Mr. Sanjay Sharma, founder and the CEO of Smash Music Ltd., packed up the last of his documents as he prepared to leave for his meeting with a prospective client, The Eff café. About Smash Music Smash Music, headquartered in Chennai, was established by Mr. Sharma in 2016 with a vision to be a unique music solution provider to restaurants and retail chains (especially hyper marts). He has come up with this idea after graduating in music and realising its importance in the behavioural patterns of the humans. Smash Music wants to provide personalised playlists depending on the products and the message businesses want to convey to the customers. Smash Music surveys their targeted customers and provides a customised playlist based on the customers’ buying behaviour and the company’s offerings. Smash Music includes 100% copyright with their service. One does not need to pay license fees to any performance rights organisations anywhere in the world, The pricing starts from just INR 3999/year for an annual subscription and unlimited streaming of the playlists. Smash Music helps businesses save money on music while providing them with custom and expert designed playlists for their brand focusing on increasing both their sales and services. Smash Music also ensures that artists get paid every time their music is played and thus, they have a good reputation among artists. Music and human behaviour According to a recent study by Curtin University, background music influences customers in terms of what they buy, time spent in a store, and expenditures. This is the result of specific genres or songs subliminally triggering a person's memory, which then impacts their behaviour. For example, customers can be influenced to pay more for a product when listening to classical music, compared to when other music or no music is played. ‘A University of Cambridge study found that people who listen to classical music are seen as personable and intellectual, and hearing classical music in a store might push them to pay more for products linked to sophistication. ‘Academic studies have also confirmed the connection between music and shopping behaviour, i.e., playing in-store music in retail locations can spike sales numbers. Music also plays a role in how likely a person is to make a purchase — and how much they buy when visiting a store. About the music solutions industry Traditionally, the way businesses license music has come from collection societies / Performing Rights Organisations (PROs) or background music service providers. Smash Music is simplifying this by providing activities with a one-stop license and expertly curated music service so they can save money and be sure that they don't have to pay any additional third parties. A dramatic structural change is witnessed in the global music industry with mu: distribution going digital and mobile worldwide. Licensed digital distribution of music andmobile music are the buzzwords in the international music industry and dominate music distribution in the physical form, which may barely exist in a few years. Problems in hand Though there is enormous potential in this market but there is lack of awareness among business operators regarding the usefulness of perfectly curated music in their stores. There is a meagre rate of conversion of clients as business owners are skeptical about paying a hefty amount for just music. They don’t see it as a worthwhile investment. The lack of understanding of relation between music and customer buying behaviour creates a psychological barrier that is hampering the growth of Smash Music. Mr. Sharma is thinking about a strategy to make the businesses understand the relationship between music and sales. Currently, Smash Music operates in the southern region of India, with around 50 partnerships with different kinds of businesses like retail stores, cafes, and hotels. Although Mr. Sharma is optimistic about the sustainability of his business model, however, he is, thoughtful about the prolonged growth of this market. To grow his business further and to get the first-mover advantage of this untapped market he is launching Smash Music in the northern region also. He is negotiating with some business houses of Delhi NCR. The deal with Eff Café could be a gateway for Smash Music to enter into the northern market. With these thoughts in mind, he leaves for the meeting. Deliverables 1) Identify the target customers of Smash Music. 2) Provide a positioning statement and communication strategy through which they would target customers to garner interests. 3) Identify the annual size of the potential business opportunity in Delhi NCR. 4) Device a pre and post-launch marketing strategy for Smash Music.ig 1: Market share of music app installation in India as of March,2018 Fig 2: Digital music sales in India, 2013-2018, $US million