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E-business Plan for Showtix

Digital Marketing
Course Code: MKT330
Section: 1
Faculty: Ehfaz Nowman (EhN)
Department of Marketing and International Business
North South University

Submitted by: Group 1

Name ID Serial Number

Md. Talha Umair Khan 1721329630 9

Farzana Yesmin Priya 1911803630 23

Monwar Hossain 1921102630 27

Shadman Sakib 1921902630 28

Sunehra Tabassum 2031112630 30

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Table of Contents:
Situation Analysis 3
PEST Analysis: 3
Political 3
Economic 3
Socio-Cultural 3
Technological 3
Gap Analysis 4
Segmentation/Targeting/Positioning 4
Product 5
Price 6
Place 6
Promotion (Creative strategy) 7
Offline Promotional Strategies 7
Online Promotion Strategied 9
Media: Owned, Paid and Earned 10
Budgeting 11
Measure 13
Conclusion and Future Plan 13
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Situation Analysis

PEST Analysis:

Political
1. Government stability: In Bangladesh, according to our research, despite the political
scenario being quite unstable our product will not be affected.
2. Government policies: The policies regarding e-commerce businesses in the country are
very lenient since the government is moving towards a ‘Digitalized Bangladesh’.
3. Amount of control in government: Like most businesses, this will also be transparent for
the government to monitor the revenue through TAX fillings and everything.

Economic
1. Market trends: In the last few years, the country is moving towards a ‘Digitalized
Bangladesh’ allowing the younger and older (moderately) to shift businesses on digital
platforms.
2. Tax laws: According to our research, we notice that there is a 5.0 per cent VAT on any
e-commerce businesses, and a tax of 7.5% per annum. Due to this, we may have to consider
to price our sales at a higher margin.

Socio-Cultural
1. Education: The current literacy rate for Bangladesh is at 72.8% for population aged 15 or
older. This gives us a strong edge as it will be easier for us to make them adapted to our
platform.
2. Population: The population of Bangladesh stands at 164.7 million.
3. Wealth Distribution: The wealth distribution in this country is one of the most terrible
where 1% holds 16.3% of the national income. However, this could still have a minimal
impact on our sales if we choose the pricing right and affordable.

Technological
1. New technology for the company: Currently no new technology will be brought into
account other than the app and the website that will act as a platform for the purchase and
selling of tickets.
2. Speed of growth: Once we get the majority of the younger population, it may be difficult
for us to grow and the rate of growth may not be the same it will be initially. However, we
can make the older crowd get into the platform too, if we manage to get their generation of
musicians and bands on the platform.
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Gap Analysis
1. The problem we found in the market;
What we noticed in the market is the lack of awareness when it comes to
concerts/shows/musical events in Bangladesh. When a concert or some sort of event occurs,
it is very difficult to reach the mass. It is not logically possible to keep track of all bands and
groups for one person. Thus, the creation of Showtix.

From personal experiences, we have come to the conclusion that we have missed out on some
of our favorite musicians playing because we didn’t even know an event was happening.

Such a platform exists in the US and other western countries but barely in Bangladesh. A
section of Shohoz sells event tickets but are still more focused on transport tickets. Another
close competitor would be BDEVENT360. While they do sell event tickets it is still not
updated on a regular basis and barely any bands sign up, and only few events get registered
there due to the lack of awareness of the platform and also because not all musicians and
bands prefer to sign up there.

2. The solution to the problem;

Showtix allows musicians and their bands to register their events on the website. The
Showtix will be a platform where one can see all the bands and musicians that have
upcoming events. As a result, an individual will not have to go through the trouble of keeping
track of each band or musicians separately. The person can see all the listed musicians and
bands on the platform all at once. And buy ticket online entirely through MFS or credit cards.

Segmentation/Targeting/Positioning
The segmentation is mostly done in the categories of demographic, psychographic,
behavioral and geographic. Showtix will only be operating in Bangladesh hence the
geographic segmentation will be strictly limited to the region. Moving onto the demographic
segmentation. It will be categorized into two parts.
1. Age 18-25​: This will be the younger crowd or young adults. This group of population are
the majority of our potential customers. To advertise to them we have chosen Instagram and
YouTube. We will also provide some sort of incentive for example, if you sign up with a .edu
email address you are eligible for a 10% discount on your first five purchases. We will also
employ a referral program where for every 5 new friends you invite to the platform, your
eligibility for the 10% discount on the first few tickets go up by 1.
2. Age 25+​: This is the older segment that we plan to target who have lost touch of their
favorite artists. This older population uses mostly Facebook & Youtube. We would like the
musicians and the individuals to connect again. Hence, we must ensure that an older
generation of musicians do sign up for the Showtix too.
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Product
Showtix is a ticketing and promotional platform for the music industry. Our goal is to make
the ticket purchasing experience as streamlined as possible all the while keeping our users
informed on the artists and events they are likely to attend.

Showtix will be a website where you have to sign up and you can purchase tickets of your
desired event entirely online. Gone are the days when we’d have to purchase tickets
physically. We will partner up with mobile financial services (Bkash/Nagad/Rocket) and
credit card companies for our payment gateway. Users will also be able to use their friends’
and families’ MFS accounts/credit cards to purchase tickets as well. When the purchase is to
be made, a pop-up will appear that will prompt you to login to your financial services account
and approve of the payment.

A single user can buy as many tickets as he/she wants. Also, if there are different classes of
tickets and a user wants to select specific seats at the event(if the organizer allows it),
Showtix will also facilitate that using a graphical depiction of the venue.

Showtix will also personalize each user’s experience by using data gathered from their
purchase history, artists that they have decided to “follow/favorite” and last.fm integration. If
a user decides to “follow/favorite” an artist he/she will receive a notification in their email or
in the mobile app through a mobile push notification.

Showtix will also display an “artists you may like/events you may like” category by
analyzing the customer’s purchase history. For further personalization, Showtix will employ
the Last.fm API. Last.fm is a website that allows the user to connect their Youtube/Spotify
accounts and keep track of their listening history. Whenever an artist listens to a track it is
recorded as a “scrobble”. Let’s say a user decides to listen to a new artist that doesn’t usually
fit with the customer profile generated using his/her purchase history. If a user has about 30
scrobbles from an artist, that artist will also show up in her “artists you may like” section.

Another feature we will implement is a discord bot. Our target demographic is mostly young
people and Discord is hugely popular among them. We will create a discord bot that people
can add to their community servers. For example, let’s say there is an “Artcell” community
discord and by configuring the bot, the server members will be able to receive notifications
whenever Artcell is on tour or playing at an event.

Users will also be allowed to sell the tickets they have bought should they choose not to
attend the event. A separate section of the website and the app will be dedicated for this
purpose.
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To sum it up,
Core product: Buying & Selling tickets online
Actual product: Personalized recommendations using last.fm and spotify integration, get
notified whenever your favorite artist is on tour/playing at a show through e-mail/in-app
notifications/discord bot reminders also purchase event/artist merchandise
Augmented product: A sense of belongingness for the musical community
Future product: Facilitating the buying and selling of theaters, art exhibitions and sports
events

Price
Pricing is the only component in the 4Ps that generates revenue; the rest incur costs. For
Showtix, the primary source of income would be from event organizers. We would offer a
free trial of 1 year to whoever wants to streamline the process of selling tickets for their
events. After the free trial, we would charge a commission fee of 10-15% on the base price of
the tickets. The rate is lower than our global competitors such as Ticketmaster, which charges
20-27%. Therefore, it would enable us to penetrate the market.

Our secondary source of revenue would be from ads after signing up on Google AdSense.
Through the Google Display Network (GDN), advertisers can use our platform as paid
media. Consequently, Showtix can earn revenue based on relevancy, keywords, and web
traffic from a variety of ads being displayed on our website and mobile app.

From year 2, we can implement a freemium subscription model for users. As mentioned
previously, our product enables users to link their Last.fm accounts to Showtix. We would
then use their listening data to recommend artists performing nearby, even if they do not
follow that specific artist on our platform. This feature will be available for all users. If we
were to implement a subscription model in the future, it would enable us to offer more
personalized services to subscribed users. For instance, we could provide them with detailed
listening reports, access to previous concert footage that they did not attend in person,
discounts on Showtix merchandise, ad-free experience, ability to change usernames etc. A
subscription model would therefore earn us revenue consistently, as well as keep us on edge
to continue developing our platform.
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Place
In terms of place, Showtix uses a direct channel by providing ticketing solutions directly to
customers. Using our website and mobile app, customers can purchase tickets instantly
without having to redirect to the organizer’s platform. Hence, we are streamlining the whole
ticketing process for both the organizers and the customers.

From a bird's eye view, Showtix is essentially a channel partner that connects organizers to
customers. Therefore, our platform adds transactional value and finds customers, which the
organizers may not be able to do by just running promotions. We add value through market
research and data collection as well so that organizers can plan and execute their events
better.

Using the following IPAC framework we can understand why, from a consumer perspective,
this distribution channel is favourable.
Channel Services Consumer’s Favoured Channel
Desired Level

Information (Non-Tactile) High Favours Direct

Price Sensitivity High/Low –

Price Sensitivity for Low Favours Indirect

Shipping Costs

Assortment Important Favours Indirect

Customization Important Favours Direct

Convenience Critical Favours Indirect

(Availability)

Showtix is a platform that connects organizers and customers. On the spectrum of the
framework, the information customers would want to get from Showtix is non-tactile in
nature and so, they are likely to purchase the tickets directly from us. In terms of price
sensitivity and price sensitivity for shipping costs, it would be low for fans as they would buy
tickets and attend the event irrespective of the price. However, for the general people, price
sensitivity would be high as they would rather purchase tickets from organizers if they can
get it at a lower price. In terms of assortment, Showtix would bring concerts from several
artists all in one platform. Hence, if this is important to them and if they prefer indirect
channels as per the framework, they would still purchase tickets from us as we are offering it.
In terms of customization, Showtix will show users different classes of seats if it is allowed
by the organizers as well as meet-and-greet tickets. Hence, if customization is important for
our customers, they will prefer using our platform. In terms of convenience, if it is critical,
then customers would prefer using an indirect channel. However, we will email them the
ticket the moment they pay for it. Hence, they would prefer buying it directly from us.
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Promotion (Creative strategy)

Offline Promotional Strategies:

Showtix will be released on both online and offline platforms, since our target demographic
spans the ages of 15 to 35 and then another group of 35 and up. Showtix will use a few
offline promotional methods for the more tech-savvy Gen Y and Gen Z demographic before
launching the app and website fully. We will be using all the three different media types:
owned, paid and earned.

First Project - Pre-launch Event Context: The first event on which we will collaborate is
with Arnob's organizer for creating an affiliate network for his upcoming concert, which will
mark his return to live performances after a long hiatus. Showtix will contact Carpe Diem,
the promoter of Arnob's new 'Hok Kolorob' concert series, to collaborate on ticket sales. We
want to use their website and social media accounts to promote our website and app. This
will ground a layout for our offline promotions.

PR: This will be a two-day event in which Showtix will set up stalls on the grounds of three
separate universities on the same day and run promotions for two days in a row. Showtix will
collaborate with one of North South University's business clubs, preferably NSU YES! or
NSU MIBC, targeting the 20–30-year-old age range, because of their strong
exposure/following on all social media platforms. Showtix will set up a stall at North South
University, as well as one at each of the other universities, such as BRAC University,
Independent University, American International University Bangladesh, and United
International University. Representatives from Showtix will be on standby at the stalls to
assist spread the word about the app. QR Codes will be placed over the stand to allow
potential customers to download the app. The event will also serve as a pre-sale for the first
Arnob concert ‘Hok Kolorob’ directly from the website of Carpe Diem and other
co-organizer with whom we will be collaborating.
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Other Offline Strategies:

Newspaper: We will also use static content in newspapers to advertise Showtix. On their
website, Prothom Alo has over 55 lac regular readers, and a comparable number of
individuals read the newspaper on a daily basis. The leading English national newspaper, The
Daily Star, has a similar number. We will use a press release to promote our website on both
of the newspapers' digital news platforms. They can see and read the press release and know
about the app and upcoming programmes/concerts.

Billboards: We will also promote our app and website through billboards on only one of the
prime locations of Dhaka (owing to the budget restraints), preferably in Bashundhara, as this
region has the highest number of students and incoming potential customers from all over
Dhaka city because of the universities, restaurants and Jamuna Future Park.

Vehicles: Most of Dhaka city is mostly plagued with heavy traffic, which could be used to
our advantage. Wrapping vehicles like covered minivans and buses which run on the busiest
streets of Dhaka city is likely to be an effective strategy to reach the majority of our potential
customers.
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Online Promotional Strategies

Web 1.0 and 2.0

Banners: Other than being the publisher themselves for other brands on our own website,
Showtix will also promote its app and website on various other websites by signing up for
Google ads and promoting our banners/ display ads with distinct call to action buttons which
redirects the audience to the ticketing landing page, so that no time is lost in surfing through
the entire website which may lose customers in the process, in different websites. The
websites of choice are likely to be The Daily Star’s digital news page and other websites like
Star Cineplex’s or Blockbuster’s ticketing website for movies and other events, since the
audience is similar and goes into these websites for a similar purpose as contextual ads. We
will mostly opt for the leaderboard ad size since it will have the highest exposure, however,
we will also submit other sizes like large rectangle and skyscrapers.

Pop-ups: Under paid media, we will also use pop-ups for various different websites. The
nature of pop-ups typically generate/raise awareness as it has to be crossed out before the
audience can resume work.

Rich Media ads: Showtix will leverage dynamic content in the form of interstitial/mid-roll,
bumper advertisements on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook videos for paid media. All
social media platforms will show the same video. These videos will also be targeted to
individuals with certain psychographic inclinations, such as those who spend a significant
portion of their online time watching music/musical videos/remixes and related content. This
is also known as behavioral targeting and it is something we will do for promotions.

Video:
https://www.canva.com/design/DAE-BW19YZE/_R6Q4qp-6v9krpXaXO5mdQ/watch?utm_c
ontent=DAE-BW19YZE&utm_campaign=share_your_design&utm_medium=link&utm_sou
rce=shareyourdesignpanel – This video will be used across the social media platforms and
also as video banners in skyscraper form on various websites.
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Google Ads: Most importantly, we will use google ads, as mentioned above under ‘banners’,
using the Google Display Network. For paid searches, Showtix will opt for keywords with
broad match modifier in order to ensure relevance and to narrow down the targets. The ad
will also use extensions as call to action buttons and in this regard, we prefer the call and
message extension, app extension and the sitelink.

Lightbox Ads: We will further use lightbox ads for more information in the content.

Facebook Ads:

Photopage Post: We will use photopage posts with more visually appealing content so as to
not feed too much text to the audience. As the face of these ads, we will be using Arnob and
Zohad Chowdhury of Nemesis in order to create a hype.
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YouTube Display Ads & Trueview Ads:

In-stream: For YouTube, we will use in-stream, bumper ads during videos. This is likely to
interrupt the target audience in their work, and since the ads are non-skippable for at least 6
seconds, it is likely to get the message across to the target audience effectively.

Instagram:

Instagram Stories: For Instagram, we will use the adverts shown on the audience’s stories as
interstitial ads. The same video ad will be shown. The idea behind using the same video
everywhere, it will not only drive traffic due to active conditioning/learning of a curious
target audience as they are repeatedly exposed to this advert, but also drive traffic to
www.showtix.com.

Media: Owned, Paid and Earned

Showtix will have their owned media in the form of their website, Facebook, Instagram and
YouTube handles. These websites will be used in order to create awareness about the various
different concerts and shows and their ticketing solutions from Showtix. The owned media,
particularly the website, also has plans of opening a blog microsite as an extension to the
original website. This segment will cover the latest concerts, the upcoming concerts, what to
expect, who the artists are, information about the location and time/date of the concerts and
everything related to music and the artists.

Showtix will conduct A/B testing in order to determine the landing page experience. This is
also important for signing up for Google Adwords as it will determine the rank of the website
during searches. This will also help bring our website to the front page’s top half and improve
the ranking of the webpage.
Affiliate networking will also be used, as mentioned above, with various industry giants like
Yamaha Music or Jaaz or Carpe Diem who regularly host large concerts with big names in
the industry.
Besides Arnob, we will also employ relevant influencers, who match the brand’s image and
personality, in order to represent our brand for all of the static content to be delivered across
all the social media handles. In terms of paid media, there are numerous forms of Facebook
advertisements, YouTube ads, and Google Display ads included.
CPC will be used as the payment strategy, using Google Adwords as the source of revenue.
This will track the number of clicks on the weblink and charge for each landing page link
click.

Showtix will control and monitor its own earned media, where we will open a Facebook
group where people can discuss the latest concerts, artists and even compare ticket prices.
This is to particularly ensure customer engagement and building a community, which is likely
to eventually lead to higher conversion for the tickets.
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Budgeting
For Budgeting, we are going to follow several strategies to ensure the minimum expense and
the maximum output.

This is how it will work:

20% of our budget should be spent on creating the platform.

Another 20% of our budget on promotional activities.
60% of our budget on operational costs.

Digital marketing channels that our organization has total control over, such as their branded
website and social media, are examples of owned media.
The allocation for the ad budget for the website, email marketing, and mobile apps marketing
is 29.5%.

Then comes paid media and earned media. These are made we will have less control over but
the impact for it is very high. We will be spending 42.7% of our total marketing budget on
these.

We are initially targeting a seed funding of 20,00,000 BDT to start our business. We will
return our investment by generating cash through our business revenue. Some of the cash
flow streams for our business are Ticket sales, merch sales, Google Adsense, and freemium
subscriptions. A portion of our profit will be transferred to our investors after the end of a
fiscal year
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Our budget For Google ads is 320 BDT per day and 9,600 BDT per month.
Our Facebook and Instagram ads budget is 400 BDT per day and 12,000 per month.
100,000 BDT annually for offline promotional activities.
Customer acquisition cost per customer is 111 Taka.

Measure
We will be using the following metrics to measure the performance of our business:
I. Number of users
II. Number of referrals
III. Number of ticket sales
IV. Volume of merch sold
V. Google adsense revenue
VI. Website Traffic
VII. Online presence and engagement
VIII. Customer satisfaction rating
IX. Total Sales Revenue
X. ROI

Conclusion and Future Plan

In the future, we hope to see Showtix continue to achieve success as a market leader in this
industry. By year 3, Showtix should have a substantial number of monthly and yearly
subscribers. By year 5, we plan to sell tickets for events other than concerts such as theatre
shows, sporting events, art exhibitions, fashion shows etc. Our algorithm would also
recommend users events like these that they may want to attend based on their interests and
past searches. By year 10, we plan to sponsor concerts and festivals. We also plan to launch
our own show that would feature performances from up-and-coming indie artists.