Rock On, Comatose Flamingo

A few weeks ago we were introduced to the "Rock On" project - a project in which we were to take everything we have learned this year in Sports and Entertainment Marketing and use those tools to create and market a band. We had 13 assignments to complete, and each one was more challenging than the next. Throughout the project we really got a feel of what the marketing world is like.

Our first assignment was to create a band name and logo. My group (Nick, Noah, & I)created an alternative group named Comatose Flamingo, and our logo was a neon pink flamingo. We used a random band name generator to create our band name; the alternatives were Chilled Butter, Dropkick Advisory, Save Avacado, and Yuppie Bliss. This assignment was fairly easy, and we were all in agreement on it.

The second assignment is where we started to disagree. Assignment #2 was to create a band biography, including band name, music style, members in our group and instruments played, discography, and a brief history of our band. I gave Nick the task of writing our biography while I came up with our Discography and brainstormed what we could put in our bio. Nick wrote out some of what I told him, but the bulk of it was not what I wanted. I'm OCD and an English nerd, so I re-wrote our biography at home, putting in key events and trying to tie in our target market - young alternative music fans. Our market was alot of the same people who listen to bands like The All-American Rejects and Fall Out Boy.

Our third assignment was to come up with a tour name and sponsor. This is where we really had to know our target market. Originally we were going to go with an energy drink like Monster, but we decided Vans would be the best. People who listen to alternative music tend to like Vans, especially younger people. We decided "The No Fear Tour" was an appropriate alternative band name, and also went along with our most recent album - "Saving Presence."

Assignment 4 was our research assignment. Before creating our 20-city tour, we had to research a band in our genre and create a map of their tour. We researched The All-American Rejects, and learned about the flow of a tour - how long between concerts, where a major band like them played, etc. Researching them really helped us decide what to do on our tour.

We used Assignment 4 as a model for Assignment 5. We picked 20 cities, put them in a reasonable order, found places to play in each city that went along with how popular we were, and found local opening acts for each city. It was a little tricky completing this assignment, but we eventually got it all together.

Assignment 6 was where pricing came in. We researched ticket prices for other bands in our genre, and decided that $30.00 for general admission was about right. We didn't want to charge too much, but we were an excellent, multi-platinum selling band, so $30.00 seemed reasonable to us. We also offered VIP seating and Suites at specified locations, for $45 and $400.

Assignment 7 was where we went hog wild. We were supposed to design a tour bus for our band. We figured that because we were so incredibly successful, and because we couldn't find a single bus we all really liked, that we needed three buses - one for each of us. Nick decked his out with his picture all over the outside and a nice countryish inside. Noah went for flashy. He had a nice, rich-looking interior and a compartment underneath to hold his Mustang. I went with a country motor coach. Mine was nice as well, and all three of us were extremely pleased with our finished products.

In Assignment 8 we created our most recent CD. The challenge was to make it easy on the eyes as well as marketable. I tried to get the CD to go with the name of our album. I think we accomplished that.

Assignment 9 was our promotion assignment. We were told to create a poster that gave information about an upcoming show. Noah took care of our poster.

Rock Swag Design was Assignment #10. Together we decided what kind of merchandise we wanted to promote and sell. We decided on a t-shirt, hoodie, and a collectible guitar with "Comatose Flamingo" on it.

Noah also took care of Assignment 11 - Stage Design. He researched stages famous bands in our genre had played on and that would be big enough to fit our stuff. He decided on a large stage that would allow us to move around alot and be able to put on a really cool show.

12 was Nick's baby. He designed our backstage pass using bighugelabs.com. He incorporated everything he thought should be on the pass.

This project was not only fun, but educational. It made us think for ourselves and use the information we were given before we started the project. Honestly, I'm a little sad it's over, but I am proud I was able to successfully complete the assignment and learn things that will help me immensely when I go to business school and once I'm in the business world.