January 24, 2014
This week we had a chance to chat with Jon Eisenberg, visionary behind Colorado-based music marketing company Blackspy Marketing. Along with offering branding solutions for artists, venues, festivals and events, Blackspy taps an additional benefit by organizing grassroots street teams to spread word of mouth through promotional materials, social media, digital buzz, and so much more.
The buzz term Street Team made us wonder about the exact definition behind this type of grassroots promotional tactic. By definition a street team is a term used in marketing to describe a group of people who ‘hit the streets’ to promote an event or product. The Street Team promotional tactic is most often associated with entertainment companies and record labels but in recent years the tech industry and even corporate brand marketers and new media companies have adopted this marketing technique to drive brand exposure.
Stickers play a uniquely symbiotic role in Blackspy’s marketing strategies. It’s therefore no wonder that our Team members love Jon and everything his company Blackspy marketing represents. As an added term of endearment, Jon happens to also reside in our home state of Colorado, and most of his artwork, brand development, and even musical talents emerge right from our own back yard.
Be sure to check out some of the upcoming events that Blackspy is promoting here:
Q&A with Jon
Describe (in detail) your product or service and write it as though you were explaining what you do to an 10 year old::
Hmm, to a 10 year old.
Blackspy Marketing is designed to accommodate bands, festivals and events with full service street team and grassroots marketing campaigns. If I were explaining this to a 10 year old, I would say we are in business to help spread the word about events, which will in turn, get people to attend those events and increase ticket sales!
With strategy, we design a creative and unique approach to brand your specific band, show or event. From the initial designing, printing and distribution of promotional material to interactive and social media in the digital realm; we are here to meet your needs and Sticker Giant helps us leave our mark.
Learning the basics of marketing support for current and future touring schedules, as well as the comprehension that our community holds the future of marketing tactics, allows us to become a positive force.
Fill out street team application:
www.bitly.com/blackspy
If you had a million dollars how would you spend it? :We would buy a club/theater and promote our own shows! It would be tied to a non-profit such as the Conscious Alliance 'Art That Feeds' program and benefit the less fortunate and strengthen a live music community. We would build a recording studio and rent it out cheap to young and eager bands and give them a recording environment they wouldn't normally have. I'd also buy lots of stickers!
What is something that not a lot of people know about your company but you WISH more people DID know?:
We have an ever-growing NATIONAL street team. We're based out of Denver/Boulder and focus lots of energy on local shows but have a street team network in essentially every touring market in the country. We coordinate Live Nation - Denver street team promoting shows at The Fillmore, Red Rocks and Pepsi Center; and work closely with venues such as Fox Theatre, Boulder Theater and Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom.
What are the top 3-5 winning market tactics you used in 2013 to drive sales? (example: email marketing, direct mail, Facebook promoted posts, etc):
Pure intentions, Facebook promoted posts, Twitter/Instagram and word of mouth.