Sixth Group Assignment

Hello again from sunny (but freezing!) Vaasa! I guess the "freezing" part is my own fault, hence this sunny spring weather made me already get my mid-season jacket from the basement. And yes, I noticed it was way too early for that but what can a girl do. I guess that's what those long, dark winters do to us when we see the sun more than a minute per day.

...But yes, we had an assignment for this week as well so back to business. This week our task was to come up with a company and to create its communication plan in the network society. And our theme being lifestyle, this task gave us yet again a very wide point of view. I wanted to use a theme that we haven't had anything to do with yet. At first I was thinking about movies, since those are a big passion  of mine. But then we decided come up with a company that has something to do with music, which is great because that is another big passion of mine. Music combined with our lifestyle theme gave us an idea for a company that organizes city festivals and events.

This video above (actually shot and edited by a very good friend of mine) gave me an idea. Personally after moving to Vaasa I got really annoyed with comments like these "Gee you're really moving to Vaasa? Theres like nothing there. I mean that place gotta be dead during the summer if students are the whole point of the city??" Our little frozen group company is organizing a festival, or more like a city festivity. And despite our name it's going to be everything but frozen.

Our main target is to reach to the twenty-something group who are in Vaasa for the summer. And we want to connect and give a chance to the young talents of this area. First we put out teasers of the event, for example short video clips shared on our Facebook-page and Instagram. It could be a "teaser week" We'd upload a teaser per day to keep everyone on their toes. Or if we're lacking on material, a few days in a row.

Considering our main audience consists of these so-called digital natives, using social media is a must. I really like the idea how Flow Festival announced performers to the upcoming festival this summer. They uploaded pictures to Instagram like a puzzle. Each picture was a part of a bigger picture. It didn't make sense when you were scrolling the main page but when you opened their profile you literally could see the bigger picture. It was effecting as hell (pardon my French) but it sure did keep me on my toes, hitting the "refresh" button like a maniac.

Screenshot from Instagram @FlowFestival

We would post information to out Twitter page but we also would have our own Snapchat. More and more companies (or businesses) have discovered the great power of Snapchat. Using the "Moments" program, the client could also sort of be a part of the event planning. Also a way to tease them. I like the fact that in social media you can keep your target in excitement as you probably can see.

We would also let the audience's voice be heard. They could for example be responsible of the food services at the event. We would contact different companies that could have a stand for food or drinks. We'd make a vote. A certain amount of days to vote for your favorite firms and then the winners would have their food stands present at the event. A clever way to get your target even more interested in the product, which in our case is the upcoming event.

Also it is important for us to have good co-operation with different companies. This way we can also get visibility through their channels. And vice versa.  

The Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City 2012. My personal album.

So we're selling (and offering) good time, good music and an experience. "This is the time you look for the stories and experiences that you tell to your grandchildren when you're old."

See ya all next summer then ;--) I'm out.

- H.H