In conjunction with MUS244 Music Marketing class throughout the semester a team of students successfully marketed for on campus ensembles.

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MUS244 A
Marketing Plan
Symphonic Band
Matthew Williamson, Savannah Peck,
Jack Duncan, Richard Brown, Maggie McDevitt

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Summary of Completed Tasks
Contact local businesses/community organizations - Maggie
Email Reading High School – Maggie
Created a Facebook account/emailed David Tanner – Savannah
Managed Facebook account - Savannah
Took promotional photos – Jack
Created promotional video – Jack
Made a Symphonic Band logo - Jack
"Meet the band!" social media posts – Savannah
Email Director Gross about mission/vision statements/member positions/funding – Savannah
Met with Director Gross about his short-term and long-term goals - Savannah & Maggie
Thank Reading Eagle for Inauguration coverage – Maggie
Live radio promotion – Savannah
Created ¼ page flyers – Savannah
Shared on personal social media accounts – All
Created outline for strategy – Matt & Richard
Background – Richard
Albright College's Symphonic Band is a collegiate instrumental ensemble led by
conductor Timothy D. Gross. Students within the group combine their abilities with brass,
woodwind, and percussion instruments in order to bring both traditional and contemporary band
music to the people of Berks County, Pennsylvania. The Symphonic Band aims to not only play
the notes strewn across each musician's sheet music, but to truly perform and breathe life into
each piece. With it being a group of student musicians, the Symphonic Band is always on the
lookout for talented and interested individuals to fill the shoes of those who graduate or

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otherwise go elsewhere. Those who take the opportunity to join shall develop various techniques
on their instrument of choice, superior sheet music literacy, and onstage etiquette/confidence.
As an Albright College student ensemble, the Symphonic Band is based out of Reading,
Pennsylvania. Meeting at least twice every week, the ensemble meets in Roop Hall, which is
located in the college's Center for the Arts, for rehearsal purposes. Each semester, the ensemble
plays at least one concert on campus. Sporadic performances off-campus or in collaboration
with other local bands are not unheard of, allowing students that participate in the ensemble
diverse performance opportunities. Instrumentation consists of what is typically found within
such a group, including trombones, trumpets, flutes, oboes, and various percussion instruments.
As for what kind of music one may hear at an Albright Symphonic Band concert, it is advisable
to leave any pre-conceived notions at the door; audiences are just as likely to hear brass band
arrangements for world music as they are to hear Stravinsky.
Mission Statement – Richard
"Albright College's Symphonic Band seeks to enrich the lives of both audiences within
the Berks County community and collegiate musicians through a timeless repertoire and
educational opportunities for ensemble members."
Being that there is such an emphasis on the arts in the ensemble's hometown of Reading,
the Symphonic Band recognizes the importance of contributing musically to its community.
Whether it be by means of on-campus concerts or performances throughout the surrounding area,
they are always eager to turn historic notes on a staff into new vibrations that represent periods
of time for the listening pleasure of those around them. Of course, the ensemble is an undeniable

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benefit to those within it, as well; Director Gross seeks not only to have students perform, but to
have them learn. Just like any other class or activity you could participate in at Albright, the
Symphonic Band provides students with opportunities to better themselves. Just as it is meant to
nourish the creative/expressive soul of each musician, the ensemble aims to help students
become more proficient in reading and interpreting sheet music, playing their instrument, and
conducting themselves in front of audiences. These developmental goals shall be achieved
through rehearsals, lessons, and first-hand performance experience.
Objectives – Maggie & Matt
The primary objectives of Symphonic Band are as follows:
▪ Create and/or find more performance opportunities
▪ Share music with the community
▪ Reach out to other interest groups/organizations
▪ Enhance students' abilities on their instrument and strengthen their ability to read sheet
music
▪ Successfully recruit new members as needed
▪ Increase community awareness of the Albright College Symphonic Band
▪ Increase adult audience size by 10% at the ensemble's semester performances
▪ Ensure longevity of the ensemble through evolving promotion and recruitment

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SWOT Chart – Matt
Strengths
▪ Diverse instrumentation
▪ Dedicated musicians
▪ 38 Active Members
Weaknesses
▪ More performers
▪ 1 performance per semester
▪ Inferior community/campus awareness
Opportunities
▪ Open to Majors and Non-Majors
▪ Performance chances
▪ Students may better themselves via
lessons/rehearsals
Threats
▪ Other ensembles/events on campus
▪ Other ensembles in the local area
▪ Decreased interest and interaction with
the genre
SWOT Narrative – Matt
Strengths
As a collegiate ensemble, Symphonic Band at Albright College has many strengths.
These strengths include great instrumental arrangements with fantastic group of musicians. The
ensemble is made up of 38 active members and constantly growing as they assemble to practice,
twice weekly. Most students own their instruments and the more larger ones are supplied in a
limited quantity by the college. According to Newsletter magazine ranked Albright College as
one of the "Top 25 Most Artistic Schools" in 2011 which includes student involvement in our
ensembles.
Weaknesses
The symphonic band faces many intricate challenges. A weakness that they face is that
there is only one performance per semester. There could be more participation with new
members to join the band ensemble to create a larger group of members to bring in a larger
audience of parents and other adults. Another weakness is the inferior community and campus
awareness of the band. This makes marketing and branding for the concert difficult to find the

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audience that would be interested in attending the ensemble's concerts. Also, as the music
industry constantly changes we are forced to change with it or be left behind.
Opportunities
As an ensemble that has been around for a while has continued to grow and evolve. The
marketing team has begun to grow the band's social media presence. Another opportunity is that
all students weather majors or nonmajors are welcomed and encouraged to audition for the
ensemble. The multitude of people that make up the target market in the college community and
neighboring communities to help to bring in a larger audience for shows. This leads to the
opportunity to host more performances on campus rather than only one per semester.
Threats
One of our main threats is the competition from other ensembles and events on campus
and music arrangements in the local area. These other events and performances takes away from
a previously scheduled event at the same date and time, in separate locations on campus. The
more interesting activity is where the audience will most likely be attending. Another is
decreasing interest and interaction with the genre/style of music performed in ensembles. By
aiming to attain a loyal fan base within this sector of the industry it makes keeping up with new
trends difficulty as ensembles have become more of a dying market.
Competitive Analysis – Richard
The Symphonic Band does not exactly hold the corner of the market on-campus; there
are several other musical ensembles to be found at Albright. In regards to instrumental groups

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alone, they find competition in the forms of the String Chamber Orchestra, the "Big Cat" Jazz
Ensemble, and the Chamber Winds. All three of these groups seek to put on concerts centered
around instrumental pieces and entice students into becoming members, thus providing
competition for performance times/opportunities, audiences, and resources (student
instrumentalists). All three groups have the advantage of hosting opportunities for students and
audiences alike to experience styles of music that the Symphonic Band does not include in its
repertoire. That being said, Director Gross is an exceptionally personable director, so much so
that his influence on students lead to higher retention rates among the Symphonic Band's
members. The ensemble is also perceived as being more formal than other ensembles; thus, they
are more in demand to play events such as the recent Presidential Inauguration.
Albright also houses several vocal groups; these include the Concert Choir, Women's
Chorale, Mane Men, Albright Angels, and Mane-gels. Just like any other ensemble,
performances and obtaining students to join them are goals that conflict with the Symphonic
Band's, as both compete both for concert times and potentially students. With an emphasis on
vocal performance, these groups all hold the advantage of possessing a vast collection of
pop/rock standards, modern Top 40 arrangements, and sacred songs, allowing for a myriad of
performance opportunities. For the Mane Men, Albright Angels, and Mane-gels more so than
the others, they also have a superior presence both on-campus and off, with a fan base to be
found in enough outside regions to make touring a viable option for them. They all suffer,
however, when trying to articulate or otherwise emulate grandiose instrumental compositions;
they are stuck with either basic accompaniment (piano, sometimes percussion and guitar) or
acapella imitations of instruments that fall flat in comparison to the real deal.

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In addition to friendly competition among fellow Albright ensembles, the Reading
community is also home to various other local ensembles which we must compete with. There
are other instrumental groups such as the Reading Pops Orchestra and Berks Sinfonietta. Both of
these ensembles play all throughout the Berks County area and showcase a variety of pieces
encompassing both other genres and other time periods than the Symphonic Band may perform,
but do not draw crowds from the Albright campus as successfully as our own homegrown band.
Community vocal groups such as the Berks Youth Chorus and Reading Choral Society also
provide competition. Because they are vocal groups, they have opportunities to perform in
venues both large and small, since voices can be projected as loudly or as softly as desired,
unlike a large group of brass and woodwind instruments. With that said, there are still plenty of
performance opportunities that call for the grand majesty of a full band; even the most well-
trained vocal groups cannot play such a role.
When speaking in regards to concerts and bringing in students to such an event, the
Symphonic Band must at times compete with additional simultaneous experience events.
Speaking realistically, band music just simply is not every student's cup of tea; if there are any
other college-sponsored experience events going on at the same time as one the ensemble's
concerts, the student turnout will probably take a hit. The Symphonic Band more likely than not
will be able to draw more students than a science or math-based lecture. When it comes to other
events such as other performances or more entertainment-based events, however, the students
will be more likely to choose whichever one seems more exciting to them or whichever one their
friends are participating in.

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Market Research – Savannah
In the words of Director Gross, the audience for the Albright College Symphonic Band
consists of "thirty percent parents, fifty percent adults, and twenty percent students attending for
Experience Event credit." For our marketing plan, we focused on building a relationship with
our primary audience of family and friends, the surrounding Berks County community, and the
Albright College students. We gathered most of our information about our audience when we
created our avatars in class. Most of the music ensembles at Albright College have the same
target demographic, so this was a great way to gain a better vision of our audience. Each
member of our group has attended a concert at Albright College before this project began, so we
also used our personal observations to determine our audience. Another aspect we looked into
was the audiences of concert bands in the surrounding community. All of these research
methods determined that our target audience was very close to what Director Gross had put into
percentages for us. The core audience for the Symphonic Band falls into the age range of forty
to seventy years of age and mainly consists of parents of ensemble members. This is closely
followed by local community members looking for a free night out on the town where they can
also support the arts. The core audience is also predominantly white and in the upper-middle
class. Students attending these concerts are mainly interested in gaining Experience Event credit
and looking for entertaining arts events to fulfill these credits. The best way to appeal to students
and convince them that something is more fun than another event is to promote the event with
hip graphics and, well, memes. We implemented this in our social media promotion and our on-
campus flyers.

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Strategies and Tactics – Maggie
Strategy: Increase awareness of the Albright College Symphonic Band within the surrounding
Reading community
Tactics
▪ Contacted local musical foundations and ensembles via email to invite them to the
performance and request adding the performance to newsletters and event calendars
▫ Reading Musical Foundation
▫ Berks Arts Council
▫ The Friends of Chamber Music of Reading
▫ Reading Choral Society
▫ Reading Symphony Orchestra
▫ Ringgold Band
▫ Berks Sinfonietta
▫ Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
▫ Miller Center for the Arts
▫ Goggleworks Center for the Arts
▫ Community Music School
▫ Greater Reading Convention & Visitors Bureau
▫ Yocum Insitute for Arts Education
▫ Reading Music Teachers Association
▫ Greater Reading Chamber
▫ Reading High School
▪ Received responses from Levi Landis at the Goggleworks and the administrator at the
Community Music School
▪ Reached out to Ron Devlin at the Reading Eagle to thank him for recognizing the
Symphonic Band
▪ Extended the invitation for the event to the staff of the Reading Eagle
▪ Contacted the guidance counselor at Reading High School to invite ensemble leaders
from their music department

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Strategy: Market to family and friends of ensemble members and students via promotional
mediums appropriate for the target audience
Tactics
▪ Created and managed a Facebook page
▪ Promoted the event on WXAC Albright College radio
▪ All group members made efforts to interact with/share Symphonic Band posts on
personal Facebook pages
▪ Made 2 versions of ¼ page flyers to hand out on campus
▪ Wanted to hand out flyers after Music Faculty Showcase because of Tim Gross'
involvement—performance was unfortunately cancelled
Strategy: Establish a brand identity for the Symphonic Band ensemble that mirrors the ensemble
director and members
Tactics
▪ Created a logo for the ensemble to use for promotional purposes
▪ Took promotional photos of the ensemble
▪ Made a promotional video for the ensemble performance that can be reused
▪ "Meet the Band!" social media posts that mirror the comical personality of the ensemble
▪ Maintained contact with ensemble director to discuss implementing mission and vision
statements
▪ Formulated mission and vision statements
▪ Increased personal knowledge of members, instrument sections, and current funding
▪ Establish short-term and long-term goals

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Social Media Analytics – Savannah
Prior to this project, the Symphonic Band did not have any presence on social media.
The ensemble is featured on the Albright College YouTube channel, but the videos are not
promoted or shared anywhere which results in them getting lost in the other hundreds of
performance videos. Director Gross was interested when we proposed the idea of creating social
media accounts for the band and also a logo. Jack came up with a simple, yet effective logo for
the band that could be used for programs and on any social media posts. This was our attempt to
give the band a personality so that students could feel more connected with the ensemble. One
way we tried to do this was through “meet the band” posts on the Facebook page. Jack took
photos at some of the Symphonic Band rehearsals that focused on individual band members that
are known in the Albright College community. I asked them two questions: “What is your
favorite part about being in Symphonic Band?” and “Why should people come out to the
Symphonic Band concert?.” In the week leading up to the event, I posted photos of the ensemble
members with the caption being their answers to these questions. Their answers were a mix of
funny and serious, which was great for the social media audience. Our first post was actually
shared by the Albright College Center For The Arts Facebook page, which they also used as a
plug for the event. My hope for this strategy was that friends of the Symphonic Band members
highlighted in the posts would engage with the post because they simply knew the person. This
will hopefully bring more students and friends out to the concert or even just make Symphonic
Band more visible to the student audience. We also took rehearsal footage and made a
promotional video that we could post to social media. This video is short and features a song
from the concert in the background. The video can be found in our supplemental materials.

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Post-concert update: Below in yellow shows the reach of each Facebook post. The blue and
purple show the engagement and interactions with the Facebook posts. Each “meet the band”
post was made on a week day at the same time, 12pm, Monday through Friday leading up to the
concert on Saturday. The first post saw the most reach with 2.2K, which was probably due to it
being the first post and that the Albright College Center For The Arts also shared this post to
their page. This resulted in more engagement on the Symphonic Band page and more visibility
overall. The post that saw the least reach was on Thursday, which means that something else
could have been happening around the same time that made this post get lost easily on news
feeds. The post that had the most engagement was the one on Friday, which was clicked
on/shared/interacted with significantly more than the other posts. This could have been due to
Friday being the day before the Saturday concert, or let’s face it, because it was Lil Kylie and
everyone just loves her so dearly.

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Future Projections/Ideas – Savannah
The implementation of this project has inspired Director Gross to explore more options
for the future of the Symphonic Band. A mission statement for the band did not exist when we
began this project, so we developed one that could be used for future reference. He was happy
with our work and in now more interested in the continued development of it to be finalized for
the Spring 2018 semester. Director Gross will also be developing executive board positions for
the Spring 2018 semester, which is a huge step for the large ensemble. This will allow the
Facebook account or any other social media to continue/be created over time because upkeep
will be assigned to a student in the ensemble. David Tanner is also an admin on the Facebook
page and has shared posts on the Center for The Arts page, so there is a high chance that the
newly developed social media presence will not entirely dissolve upon the completion of this
project. A long-term idea Director Gross had was to work with BCTV in the future. By doing
this, the station could interview musicians and instructors about what they play, when the
semester concerts are, and highlight any or all information about the ensemble. This would be a
great way to gain more outreach within the surrounding community. A podcast was another
long-term goal that Director Gross had. We believe this could be implemented within the
Albright College Music Department because a podcast solely based around the Symphonic Band
would realistically not be as popular as a podcast that included all of the music ensembles or
classes. This could also be extended to all of the arts departments on campus and could be
another way to give students opportunities to be a part of something different. Integration of
ensembles is the goal we would most like to see happen. With more time, a benefit concert
could be planned to raise money for all of the performing ensembles. This could also play into

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the budget for promotional materials that should exist for each ensemble individually.
According to Director Gross, there was no financial information he was aware of. It would be
interesting to see each ensemble have a marketing budget that student executive members could
use to promote. We would also like to see utilization of small groups like Slideshow to play
pop-up shows that promote larger events. Pop-up shows are effective on college campuses and
this could also be done through a drum battle between different ensembles at Albright. Also, of
course, we would like to see confetti blasted through tubas.
Evaluation – Jack
Within the course of this marketing project our group accomplished a plethora of tasks
that helped the Symphonic band look at their strategy for outreach differently. One of the tasks
that we did was make them a logo. This helped them have a design attribute to the ensemble, as
well as start to establish an identity. Some of the other tasks that helped do this are the
promotional video that we made for the concert date, additionally we used silly Facebook posts
with artist highlights. One of our goals was to have the ensemble more recognized around the
community, with this in mind we emailed the community ensembles and foundations about our
ensemble with the date of our performance. Even though we emailed the organizations it would
be beneficial to get to know a personal contact at that organization and foster a relationship.
Additionally, our e-mails to Director Gross were always timely and well mannered. He
told us that he was pleased with the work that we have done with Symphonic Band this semester,
in addition with that he has started to look at the ideas that we were bring up to him and is
planning on making a E-board for the organization to enhance the future possibility of the

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ensemble. We could have improved on a couple of factors. One of them was tracking down
Director Gross. Another place that we could have improved was taking advantage of
homecoming and other events that the college was having on campus. The Symphonic Band's
future as a marketable group is very promising with the foundation that we have laid down.
Concert Evaluation - Jack
After seeing the concert, the attendance was not what we had expected. Our SWOT
analysis and completive analysis hold the answer. The Big Cat Jazz concert, which was one of
our competing ensembles, had a significantly larger audience than usual for their Friday night
concert. This audience consisted of many Albright students. We believe that out of the three
concerts happening during the Fall Music Weekend at Albright, more Albright students chose to
attend the Big Cat Jazz concert rather than the Symphonic Band and Sunday Sinfonia concerts
on Saturday and Sunday. It was also raining, and rain hurts the joints of old people. Despite the
smaller audience, it was still a high-energy show. The audience was entranced and even dancing
in their seats to the dances from around the world that the Symphonic Band were playing. As a
group, we all loved the show. The only downside was Director Gross not thanking us for our
hard work, but we’ll get over it.
Supplemental Materials
Symphonic Band Concert Promotional Video
Symphonic Band Logo (See Page 1)

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¼ Page Flyer:

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