
- Smithfield in Códoba at Sala Metrópolis on March 31
April:
Promote CMAS website
Promote opening of Acme Barcelona
Post on social media accounts weekly
Announce fourth Facebook competition
Announce end of the month concert
- Anthony D’Amato in Santander beach show at play de Mateleñas on April 28
May:
Promote CMAS website
Promote opening of Acme Barcelona
Post on social media accounts weekly
Announce fifth Facebook competition
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Announce end of the month concert
- Lauren Jenkins in Seville at Antique Theatro on May 26
June:
Promote CMAS website
Promote opening of Acme Barcelona
Post on social media accounts weekly
Announce sixth Facebook competition
Announce end of the month concert
- Florida Georgia Line in Ibiza at Space Ibiza on June 30
July:
Promote CMAS website
Promote opening of Acme Barcelona
Post on social media accounts weekly
Announce seventh Facebook competition
Announce end of the month grand opening in Barcelona for Acme Barcelona
- Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean in Barcelona at Acme Barcelona on July 28
August:
Promote CMAS website
Promote Acme Barcelona
Post on social media accounts weekly
Announce eighth Facebook competition
Announce end of the month concert
- CJ Solar in Barcelona at Acme Barcelona on August 25
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September:
Promote CMAS website
Promote Acme Barcelona
Post on social media accounts weekly
Announce ninth Facebook competition
Announce end of the month concert
- Jillian Jacqueline in Barcelona at Acme Barcelona on September 29
October:
Promote CMAS website
Promote Acme Barcelona
Post on social media accounts weekly
Announce final Facebook competition
Announce final end of the month concert
- Carrie Underwood, Zac Brown Band, and Blake Shelton in Barcelona at Acme Barcelona
on October 2
Budget
The budget for this entire campaign is one million dollars. The first 300,000 dollars of this
budget will go toward the public relations practitioners. This money will include their pay for
creating the press release, radio PSAs, managing social media, managing the website, and
planning the campaign. The second part of this money will go to out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses.
This money will pay for the concerts, distributing the advertisements, and payment for the
performers. In the book Public Relations Strategies and Tactics, it says to keep about ten percent
of the budget for emergencies. So, we will keep about 100,000 in case there are unexpected
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expenses. Acme Barcelona is a sponsored project payed for by Acme Nashville so it is not
included in the budget.
Evaluation
To evaluate this campaign, we will begin by looking at the informational objective—
increase popularity of country music in Spain. To do this we will examine the number of tickets
purchased for each of the ten country music shows. If ticket sales increased, we will know that
the popularity of country music increased through this campaign. We will also use basic web
analytics to test and see if the campaign social media accounts following increased throughout
the campaign. Ketchum public relations firm conducted a campaign for DoubleTree Resorts
promoting their famous chocolate chip cookies called CAREavan. To evaluate their campaign,
Ketchum searched to see if the words “cookie” or “CARE” ranched higher in the overall media
realm (Wilcox 2015). Using this same technique, the words “country” and “Acme” would be
looked at to see if there was a higher amount. Next, we will track the public’s reaction of the
opening of Acme Barcelona and see if the attendance of the club increased. For the motivational
objective— Create a Country Music Association of Spain (CMAS) we will begin by simply
checking to see if we reached our goal of 100,000 members. We will also use web analytics to
see how many people are on the CMAS website daily. Lastly, for both objectives, we will
evaluate our social media advertisements by addressing the number of likes and shares for our
posts. If this number grew immensely throughout the entire campaign, then we will know that
our information was grabbing the attention of our publics.
Conclusion
After this campaign was conducted Spain has become a country who enjoys country music.
Having their own country club is something that is completely new for this country and it is
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rapidly gaining popularity. Acme Barcelona encompasses the culture of the country life style and
people who visit it are immersed into the dancing, drinks, and music of the country culture. The
Country Music Association of Spain (CMAS) has multiple members and continues to grow and
time goes on. Having their own country music association is something that will benefit the
country music lovers of Spain and perhaps one day they can have an organization as large and
successful as the United States. The overall popularity of country music has increased and
country singers now identify Spain as a place to share their music. I would suggest that this
campaign should have used more free events in order to get people aquatinted with the idea of
country music before they spent money on a ticket. I would also suggest that in order to continue
the momentum of country music in Spain, country singers should begin to sing a couple of their
songs in Spanish. I would also suggest that the country culture should be more integrated into
Spanish culture through food, drinks, and clothing in order for the music to receive its full
meaning. The big picture of this campaign is that an American style of music has been expanded
internationally to a country who embodies the spirit of country music. The Country Music
Association created this campaign to celebrate its 70th anniversary as an association and has now
created a whole new branch to its association— the CMAS. Ideally the CMA will continue to
expand their association to other countries around the world and share the lively spirit of country
music around the globe.
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Appendices
Appendix A
20 second radio PSA:
Do you like being the first the hear new music? Well Spain, it’s time to make the change and join
the Country Music Association of Spain so you can party like a cowboy! For more info visit
www.countrymusicassosiationofspain.com! Let’s ride em cowboy!
30 second radio PSA:
Do you wanna learn how to dance like a cowboy? Do you want to line dance at a huge concert?
Well Spain, I am here to tell you that you can! This year is the year of country here in beautiful
Spain! visit www.countrymusicassosiationofspain.com to hear about all of the events this year
and visit our Facebook page to win free tickets!
Appendix B
Performer Script promoting CMAS:
Ya’ll wanna be cowboys forever? Well I am here to tell you that we are ready for this amazing
country of Spain to join us! If you enjoyed tonight’s show, please follow up by joining the best
organization out there! Join the Country Music Association of Spain to keep line dancing every
weekend!
Appendix C
Online Questionairre:
1. Would you attend a country concert in your own city?
2. Would you travel to see a country concert?
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3. Would you attend a country bar?
4. Do you enjoy country music?
5. What is your age?
6. What is your gender?
7. Do you have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat?
8. Do you use social media everyday?
Appendix D
Press Release:
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Country Music Association
February 1, 2017
Barcelona, Spain— Country Music Association of Spain, a new organization that has been organized by
the Country Music Association in the United States,will be building a three story country bar in
Barcelona, Spain this coming summer. There will be performances from famous and up-and-coming
country singers throughout Spain to promote the opening.
The construction of this new club is for a public relations campaign to promote the popularity of country
music in Spain. The club will offer country music and drinks. The club will be open in July of 2017 and
will have a grand opening night with performances by Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean.
The club will be called Acme Barcelona and is the second Acme club to be built. The first Acme club is
in the country music headquarters Nashville, Tennessee. Acme will be paid for by the Tennessee
establishment. This will be the first of its kind here in Spain.
The construction and design for this club will be completed by brothers Ricardo and Piti Urgell, who
constructed the “Pacha” nightclubs that are located in Ibiza and Barcelona. The country club will be
completely different from anything in Spain and will hopefully start a trend for more country
establishments in the country.
Contacts:
Hannah Greb, (343)-585-6710
hgreb@email.arizona.edu
http://www.countrymusicassociationofspain.com/
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