MainStreet Disco IMC Plan

JAHMM INC.
Janessa Brickman Allie Lalli Haley Denzak Marissa Dickerson Maureen
Moran

I.Situation Analysis
As people begin to age, they often enjoy reminiscing about the way things used to be.
Adults have fond memories of what they did as children and how they used to spend their free
time. Many people wish they could travel back in time to experience these memories, even if it is
only for one night. Not only do older adults wish they could travel back in time, but their
children also would enjoy going back in time to see what their parents generation was like.
Since time travel is nearly impossible, many people can only rely on the fond memories and
pictures from those times. However, there is one way that families can travel back in time for
one night a year as they boogie the night away to groovy music and reminisce about their
adolescent years. This solution is MainStreet Disco, which is an entertainment service that brings
a 70s disco party event to selected cities in America that allows people to travel back in time for
one night and experience a night of disco and fun. Provided below are summaries of primary
research collected in the form of an online survey that identifies interest in this event and other
details about their weekend activities. Secondary research was also conducted in order to see
what this events competition is, other one-time events that are already executed effectively, and
how the MainStreet Disco event can be marketed effectively in order to make it successful.
The first area of research that was looked at was peoples interest in this type of event.
The survey indicated that in a typical weekend, respondents liked to partake in the following
activities: Sports events (66%), Bars (64%), Club/Night Life (50%), Restaurants (82%), Concerts
(56%), Theater (37%), and Staying home (80%). Since the MainStreet Disco event would consist
of a Club/Night Life atmosphere with good food and drinking similar to bars and restaurants, we
assume most people would be interested in this type of event due to the other things they enjoy

on the weekends. When asked how likely they were to attend a themed event, the survey showed
that 90% of people were either very likely, likely, or somewhat likely to attend, whereas only
10% of people indicated they were unlikely. Additionally, when asked if they would specifically
attend a traveling disco event in their town, 67% of people said they were very likely, likely, or
somewhat likely, whereas 33% indicated they were unlikely or very unlikely to attend. These
results indicated that individuals would be likely to attend a MainStreet Disco event as long as it
is marketed effectively and explained well to the consumers. The biggest challenge of this
MainStreet Disco event would be ensuring individuals understand what the event it and how it
can be appealing to all age groups.
Another factor taken into consideration is the cost of this event and how much money
people are willing to spend to attend a MainStreet Disco. On a typical weekend, respondents
indicated they spent differing amounts of money. Their survey results are as follows, given in
terms of average money spent in a typical weekend: $0-$20 (20.2%), $21-$40 (37.4%), $41-$60
(19.2%), $61-$100 (13.2%), and $101+ (10%). These statistics showed that most people spent
between $21-$40 on a typical weekend. When asked how much respondents would be willing to
spend on a traveling disco event, the survey showed 70% of people would spend between
$0-$20, leaving 30% of people who would spend $21-$100. Although majority of people
indicated they would not spend a large amount on the event, 87% of respondents indicated they
would spend more money to be a VIP at the event which would include drink specials, meet and
greets, and no wait time. These results show how although people said they would only be
willing to spend $20 for tickets to the MainStreet Disco event, respondents would be willing to
spend more money if there was a VIP option. Since majority of people have never attended a

traveling disco event before, we feel people would be more willing to spend between $40-$60 on
a ticket because it is an event that only happens once a year. Additionally, given that majority of
the respondents were in the 18-24 age group (77%), the average amount of customers
willingness to spend on the event was most likely a lower number given this age group is in
college or in an entry level positions at their jobs.
Not only are there many factors to consider when planning the MainStreet Disco in terms
of interest and cost, but there is also competition that could affect attendance at the event.
MainStreet Discos primary competition is The Worlds Largest Disco event that takes place at
the Buffalo Convention Center in Buffalo, New York. Their event is usually the Saturday after
Thanksgiving. Dave Pietrowski, a local businessman and lifelong charity volunteer, started this
event after being disappointed that he could not find Thanksgiving-weekend fun in the area
(Parisi). The event actually pays tribute to the original Worlds Largest Disco, which was held in
Buffalo in 1979 and was documented by Guinness Book of Records as having 13,000 attendees
(Parisi). The current event draws about 7,000 on average, though this is only because of capacity
issues. Tickets for the event, which cost $75, usually sell out within minutes of being put on sale,
which usually occurs in early August. The Worlds Largest Disco event is a charity fundraiser
held by Conesus Fest for Charity to raise funds for Camp Good Days and Special Times, a
summer camp for children with cancer (Parisi). This event has been a success since 1994 and is
still something that people look forward to each year due to the fun and famous celebrities that
attend. VIP tickets are also offered for $125 that include a VIP Lounge and dance floor, early
access to the event, discounts on drinks, and much more.

Additional competition consists of other traveling events that come to cities for one day
and then continue on to other areas. Slide the City Block Party is one example of a successful
event that draws large crowds of people. This event is a family-friendly slip-and-slide water
party event that consists of live music, food, drinks, water, and a 1,000-foot slip-and-slide. A
single slide down costs $10, 3 slides is $25 and unlimited sliding costs $50 (Slidethecity.com).
All prices include a mouth guard and drawstring bag. However, as the price increases, more
apparel is included in the ticket price. Another traveling one time event is the Gus Macker 3-on-3
Basketball Tournament. To register a team of 4 it costs $132 to play. The tournament is designed
so anyone can play whether male or female, young or old, experienced or no experience. In
addition to these one time events, other competitors for the MainStreet Disco are any activities
someone could do on a weekend.
Overall, MainStreet Disco allows individuals in cities all over the country to travel back
to the 70s for a night of dancing, food, drinking, and fun. It offers a fun way to hangout with
friends while enjoying groovy music and traveling back in time to the disco.
See APPENDIX A for survey results and analysis.
See APPENDIX B for details about secondary sources.
II. Objectives
There are a series of goals that will need to be accomplished in order to measure overall
success for MainStreet Disco. These objectives will work cohesively to promote the annual event
by raising consumer awareness based on a strong social media presence, encourage potential
customers to take action and accumulate attendance, and check engagement among our customer

base during and after the fact. We hope to gain long-term support from our partners, sponsors,
and discoers.
Our event seeks to recreate the magic of older couples and friends who met while
discoing in their younger days, while showing the younger customers the life of a dancing disco
that they missed out on. When people don't know they need something, you first need to focus on
need/want awareness, followed by solution/product awareness. In order to create need/want
awareness we have to show our potential customers a need exists. Once we do that, we can show
them that there is a solution to fulfill this need. In order to raise awareness of the need for a
traveling disco we will focus on an emotional or logical message that will focus purely on the
customer. Once we have created this need we will provide the basic solution.
The next objective is to encourage action among our audience. In order to attract
millennials and middle-aged adults we will be using social media platforms. This will require a
strong social media presence, which includes creating events on Facebook, frequent (but limited)
posting among all platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, using hashtags to
promote engagement and excitement, running campaigns and ads across the platforms, and using
contests to increase word of mouth. As it is clear that social media is an easy way of attracting
millennials and middle-aged adults, we need to create engagement among the older generations,
as well. About 80% of all generations use mobile devices, so we will also make sure to advertise
on emails and buy ads across the web. We will also invest in local newspaper ads in the
surrounding towns of the upcoming event. Through the marketing of social media platforms,

videos posted and shared to Facebook, as well as publicity and sponsorships of local newspapers,
the audience will be encouraged to attend our event.
Our final objective states that we seek to track engagement and have hope of gaining
long-term support from our audience. We would like to create our own Snapchat geo-filter to
encourage people live at our events to post to our local story. We will also have contests of best
costumes to encourage customer engagement. Seeing the amount of people using our geo-filter,
posting to our local story, and seeing the amount of people coming in contests will display a
level of engagement. We will also track on social media the amount of likes, mentions, and
retweets among the social media platforms, as well as tracking our email sign up list. The
amount of retweets we get or amount of people clicking on our link will let us know what
content seemed to work best to engage our audience. This will also include tracking the number
of fans, followers, comments, and site visits, followed by attendance at future events. We hope
local celebrities sponsoring our events by making guest appearances will also increase
engagement.
The objectives outlined above will create a strong foundation for creating general
awareness of MainStreet Disco amongst the millennial generation and older generation, as well
as appealing to and gaining the support and publicity from past, current, and future discoers.
II.

Audience
What sets our MainStreet Disco event apart from other one-time events is the circulation

or reach of audiences. After a phone interview with the founder of The Worlds Largest Disco,
Dave Pietrowski, we gained a larger understanding of what makes Buffalos event so successful,

and how that could lend a hand in ensuring MainStreet Disco sees that same success. Dave was
gracious enough to answer our questions regarding his event, and help us to conceptualize ours
in order to differentiate it from Buffalos.
Most of our questions from Dave rose from ticket sales. Since The Worlds Largest Disco
(WLD) only happens once a year, their ticket prices are higher than MainStreet Discos prices
planned for. Arguably the largest difference that Buffalos annual event has over MainStreet
Disco is the role of charity. However, since MainStreet Disco is strictly going off of profit, our
ticket sales can be lower and more affordable. In doing so, Dave believed our concept for
MainStreet Disco would be able to reach a larger market.
What has shifted in the past 5-7 years for WLD is the rise in age groups attendance.
When Dave initially began the event in 1993, it was a funny way to remember growing up in the
1970s for him and his friends. Although Dave has said that those who were born before 1970
still are his most loyal crowd, there has definitely been an increase of younger individuals in
attendance.
Therefore, at MainStreet Disco we plan to target three specific demographics of
audiences, all ranging in age. We have placed these audiences into three specific markets: 21-35
Young Professionals, 36-54 Middle Aged, and 55+ The Originals (essentially pinpointing
the fact that these are the guests of MainStreet Disco that lived through the 1970s).
In terms of marketing for the Young Professionals age group we asked Dave why he
believes that millennials have started attending WLD. The biggest reason is because it is fun to
dress up, and it is ultimately like a large college costume party. Millennials are the most recent

college graduates, therefore the most interested in reliving their crazy party days. With drink
specials and the idea of dressing in 1970s attire, this is so foreign to millennials because they
were not alive for it. Thats what makes it so different and exciting; for one night only
millennials are able to step back in time during an era they were not even alive for.
This same concept stands for the Middle Aged crowd. Although they were too young to
fully experience all that the 1970;s had to offer, it is still a night where they can think back to
what their parents were like during this time. They were too young to participate in anything
themselves, but they can dress, act, and party just like their parents did.
Finally, the last crowd we hope to engage are The Originals, those who get to find those
clothes tucked away in the back of their closets that they once wore when they lived through the
70s. We hope that MainStreet Disco gives a sense of nostalgia to those who were apart of it,
while giving it some modern flair that will appeal to all three demographics.
III.

Strategies
Strategies help us accomplish our goals or objectives. They outline what actions we will

take in order to translate our message and our services to our audiences. Our objectives for our
campaign are to create consumer awareness, encourage customers to take action, and measure
engagement. Our strategies for creating consumer awareness and encouraging action go
hand-in-hand. One way we will create consumer awareness is by utilizing social media as a great
way to stay connected with millennials and even older generations. We want to create a Twitter,
Facebook, and Instagram. We will utilize the event-creation feature on Facebook and target it to
the certain locations our disco will be at, we will also contact local media in the surrounding

areas to help publicize our event as well as placing local ads in the nearby newspapers. Some of
the radio ads that we place will be on oldies station that will be promoting directly to the people
who listen to oldies music.
More ways to engage and encourage action from our audience is offering discounts to
those who will attend. This will increase incentive therefore increasing attendance. In our survey
results, most of the respondents fell between the age of 18 to 24, and we want to compensate for
those who may have chosen somewhat likely to attend our event. Since most individuals
between the ages of 18 and 24 are college students, we would like to offer a 10% student
discount by showing their student ID at the door. We will also have a Groovey Groupies
traveling word-of-mouth team that will go the city of the next event, a week or two prior to the
event, whose main job will be spreading the word via word-of-mouth, posting flyers, contacting
local media, etc. With the creation of our hashtag #MainStreetFever we hope people will use
this to get the event trending and to keep the conversation going. Using this hashtag, it will allow
us to see who is talking about our event and who is excited about discoing. It will also help us
make people aware of VIP specials, registration/guest lists, contest rules, etc. By using the
hashtag we will also see the types of costumes people wear, the fun people are having and so
much more. We could also use the hashtag as ways to track engagement for picking a winner of
our VIP guest list prior to the event.
Touching on our last goal to measure engagement, social media is a great resource to
receive immediate feedback from our audience, as well as an efficient and easy way to interact
with them in order to keep the conversation going. Social media allows us see how people are
participating in the conversation about our events and seeing what content gained most traction

and which did not. It will also help us see what our audience is doing to spread our content and
engage with the topic. We will also be hosting a costume contest to see who has a chance to win
state-of-the-art prizes, which will be donated by our sponsors. Looking at our registration rates,
ticket sales, and seeing how many people show up in costumes to participate in our contest will
be great ways to measure engagement and see if our marketing plan is working.
IV.

Tactics
In order to achieve the necessary strategies and objectives, our company will incorporate

multiple tactics to ensure the strategies are executed.

To create consumer awareness, MainStreet Disco must develop a social media presence,
as well as develop a relationship with local media of which the venue is located in. To create and
maintain a wide social media presence, we will post 1-2 updates a day on each social media
platform (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) including tour date photos, travel (touring) photos,
disco costumes, photos from the disco venues, etc. The website will include a gallery of photos,
amenities and ticket pricing, tour dates, and links to the Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
accounts. To keep the audience interested and to maintain consumer awareness, the website will
be updated 3-4 times a year. In developing a relationship with local media, we will contact local
radio stations, specifically the oldies stations to appeal to the older audiences, local newspapers,
and local university radio stations and newspapers to include advertisements and shout-outs.
To encourage customers to take action, we will create a traveling word-of-mouth team,
the Groovy Groupies that will travel to a venue location either a week or two prior to the event.
The Groovy Groupies will promote the event through word-of-mouth, post flyers around the
town, contact local media- radio stations, local news, and create a hashtag specifically for the

Groovy Groupies to use while traveling. In addition to the Groovy Groupies, we will include
discounts for students, (ages 18-24) senior citizens (55+), and discounts for the first 100 people
to share a contest picture on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
The last goal to measure engagement will be achieved through social media and a
costume contest. The social media platforms will help demonstrate the participation rates, the
event-creating feature on Facebook will be particularly helpful to see who is going, the total
ticket sales, as well as the amount of people who Tweeted, Instagrammed, or created a Facebook
status about the event. The costume contest, which will consist of state-of-the-art prizes donated
by sponsors, will demonstrate the number of participants registered in the contest, the donation
amount from the sponsors which will indicate the sponsor's interest in the event, as well as the
amount of people who attend the event in costumes.
V.

Planning Calendar

12-Week Planning Calendar:

Week 1: Research
The first week of the planning calendar will consist of primary and secondary research. The
primary research will consist of surveys, polls, and in-depth phone and in-person interviews.
Since the target audience ranges from ages 21 to 55+, the online surveys and polls will be
randomly distributed, while hard-copy surveys and polls will be distributed to households of
persons age 55+; the same distribution method will apply to the phone and in-person interviews.
The secondary research will consist of information and statistics gathered from previous research
completed by competitors- The Worlds Largest Disco, etc.

Week 2: Website Designing/Creation & Event/Company Logo

In the second week of the planning calendar, the company will hire creative marketing consults
to create and design both a website and company logo to reflect the event. The website platform
(Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, WordPress, etc.), as well as logo design, colors, theme, font, etc.
will be determined at this time.
Week 3: Social Media Platforms
In the third week of planning, the social media platforms- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, will be
established. The companys event logo will be incorporated onto each of the platforms.
Week 4: Venue Selections & Community/University Outreach
In the fourth week of the planning calendar, the company will contact tour venues to reserve
event dates. The local communities and universities in which the tour venues are located will
also be contacted prior to advertising in order for the communities and universities to prepare for
the event. The company will contact specifically, the communitys newspaper, radio station as
well as the universitys radio station and newspaper.
Week 5: Create Promotional Materials
In the fifth week of planning, our company will film all new promotional videos and video
advertisements. After the filming is complete, the material will be sent to the post-production
facilities for editing and formatting to the social media platforms and radio advertisements.
Week 6: Creation of Press Releases & Advertisements
Halfway through the planning calendar, we will create/write out press releases to be released in
the future weeks. We will also create advertisement posters, flyers, newspaper ads, etc.

Week 7: Website & Social Media Launch

In the seventh week of planning, our company will launch both the website as well as the social
media platforms. The website will go live, and tour dates, venue locations, tickets, discounts, and
merchandise will be immediately available for purchase. The social media platforms will feature
a list of tour dates as well as links to the website.
Week 8: Promotional Material Launch
In order to create anticipation for the event, during the eighth week of planning, immediately
following the launch of the website and social media, our company will launch all promotional
videos and photos.
Week 9: Social Media Contests Begin
In the ninth week of planning, the social media contests will begin. The first being, the first fifty
people to share a photo from the Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter platforms will receive ticket
discounts, merchandise, and other prizes.
Week 10: Follow-Up with Venue Selections, Communities/Universities
In the tenth week of planning, we will follow-up with the venue selections, the communities, and
the universities. At this time, we will allow the venues, communities and universities to release
promotions regarding the event. The venues will post flyers, make live shout-outs during other
events and the communities and universities will broadcast live advertisements in the radio
stations, as well as input newspaper ads into the college and city newspapers.
Week 11: Press Releases & Groovy Groupies

In the eleventh week leading up to the event, our company will release all press releases. The
press releases will include information about our company, the upcoming event, and the event
location. We will also send out Groovy Groupies- our traveling word-of-mouth team to the first
venue destination in order to promote and advertise the upcoming event.
Week 12: Event Touring
In the final week leading up to the event, our tour team will travel will all those involved and all
of the equipment to the venue destination for set-up, last minute mic-checks, etc. During the trip,
the team will post update pictures to the social media to increase excitement for the event.
VI.

Budget
There are four main areas that our budget will focus on: research, promotional events,

general promotions, and advertisement. The budget is $100,000 and we have twelve weeks to
complete the campaign. Our first focus, research, takes up 2% of the budget. We used different
forms of research to gather which demographic would attend this event, what people usually tend
to do on the weekends, and what would interest people most to come to this event. Our goal is to
make sure our promotions are relatable to our target audience. Within the 2% participants are
likely to get paid for the information they contribute to our research.
52% of our budget will be used for outreach and promotional events. This money will go
towards our venues that we want MainStreet Disco to be at. This money will also go toward the
materials that we need to build up MainStreet Disco. Finally, this will include the Groovy
Groupies to go and alert the city that MainStreet Disco is coming to their area. The Groovy

Groupies will attend large events prior to MainStreet Disco to give potential audiences an idea of
what MainStreet disco is all about.
General promotion requires another 3% of the budget. Within our promotions we plan on
giving away free t-shirts and free drinks for the event. We plan on having this giveaway through
our social media platforms where 50 people will win this prize. Also, to start gaining recognition
we plan on giving away, lanyards, sunglasses, and bracelets before and after the event for free.
Our hope is that giving away these free items will put the brands name and logo out there.
The final 43% of the budget will be used for advertisement purposes. With the remainder
of the budget, we will try to reach our target audiences through social media, radio, television,
newspapers, Internet ads, and a website. Our main target audience is constantly using social
media and the Internet. However, parents and older adults might consume our marketing
advertisements through newspaper, television, and the radio. Our goal is to reach all the media
mediums and to reach everyone within our target audience..
VII.

Measurement
In order to evaluate the progress of our marketing plan, we must measure the success of

our objectives. Our first objective was to get younger people who have never experienced a disco
before to come and older people who have experienced a disco before to come and party like old
times. The way that we will measure this is when everyone purchases a ticket they must give us
their age and present us with an I.D to make sure they are of legal age to enter. After the event,
we will have all of our information then to see if we reached our goal with the certain
demographics that we wanted to see at the event.

Our next objective is using social media to get the word of Main Street Disco out. We
will be measuring hits on Facebook by how many people liked the events page. Also, on twitter
we will be measuring the followers, retweets, and favorites of certain tweets. Finally, we will
measure our website and how many people visit it to get more information of the event. In the
end when people are proceeding to checkout and receive their tickets we will have a box that
asks how the consumer heard about the event. Once we get all their feedback, it will give us a
better understanding of which marketing tool was most successful.
Our final objective states that we seek to track engagement and have hope of gaining
long-term support from our audience. This includes having a Snapchat geo-filter, using our
hashtag when posted on social media and participating in our best costume completion. We will
measure this by seeing how many people use the Snapchat geo-filter and put it on their story.
Also, we will look up our hashtag on different social media websites to see how many people
used it. Finally, we will see how many people participate in the costume contest and would be
willing to do it again.
Overall, this plan outlines how we hope to make MainStreet Disco a success. With out
strategies, objectives, tactics, and budgets, we hope that our plan will help us execute a
successful event for all age groups to enjoy.

APPENDIX A (1 of 4 pages)

APPENDIX B
Articles:
Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball tournament information retrieved from:
https://www.macker.com/about
The Worlds Largest Disco information Retrieved from: http://theworldslargestdisco.com/vip/)
Parisi, N. (2007, November). The man behind the worlds largest disco. Buffalo Spree. Retrieved
from: http://www.buffalospree.com/buffalospreemagazine/archives/2007_11/1107
disco.html

Slide the City information retrieved from http://www.slidethecity.com