Fresh Connect Marketing Plan 2020

Operational Budget: Individual Paid Ads Fresh Connect Week Flier Facebook: A budget of $5.00 per day for 2 weeks (Week: Start Nov. 22nd and Week Nov. 29) - $70.00 Instagram: A budget of $5.00 per day for 30 days (Week: Start Nov. 11) - $150.00 ______Smaller Ad Placements (Fundraising/Spons placement content) Facebook: A budget of $5.00 per day for 5 days (2 Posts in total) - $50.00 Instagram: A Budget of $5.00 per day for 7 days (2 Posts in total) - $70.00 ______Graphic Designer: Logo and additional expenses for fliers - $220.00

Physical Posters (Digital Printing Center) 30 Posters (8x11 or 11x17) - Waiting on the center to reach out

Total: $560.00 Platform Daily Price Duration Total Days Posts Total

Week Flier Facebook $5 Nov22 - 14 $70 Dec 5

Instagram $5 Nov11 - 30 $150 Dec 10

Smaller Ad Facebook $5 5 2 $50 Placements Instagram $5 7 2 $70

Unit Price Amount Total

Logo $100 1 $100 Graphic Designer Flyer $30 3 $120

Physical Posters 30 In Total: $560 EVENT / CONTENT Calendar: FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER

Funding proposal documentation must include (but is not limited to) the following:

Team Objectives

● Objective 1: Increase the amount of social interaction we get on social media by utilizing ads and ​ interactions. We hope to raise Facebook's followers up to 700 from 243 and Instagram from 176 to 500 by December 7th. ● Objective 2: To market as many artists as we can through proposals, video interactions ​ and articles. We will showcase each featured artist twice a week on Facebook and Instagram closer to the programming(2-3 weeks before December 7th). We will also promote Columbia artists that fit the Fresh Connects style.

Evaluation: Promotion Duration: Nov 4th – Dec 6th (5 Weeks) ​ Facebook: Increase 80-90 followers per week ​ Instagram: Increase 60-70 followers per week ​

Target Audience Demographics/Psychographics: - 18-64 - Chicagoland area - Hip hop interest - Fights for different causes(BLM) - Easygoing/Strict lifestyle when needed - All races - Art interest - Values friends and family bonds - Radio listeners

Event branding/designs

The mood board of the event has multiple pictures and color palette to showcase our theme, which consists of graffiti arts, B-boying, Mcing, DJing, BeatBoxing, Old School & New School hip hop, along with a combination of dark, cold, and warm colors.

Press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Alexis Smith [email protected] 804-895-2506

COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO PRESENTING THE FRESH CONNECT: VOLUME IV Columbia College Chicago celebrates Hip Hop Culture and the interdisciplinary study they offer to students with a virtual mini-series

(Chicago, IL – November 16, 2020) - On December 9th-10th., Columbia College Chicago students will host The Fresh Connect: Volume IV showcasing the five elements of Hip-Hop; DJing, Breaking, Graffiti, MCing, and Knowledge. The two events will be composed of an Each One Teach One panel and an Exhibition Showcase featuring Kuumba Lynx and a BboyB mural reveal for HAUS.

The goal of this event is to raise donations for Kuumba Lynx, a local Chicago organization rooted in indigenous culture of urban artistry and activism seeking to energize courageous spaces that challenge youth and their communities to deeply engage and listen, critically observe and react, and creatively speak with one another.

The vision for The Fresh Connect event is to connect the history of Hip-Hop from past to present through the five elements, while uplifting student work in the Columbia College Chicago space and the community. The goals for the Fresh Connect are to celebrate the art of Hip-Hop and foster a sense of community to promote the excellent culture of Hip-Hop and all that it embodies by showcasing unity, peace, love, and fun.

In order to bring facets of Hip-Hop from across the globe together, The Fresh Connect will create a social media collective experience that showcases Hip-Hop work from global and local perspectives. The Fresh Connect Network will span through the five elements of Hip-Hop and broaden into fashion, poetry, graphic design and photography. In-depth talent profiles, artist interviews, and exclusive hip-hop content can be found on The Fresh Connect social media platforms.

th The Each One Teach One Panel will be streamed live from 6:00-7:00 PM CST on December 9 .​ The ​ panel will be moderated by Columbia theatre professor Khalid Long exploring topics such as Hip-Hop then and now, the future of the community, legacy, and selling out with panelists such as (!!!) The Exhibition Showcase, featuring Kuumba Lynx and a mural reveal by BBoyB will take place on December th 10 ​ from 6:00-7:00 PM CST. The battle will consist of two performers, one for each of the five rounds ​ centered around the pillars of Hip-Hop, featuring an old school and new school artist for each round.

All streaming information can be found on The Fresh Connect website, along with donation information and more specific event details. www.cccthefreshconnect.com Instagram: @cccthefreshconnect Facebook: The Fresh Connect

###

Columbia College Chicago: Columbia College Chicago’s Event Practicum Course is composed of four graduate students leading Production, Talent, Fundraising, and Marketing teams of undergraduate students to compose The Fresh Connect: Volume IV. Undergraduate students in the course are completing their final year of their bachelors degree in various areas of studying in the Business Department; Music Business, Live and Performing, and Marketing. The Fresh Connect: Volume IV Clients: Kelsa and Bravemonk are both educators and dancers within the Hip-Hop community. Bravemonk has dedicated most of his time developing and formulating the concepts of Hip-Hop and the culture around it. He’s focused on B-Boying, Breaking, and Freestyle. Many of his work involve The Brave Movement, Brave Movement Dance, Breaking Crews like Crosstown Crew, A.S.K.(Awesome Style Konnection), and so forth. Kelsa has experience and training in Hip-Hop and street dance communities. She is a member of Venus Fly, which is an international, all-styles crew. She is also a lecturer at The Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago where she educates folks on technique, pedagogy, dance studies, and within the community. Kuumba Lynx: Kuumba Lynx is a local Chicago organization rooted in indigenous culture of urban artistry and activism seeking to energize courageous spaces that challenge youth and their communities to deeply engage and listen, critically observe and react, and creatively speak with one another. The organization was created in 1996 by three women, Jaquanda Villegas, Leyda “Lady Sol” Garcia, and Jacinda Bullie. For two decades they have worked alongside many of Chicago’s artists, activists, educators, and young communities. The organization has honed an arts making practice that presents, preserves, and promotes Hip Hop as a tool to resist systemic violence were balck and brown youth can reimagine and demonstrate a more just world.

Columbia Students launch The Fresh Connect- annual Hip-Hop event series Dec 7-10 ​ This December, Columbia College Chicago students in the Event Management Practicum in partnership with the Hip-Hop Studies Minor will launch the fourth annual event, The Fresh Connect. The Fresh Connect will consist of four virtual and limited capacity events celebrating the five pillars of Hip-Hop: MCing, DJing, breakdancing, graffiti, and knowledge. With an overarching theme of combining old and new school Hip-Hop culture, students from Columbia along with other members of the community will come together to celebrate these five aspects of hip hop. ​ A key component of The Fresh Connect will be the completion of a graffiti mural in Columbia’s HAUS by local artist, BBoyB. HAUS has served as a hub for Chicago’s Hip-Hop community for fifty years, and this mural will pay tribute to its history. ​ The Fresh Connect will launch on December 7th with a social media campaign showcasing personal interviews with all of the performers and artists involved in the event, as well as other artists within the Columbia community. ​ The first event on December 8th will consist of the mural reveal in HAUS along with a celebratory kickoff performance by two artists from Columbia’s student-run record label AEMMP. ​ On December 9th, there will be an Each One Teach One panel including old school panelists and up-and-comers discussing topics about the legacy and future of Hip-Hop. ​ The final event on December 10th will be an Exhibition Battle in partnership with Kuumba Lynx. The battle will consist of five rounds based around the five pillars, with an old school and new school artist performing in each round. ​ All events can be live streamed through The Event Lab, sponsors include:, (bulleted schedule with times, provide more information on performers and partners closer to date)

FLIER OUTLINE: We need this done by Nov. 2 - we will be giving you artists/sponsorship to add as we make final decisions for the event

TITLE: FRESH CONNECT IV ​ DESCRIPTION: VIRTUAL HIP HOP MINI SERIES ​

MINI-EVENTS Dec. 8th 6pm-7pm : Soul Train Mural Drop in Haus Dec. 9th 6pm-7pm : Each One Teach One Panel December 10th 6pm-7:30pm : Old School//New School Exhibition Battle ft. Kuumba Lynx Showcase

Event is showcasing old and new school styles of Hip Hop

Marketing strategies which might include print, digital, word of mouth, guerilla marketing, PR, campus marketing resources, event calendars, etc

-Primarily digital marketing campaigns

-Sponsorship posts

-Artist Features

-Campus communications

-WCRX

-Story postings; Sharing within the Columbia network; dance, hip hop club, dj club, Sharing Chicago organizations, resharing artist news, Kuumba lynx, and hosting takeovers by talent submissions

(Refer to the Content Calendar above for organization of posts. Story postings are not scheduled as they will just be shared sporadically when spending time on the platform).

SWOT: Strengths: Weaknesses:

● Each of our members has strong ● Same thing as a strength, since it is not marketing experience in the past 100% in person, the experience to our which will contribute to the returning audience may not get the same efficiency of the project. We will feel from the last Fresh Connects. (In also work organically toward the person performances, the intimacy of being same goal. around other people who enjoy/is a part of ● As a class and also as a team, we the same community you want to celebrate have connections with many with). different clubs and organizations ● As a group we are not as outside and at Columbia that we can knowledgeable about hip-hop culture as partner with to help promote the we should be to effectively plan and event. promote this event, so we will have to ● This is an ongoing event that already continue to do more research. has an established audience and an ● Communicating through virtual established relationship with our platforms is not always as effective as clients and partner experts, which in-person meetings. Navigating all of will be extremely helpful in planning our busy schedules and making the time and marketing the event. Utilizing to talk every week will take extra effort. the pre-existing social platforms and audience will save us from having to start from scratch to build an audience, and we also will be able to communicate with people that have already planned this event before and will have helpful tips and insight.

Opportunities: Threats: ● Sponsorships may want to be more ● There's a pandemic, and regardless of interactive now that our content is limited capacity and extra rules to heavily remote and virtual, and this practice Covid-19 safety regulations, could give them more of a reason to we still are potentially at risk when it collaborate with us and get their comes to any in-person activity we have brand on our fliers, graphics, etc, and for the Fresh Connect, if there is any. vice versa. This also includes having to facilitate ● A virtual event will allow us to reach any work in progress like the mural. a more global audience, and even ● If some performers contracted the have performers and participants COVID or have other emergency affairs from all over the world as well. and are not able to perform, we need a Much more opportunity to connect backup plan. with others outside of Columbia. ● Technological issues that are bound to ● We've talked about ways to happen when streaming an event- sound implement BLM and spread and video quality, ensuring people knowledge and information about know where to watch content, set-up of police brutality into our event streaming equipment, etc. through our potential partnerships with other organizations in Chicago, as both of these are a part of hip-hop culture.