FLYBALLGuide to Ourselves

What are the objectives?“Flyball” are an east-coast punk band from California. Originally started in 2009 and they have similar music style to blink-182, Sum 41

and New Found Glory.

Our aim for “Flyball” is to play small, low key gigs around the UK and then possibly branching

out to European and U.S states, upon the release of their new E.P “Guide to Ourselves”.

Who do we want to target? The audience that we want to target are between the ages

of 14 – 26. This is the key demographic for this genre of music because they are more likely to have the time to travel to shows and the disposable income to purchase merchandise. That age group is more susceptible to the

message in our music and will be able to relate to it.

We aim to sell roughly 500 copies of the new E.P over the course of the 2 tours. We will sell these via our online site

and have several copies available to purchase at the event, we will advertise bumper packs including band merchandise alongside the E.P to save our consumers

money but also get across our accompanying products.

What would make this a successful exercise?

Increasing the amount of social media followers on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Playing numerous events across the UK and Europe starting in smaller public house venues and hopefully

building up to more reputable music venues.

Building successful contacts with other bands and record companies and also gaining support and trust

from fans and bringing in a wider scale audience.

Branching out via merchandising/advertising and gaining income from several sources of media and

playing music.

Band profileNAME:

FLYBALL

AGE:APPROACHING AN AUIDENCE OF 14-26.

PREVIOUS RELEASES:“YOU SUCK” AND “CHANGE”

GENRE:ALTERNATIVE/POP-PUNK

STYLE:SKINNY JEANS, BACKWARDS SNAPBACKS, CARGO SHORTS, QUIFFS, VANS,

SKATEBOARDING, TATTOOS.

CONTEMPORARIES:THE STORY SO FAR, NEW FOUND GLORY, SUM 41, BLINK-182, DEFEATER, MORE

THAN LIFE AND THE WONDER YEARS

S.M.A.R.TSpecific: “Is there a clear aim?” – Yes, the aim of the band is self promotion through various

avenues including but not limited to, social media, tours and merchandise.

Measureable: “How will you measure the effect?” the effect of the success by the increase in followers on social media, the sales of the ep and the amount of merchandise that is left.

Achievable: “Is it something you can do?” Yes, the goals are very realistic, the sales are not out of reach and the ideas and plans for the shows and tours are nothing that the band cannot achieve.

Realistic: “Is this something that would actually happen?: Yes, other bands in the same situation would be attempting to do different things, starting with smaller shows and cheaper merchandise will allow the band to gain a following and grow their fan base leading to bigger and better shows.

Time-Related: “Are there timescales for your project?” There is no specific timescales for the project however seeing considerable growth within the first year would be desirable. The merchandise and ep sales would need to be significant to ensure that the band can afford to continue to promote the music, which will lead to more possibilities for sales.

Audience Who is the audience for this band? – The audience for this band are people between

the ages of 14 and 26. The reasons for this choice is that this age group are most likely to be the ones who are willing to travel to shows, they will likely want to support their favourite bands by buying the music and the merchandise. It is an age group that look at music as an outlet and seek advice and relation through the music that they listen to.

What do they look like? – The people who like this band will most likely wear things like skinny jeans, shorts and shoes made for skating/sporting activities. They are likely to wear accessories such as snapbacks, lanyards and have tattoos.

Why do they like this band? – The people like this band because they write music that people can relate to. The band give the people a place to come together and enjoy themselves. They have the opportunity to come to the show, get involved with crowd participation and forget about their troubles, even if only for the length of the show. The band enjoy themselves on stage and that resonates into the crowd providing an enjoyable experience for all.

Who else do they like? – The fans of this band will like other bands of a similar genre. The bands diverse music range allows a wide variety of people with different tastes to come and enjoy the music. The range of the music goes from pop punk through to metalcore, with some songs being heavier and others softer. This diversity in music but consistent fun loving attitude means that fans come from a variety of different musical backgrounds.

Media What magazines might they get in to? –

Kerrang, NME, Rock Sound and Big Cheese.

What TV/Radio channels would they be on? – “Flyball” would play their music videos and sometimes live sets on music channels such as Scuzz, Kerrang and MTV Rocks. Also if they were to play live festivals it would be broadcasting via the BBC.

Who would they give interviews to?“Flyball” would give interviews to channels such as MTV, independent music journalists, fan bases and the media sector.

What forms of social media would you use and how would you use it?Social networking sites that would benefit “Flyball” would be creating individual Facebook/Twitter/MySpace pages specifically dedicated to the band and keeping fans up to date. It also helps to create forums and chat groups based around the band so that others can keep up to date with the band and if they are touring near them.

What merchandise would you use to promote the band?

The band would release a variety of different merchandise ranging from T-Shirts, beanies, badges and jumpers.

There would also be things such as posters and CDS that could be purchased. Things like this are always very popular as they give the fans an opportunity to get something signed by the band if they get the chance to meet them.

People are more likely to buy a bands merchandise if it is reasonably priced. For this reason things like deals that allow people to get more merchandise for their money. Such as, buy a T-shirt and get a jumper half price etc. People wearing the bands merchandise will act as a public advertisement for the band.

Manage The Message What is the message you want to communicate. – The band want to communicate a

message of getting through troubled times using music and having a good time as the key aspects.

What is the main selling point of this band? – The band write music and lyrics that fans can relate to. This means that if people are going through a hard time they can use the band and the lyrics to get through the difficult times. It gives people a feeling of togetherness when sometimes they may feel most alone.

This album in particular was mostly wrote about discovering yourself and being ok in your own skin. The EP is 4 tracks of honest music that gives the people an opportunity to realise that they should be comfortable with themselves and shouldn’t let anyone else’s opinions make them want to change the way that they are.

Critics and review artists have had great things to say about the band such as “A feel good, anthem filled E.P. that takes a person on a rollercoaster of emotion and drops them off in a place where they feel comfortable.” – Pushback Media

“The best unsigned release we’ve ever heard” – Riff Media

Hyperbole“This is the best thing I've ever heard.”

“These will be the most popular pop-punk band of 2014.”

“Five stars *****.”

“The next best thing since New Found Glory.”

“Outstanding.”

“Out of this world!”

Events “Flyball” would probably do an album launch tour or a large gig in a well

known venue. A campaign pushing the release of the album via social media would help promote it.

The band would be likely to try and get support slots with a larger, more established band from a similar genre to ensure a string of consistently busy gigs.

The band could upload their videos or audio files to the internet such as YouTube, Soundcloud and bandcamp

The band could use twitter as a way to promote themselves and the release, offering a “Followback” scheme where they will randomly follow the fans that follow them and help promote their release. This shows the band are willing to give back to their fans.

Arranging things like meet and greets will increase their popularity and social status as bands usually will not go out of their way to interact with their fans which will mean a lot to the fans.

Internal Motivation What is the motivation behind this project? – The motivation behind

this project is to promote and encourage the listening of more pop punk bands. Showing that with the right PR bands can be given many different opportunities and the ability to grow.

Why is it an important project for you? – This project is important as it will allow our company to show the contacts and the ability that we have to spread the word about bands and help them to get the coverage that they deserve. Doing this successfully will give us a great look in the public eye and will most likely give other clients more confidence in coming through our PR company leading to better opportunities for both the company and bands in the future.

The band are most keen to be able to spread their message on a larger and wider scale. Being able to meet people who are going through a struggle or relate to their music is the primary goal for the group.

Motivation Of MediaThe media would be interested in the project

and the band as they are using a very popular outlet to express an opinion about peoples lifestyles and are trying to help people feel comfortable in their own skin.

The band would be approached by music journalism publications because the PR campaign will hopefully put them into the public eye, this means that their popularity will rise and featuring upcoming popular bands will allow the magazine to make more sales..