Play It FWD Business Plan Gabrielle Banks Manuel Delgado Ankie Titulaer Chris Wade Maxwell Wright Entrepreneurship & Innovation May 5, 2014 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE(SUMMARY( 3( COMPANY DESCRIPTION( 5( MANAGEMENT(&(COMPANY(STRUCTURE( 6( INDUSTRY ANALYSIS( 8( COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS( 11( PORTER’S DIAMOND ANALYSIS( 14( MARKET ANALYSIS( 17( INTERNAL ANALYSIS( 25( OPERATIONAL(PLAN( 28( STRATEGIC(PLAN( 31( MARKETING(PLAN( 43( TIMELINE( 49( FINANCIAL(PROJECTIONS( 50( APPENDICES( 51( ! 2! EXECUTIVE SUMMARY "Despite mounting evidence of its role in student achievement, arts education is disappearing in the schools that need it most." - National Education Association Play It FWD was founded in 2013 with the aim of delivering a free online music education service. Our principal offices will be located in Los Angeles, California, USA. Business/Product or Service Play It FWD is a non-profit business. It is an interactive online music education platform where children all over the world can receive music lessons for free. These lessons include celebrity musicians as guest teachers, with relevant brands and sponsors providing the financial support. Presently, Play It FWD is in the start-up stage. Future plans include developing a stable platform with engaging content and brand recognition over the next three years. Competition The online music education industry is very competitive. There are potential competitors who control the technology that is used by Play It FWD. Also, there are a number of online music education companies that are already operating. However, what differentiates PLAY IT FWD is the leveraging of famous, popular, and recognizable music professionals to be part of the educational curriculum. The main focus of Play It FWD is not to develop technical skills, but to inspire and encourage the youth interested in learning more about music. Also, as a non-profit, we will also seek for brand partners to join the effort of promoting free music education. Management Team Chief Executive Officer, Chris Wade, who founded the company in 2013, leads the management team. He experience includes marketing with a focus in brand and artist relations. Ankie Titulaer is the Chief Educational Officer. She has a master’s degree in music education and performing. ! 3! Max Wright is the Chief Creative Officer of Play it FWD. He has received a Latin GRAMMY award and has performed all over the world with the band, “Ojos de Brujo”. He was also involved in many organizations that provide music lessons. Gabrielle Banks is the Artist Relations and Licensing Manager. Gabrielle has experience in film and music licensing. Manuel Delgado is the general manager of Play It FWD. He has a degree in Commercial Music and runs an independent record label. All members of the management team will also be graduating from the Berklee College of Music with a master’s degree in Global Entertainment and Music Business in July, 2014. Operations The operational process of Play It FWD begins with the research and development of the curriculum, the content, and the website and platform. We will partner with brands and organizations to fund Play It FWD. Also, we will recruit the right artists that fit the brand and target market to deliver the content to the consumers. Capital Requirements We are seeking $1.1 Million that will fund the start-up costs of Play It FWD. This includes the creation of the website and platform, the production of the celebrity videos, and the educational exercises that make up the curriculum. It also includes workspace expenses, travel costs to connect with the brands and the artists, and wage and salary expenses. ! 4! COMPANY DESCRIPTION Play It FWD is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that unites Artists & Brands to provide music education to Children for free. Due to the trend in decreasing Arts and Cultural funding in many countries, we see the opportunity to provide an innovative approach to fulfill the need for progressive music education across the globe. As a result, we are developing an interactive online platform that educates and excites young people about music via an engaging live streaming experience and additional web-based content. Our free business model functions by creating key relationships with and between Artists, Brands and our consumers, whom are Children and their Parents. We will work with top music Artists to serve as Virtual Teachers to Children in an online classroom environment, providing unique educational experiences that are both enlightening and entertaining. Our Brand partners will provide the funding to help underwrite the costs of our programming and educational initiatives in exchange for brand integration into our platform and content. The additional revenue generated from our partners will be reinvested back into the organization for continued curriculum development and enhanced content creation. Our approach is specifically designed to bring significant benefits to every stakeholder in our ecosystem. Artists are able to contribute back to music culture as well as create a deeper connection with their fans (Children & Parents). Brands succeed by being socially responsible and reinvesting in lives of their core consumers. Children are the biggest winners by receiving an accessible high quality, innovative music education at no cost to them or their parents. This dynamic creates value for all parties involved through the means of working together for a common good. At Play It FWD, our goal is to enrich the lives of children and elevate their cultural awareness to ultimately contribute to a better world society. ! 5! MANAGEMENT'&'COMPANY'STRUCTURE' Play It FWD Org Chart Chris!Wade! Chief!Executive!Of8icer! Ankie! Titulaer! Chief!Educational!Of8icer! Gabrielle! Banks! Artist!Relations!&! Licensing! ! Max! Wright! Chief!Creative!Of8icer! Manuel! Delgado! General!Manager! 6! Roles & Responsibilities Chris Wade - CEO • Leads in overall direction and strategy of the company • Overseas management of all departments • Leads in concepting Artist/Brand partnerships and ongoing development of Marketing Plan Ankie Titulaer - CEdO • Leads in development of methodology and approach of curriculum • Responsible for consulting with Educational Professionals on pedagogy • Overseas the development of lesson plans Max Wright - CCO • Leads in development of all creative aspects of the company including Lesson Programming, Content Aesthetic & Brand/Platform Look & Feel • Responsible for concepting and developing new ideas for company Gabrielle Banks - Artist Relations & Licensing • Leads in building and maintaining relationships with Artists, Managers & Agents • Responsible for providing insight and managing negotiations regarding music licensing Manuel Delgado - General Manager • Leads in managing all day-to-day internal processes (Timelines, Meetings, Presentations, Content Creation, etc.) • Responsible for providing advice on legal matters ! 7! INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Industry Life Cycle The industry of online education is very much in its growth phase. While personal technology has been growing for decades, advancements have allowed the field to constantly renew itself in growth. Online and mobile-based education has become a staple within education as a whole and is projected to continue to see double-digit growth over the next few years. E-Learning has seen growth of nearly 60% since 2011. Also increasingly, schools are becoming advocates for mobile technologies to assist with learning. The use of tablets, e-readers, iPods and even smartphones is being noted for its space efficiency as well as its mobility. Now, learning can happen in numerous locations, including in recess yards, on the school bus and at home. Jonathan Wiley from Scholastic argues, Mobile learning is an exciting opportunity for educators, but in many ways we are just scratching the surface of all that can be achieved with it. With proper training, and time to explore these high-tech gadgets, teachers will soon be able make rapid strides with them, and be able to support and instruct the use of such devices in the classroom on a regular basis. Now is the time to act. Our digital natives are counting on us. (http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3754742) Because the online education industry is in its growth phase, the market is incredibly fragmented, with new competitors entering the market constantly from varying vantage points, offering a variety of products. Success for Play It FWD will be found in our ability to distinguish ourselves within the market. Our “ABC” (Artists-Brands-Children) Business Model is our primary point of differentiation and innovation. Leveraging Artists and Brands will help us stand out, attract publicity and eventually gain a substantial market share. By taking advantage of the power of mobile technology and personal computing to provide widespread education, we have the opportunity to use the many distribution channels technology provides to our benefit. By making our product available across multiple platforms we enhance our opportunities to increase exposure and thereby gain a considerable audience, which ultimately leads to a large market share. ! 8! Industry Growth Statistics Source: http://elearningindustry.com/top-10-e-learning-statistics-for-2014-you-need-to-know ! 9! Source: http://www.talentlms.com/elearning/benefits_and_drawbacks_of_online_learning Industry Delineation Play It FWD is in the online music education industry. We considered making placing it only within the online education industry. However, we felt that this industry would be too broad and general, considering the many different types of schooling that can be done on the Internet that we would not consider competition. We also discussed the music education industry. This again is not specific enough. There are many different types of music education that do not fall under the same category of the work Play It FWD does, including on-campus and in-person education. This is why we felt that the online music education industry would be broad enough to describe the work Play It FWD does, yet also specific enough to differentiate Play It FWD from other areas not related to what is offered. ! 10! COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS PULSE Description: Pulse is an online music education platform that prepares students on a pre-Berklee level, meaning an age target between 10 years of age and 18. It provides interactive instruction through a wide curriculum of games, lessons and research materials available through an engaging online service. Similarities: Pulse offers content on musical education through a well developed curriculum (designed by professional academics) that focuses on the ability of being able to access it from any point and have the possibility of teaching yourself at any time during the day, wherever you may physically be. Differences: On the whole, Pulse matches with many educational tools we would like to incorporate but the main difference lies in that it's business mode is that it isn't a non profit organization and that it doesn't focus on partnering with established artists or celebrities. KHAN ACADEMY Description: Khan Academy is essentially an online schooling method, that provides material for both students and parents to access it and teach themselves through a large variety of fun and intelligently designed interactive windows. Similarities: Just like Kahn Academy, we aim to provide such interactive windows that will guarantee the engagement of our users. Khan Academy offers different levels of curriculum based on the knowledge acquired through each lesson. Differences: As far as we know by researching on their website, Khan Academy doesn't offer music lessons and is more based on general education such as Math, Science and Humanities. GOOGLE HELP OUTS Description: Google help outs is a ''new p2p video chat helpline service. Anyone can sign up to receive or provide help, and providers can make money off chat sessions'' Similarities: In Play It FWD, we aim to have Artists and Celebrities interact on live sessions with our users in specific occasions during the curriculum. Also, we aim to provide multimedia content available at all times without personal interaction. ! 11! Differences: In Play It FWD we are there to engage and make sure people use the platform in a linear development in time, not just for one specific occasion. Our differentiation is the curriculum we will provide in different stages of the program, which will have a clear evolution from class number one to class number ten. ONLINE MUSIC INSTITUTE Description: The Online Music Institute puts together music students with music professionals via online connections. The idea is that you can learn anything about music, whether it be how to play an instrument or learn notation, production and much more, through professionals who will personally interact with you on a private video call. Similarities: Main similarities are the experience of learning an instrument or a specific set of music skills through online guidance by a professional. Differences: Our difference is that our music professionals aim to be well known and established music celebrities. Also, we aim to provide more entertainment in our delivery by introducing a more 'inspirational' approach to music which isn't so skill oriented. Our idea is that we engage future music students to want to learn those skills, whilst remaining as the platform that will enlighten our users to want to do that. LITTLE KIDS ROCK Description: Little Kids Rock is an online platform that works on popular american music with weekly interactive lessons. Similarities: The approach by Little Kids Rock is that to inspire and engage kids across America to value music as a tool to increase your studying abilities and self-confidence. It is to ensure music education isn't pushed out of our basic education and to show the bridges between popular music and musical knowledge. Differences: The differences lie in that Play It FWD will host recognizable Artists and Celebrities to attract immediate attention from kids in ages from 8 to 10. Our curriculum will be strategically focused on keeping motivation by leveraging fame and popular idols. POINT BLANK ONLINE MUSIC SCHOOL Description: Point Blank Online Music School is a derivative option from the physical school it ! 12! hosts in London, UK. It focuses on teaching digital musical software programs through online courses, aimed at degree level students. Similarities: PBOMS offers online guidance in music related tuition. It also hosts, as Play It FWD aim to do, legends in the music business. Differences: PBOMS ins't aimed at children and doesn't include current celebrities. It isn't a non-for-profit organization and doesn't focus on fun delivery but more technical skills for advanced users. ! 13! PORTER’S DIAMOND ANALYSIS However difficult it may be for us to pinpoint our exact industry (given the nature of our 3-part company) we have decided to use the Porter's Diamond analysis upon Music Education in an online context. At a first glance, the attractiveness of our business model is substantial and offers great potential in an upcoming competitive market such as online entertainment. ! 14! Competitive Rivalry within the Industry: We believe within the Online Music Education Industry we have high competition. It is a highly competitive and fragmented market. Since the industry is still in rapid development, rivalry to become the number one reference can pose a direct problem to our business. Threat of New Entrants: As mentioned above, the industry has high growth potential. Therefore the threat of new players is large, not only because it is an easy business model to emulate, but also creating online forms of education is highly accessible. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: On hand our business depends largely on the resources of artists and brands, but on the other hand we believe our value proposal for them is very attractive. We believe we have enough bargaining power for the collaboration to work interestingly in both ways. Bargaining Power of Customers: Since we have a free business model, the bargaining power of our customers is practically nonexistent. Threat of Substitute Products: Any visual media such as TV, Video games and other engaging internet platforms are potential substitute products to our company. However, due to our specific 'edutainment' approach, direct substitution isn't a direct threat. Market Analysis of Music Education: The market of Play It FWD consists of multiple targets. The children who will use this platform will be the consumers but not our direct clients. These are the parents of the children. We did a lot of research to the importance of music education for parents but we were unable to find the ! 15! needed information to analyze the market of music education in the USA. Therefore we sent a survey out to receive more information about our target. HOW ATTRACTIVE IS THIS INDUSTRY? The online music education industry is not very attractive. There are potential competitors who control the technology that is used by Play It FWD. Also, there are a number of online music education companies that are already operating. It is a very fragmented industry. The barriers to entry are very low and any professional (or even non-professional) musician can begin teaching online music education courses. However, what differentiates Play It FWD is the leveraging of famous, popular, and recognizable music professionals to be part of the educational curriculum. The main focus of Play It FWD is not to develop technical skills, but to inspire and encourage the youth interested in learning more about music. Also, as a non-profit, we will also seek for brand partners to join the effort of promoting free music education. Collectively, we stand by Play It FWD’s ability to create a unique and outstanding value proposition for all parties involved. A strong brand and value will improve our ability to bargain with suppliers (Artists and Brands) to make their involvement with Play It FWD something that they cannot miss out on. Similarly, leveraging parents and hooking them onto the value we offer for having A-list talent teach remarkable life lessons through music for absolutely no cost to them will sway their choice in our favor when combing through the multitude of options available for this type of service. As we structure our business, it is crucial for us to develop and grow our own branding/copyright and other intangible assets as soon as possible to not only differentiate ourselves in the marketplace, but to strengthen our sustainability. As this is a very competitive and unattractive market we are entering into, sustainability will be a key factor in weeding out those companies that survive the growth phase. To help us tackle our efforts in branding and developing top-of-mind recall, we have allocated substantial funds in our first year costs and onward towards marketing both online (web banners, a website, social media, etc.) and offline (schools, shopping malls, recreational centers, etc.). ! 16! MARKET ANALYSIS Market Segmentation The two criteria we chose for our segmentation were ‘Media Consumption’ and ‘Attitude towards Music Education.’ Exploring how Americans in particular feel about Music Education will help to determine how and in what capacity there is a market for an online music education platform. If people aren’t interested in music education in general, they are less likely to “buy” into the need of our product. Because Play It FWD takes a nontraditional approach towards music education – that is musical education via technological mediation, it is also important for us to explore Media Consumption habits of both Parents and Children. Engaged But Uninterested - The segment in which people are high consumers of media but aren’t particularly moved by efforts to improve music education would not be a beneficial segment for us. Disconnects - The most unattractive segment, which consists of people who have a negative attitude towards music education (or just don’t care) and don’t consume much media. ! 17! Enlightened But Not Engaged – A segment of people who are passionate about music education but are not consuming a lot of media. Focusing on this group means that we would most likely be targeting more traditional music education platforms. Engaged & Informed Parents / Connected Children - Unique to Play It FWD is the importance of targeting consumers (Parents and Children) who care enough about music education that they would be invested - in time and energy - enough to be active on our site. Media efficacy would prove three things: 1) Parents and children would be attracted to and enticed by the presence of “celebrities” on Play It FWD that they can recognize from their favorite movies, television shows, or Top 40 radio stations, 2) High online content consumption gives us a preexisting behavior to build upon and 3) Previous engagement in mediated activities or with media technology (with Parent or Child) will show a willingness of parents to let their children partake in activities on their computers, tablets, and smartphones with little to no supervision and with little to no time limits. This for us is the most attractive segment based on the following figures we found (sources of information found in the appendix): • 6 out of every 7 people in the world have internet access • 81% Internet Penetration in North America • Half of Americans 18+ own Tablets • US Adults spend 4:34 hours consuming TV and Video Media Daily • 212 of 278 M Internet Users are Active Online via Computers/Laptops • Media consumption among kids (up to 9 yrs) has grown over the past four years to nearly 35 hours per week, a 2.2 hours increase since 2009 • Computer and gaming consoles make 27% of kids' daily media consumption (ibid) • 3/4 of kids say they watch short form video on their iDevice. More than half of kids with an iDevice now watch long-form content - 23% increase over last year (ibid) • 3/4 of all kids (0-8 yrs) have access to a mobile device at home o 63% Smartphone / 40% Tablet • TV still remains main source of educational content (61%) compared to mobile (38%) and computers (34%) (ibid) ! 18! • 58% of higher income kids use educational content on their mobile devices compared to 28% percent of lower income kids (ibid) o This disparity evens out for kids with access to computers and mobile devices • Half of all babies use a computer or smartphone before age 2 Market Research Methodology: Our market research data collection is based on a combination of a qualitative approach and a quantitative approach. The model of Play It FWD consists of 3 segments: Artists, Brands & Children. Therefore, our marketing strategy will be a combination of targeting these three different groups respectively. As a result we’ve chosen to conduct research on each of these groups to determine the best overall approach for our business. Artists The data about the type of artists we want to use and the proper methods to approach the will be collected through interviews. These interviews will not be directly with the artists themselves but rather with their managers. Knowing that managers are often the key individuals that present opportunities to artists, we believe they are best resource to determine how to form valuable partnerships with artists. Given that we are focused on the U.S market, these interviews will be conducted by phone or Skype. Brands To collect data on brands we will to interview executives, preferably Brand Managers/Directors, at different types of brands that we think would fit with our business and have a strong audience in the U.S. We will seek out information such as what brands seek in partnerships, especially around social responsibility, and how they analyze these opportunities. Much like the artists managers, we will do the interviews over Skype or phone. ! 19! Parents We will collect quantitative data from parents via questionnaires. Since we need to get a large number of respondents to have a significant base to draw data from, questionnaires are the best method for us to create quality data. We will present the questionnaires to parents that live in the U.S. to get a clear image about the demographic we are targeting and their need. We will gather our respondent by a few different methods: personal relationships and referrals, contacting schools and reaching out to parenting groups. Parent Survey Results: 197 total survey responses 1. Did you receive music education? We received 143 responses to this question and 100% of the people responses were answered a YES. This implies that all of our survey takers have in someway an understanding what music education is. 2. Is music education important to you? There were 143 people who answered this question and 93% of the people answered the question with a YES in contrast of the other 6% of people that answered this question with a NO. 3. What age are your children? Most of the parents that answered this question have children in the age between 0-7 (66%). Next are the parents with children between the age of 8-12 (31%) and parents with children in the age of 13-18 (14%). And 15% of parents have children that are 18 or older. With the information that we received we can imply that most of the parents that took our survey have very your children. 4. Did/do your children receive music education? Most of the parents have children who receive music education in school (59%). There is also a good number of children that receive music education outside of school (32%). ! 20! 5. Why not? Due to the way this question was set up, there was no defying answer. Most parents chose the option “other”. 6. At what age did your child begin music education? With the number of 83%, the 0 to 7 year old children are far out the biggest group here. This implies that most young children get exposed to music education in some form or way. We could also see by the answers to the survey that the older the children the smaller amount receives music education. 7. If music education were freely available for your child, what objections (if any) would you have to engaging in it? This question was answered by 99% of the parents to no objections. 8. Would you want your child to receive traditional music education? This question was answered a YES by 93%. 9. If there were a good, new online alternative to teach music education would you be interested in that for your children? Most of the parents answered a YES to this question (78%), but there are parents who said NO to this question as well (22%). 10. How many hours per week would you be willing to help your child with his/her music studies? Most of the parents would be willing to help their children for 1 to 2 hours a week (72%). There are also parents who would spend more time with their children’s studies, as 30% of parents is willing to help their child for 3 to 4 hours a week or even 4 plus hours (15%). 11. How important is it to you for your child to have fun while learning? ! 21! The most popular answer to this question was “very” with 79% of the votes. And the second most popular answer was “somewhat important” with 19% of the votes. There were almost no parents who answered this question with “indifferent” or “somewhat unimportant”. Conclusion: The information we retrieved from this marketing research is very useful to our company. We gained a lot of information on the subject of music education that we were not able to find in another way. From the outcome of the survey about music education we can conclude that most of the parents that filled out the questionnaire received some form of music education at a certain point in their lives and believe in the importance of music education for their children. Also most of the children have received some kind of music education during their lives. We can also see that most children receive music education in their school at least when they are young of age since most parents that took the survey have young children. Therefore we do not have enough information about the older children in this marketing research. We do not have any information about what kind of music education is taught in the schools. We can only make assumptions about the kind of music education as most of the schools have some kind of music class but we don’t know to what extent. What was very interesting for us is to see the answer of the parents to the question about traditional music education versus online music education. To this question the parents massively preferred their children to receive traditional music education. This is very important for us to know, as we need to make a big effort to gain the trust of the parents. We will strategically work on marketing the platform as valid and supported by professionals and organizations as possible. We also got a much more clear image of how important it is to parents for their children to enjoy their learning experience. This is good to know since we are trying to make our platform very engaging to children and have them spend a lot of their time on it. ! 22! Marketing Executive & Artist Manager Interview Results For our qualitative research on how to target artists and brands, we conducted interviews with relevant marketing executives from corporate brands and an artist manager that has worked with some of the top artists in the music business. They helped in providing a clearer image about the interest of brands and artists to support our platform. Below is are the profiles of our interviewees: Donae Burston – Regional Marketing Director / Moet Hennessy USA Kwesi Fraser – Former Heineken Brand Manager & Account Director for Alloy Access (Marketing Agency for Heineken) Jamal Henderson – Senior Brand Manager / PepsiCo Jeannah Ho – Former Assistant Manager for Scooter Braun (SB Projects/Justin Beiber) & General Manager for Erving Wonder Mgmt (Now part of Atom Factory) and Current Road Manager for Sean Kingston Summary / Key Takeaways The main learning that was gained from our initial round of interviews with marketing executives and artist managers was that the process of approaching and partnering with artists and brands must be unique for each party. As one former executive stated, “There is no such thing as “one size fits all.” If it does, it won’t work.” That means that we must customize and tailor our approach to each specific artist and brand to make the best impression and have the optimal chance of securing a partnership. Some of the main elements that brands consider are the following: • Who’s Tied In? o Major Partners or Celebs (a big plus) o Organization history/Legacy o What is done with the money? (Brands like transparency) • ! Matching of goals between businesses 23! • Partnerships need to organically match both brand’s personalities o "Organically forged relationships” o What does the partnership say about me (and my company)? • Who is pitching the idea? o They need to be Smart / Well Connected / Established o 60% of selling the idea is the person representing the company that is pitching • Bigness of the Idea / Global Impact / Staying Power o Companies are looking for the “big splash” o Multiple Touchpoints to reach a large group of people o Will people talk about this many years later? One common point that artists and brands alike seek in partnerships is an easy, turnkey process where they don’t have to do excessive amounts of work to make the partnership successful. The more things are thought out for partners ahead of time makes them more likely to choose to start and remain in a partnership. For most, partnerships are not their core business and, although many like to participate in charitable activities, the convenience of having a partner with foresight and a solid process plan in place is imperative. With artists in particular their main asset is their time. A large majority of talent has an affinity for non-profit, charitable work - especially things that involve music and children. That said, they are often willing to give of their time (and sometime other assets such as music, merch, etc.) to help a cause they believe in. However, the expectation of artists and their management/agent/labels is that the organization they partner with is professional and does not abuse any of the time that artists give. Therefore, our plan to shoot content with artists must be very easy and respectful of an artist’s time and their abilities. ! ! 24! INTERNAL ANALYSIS SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES -Free Platform -Innovative Model -Fun & Engaging Interactivity -Strong Appeal via Celebrities -Connection with Reputable Brands -Charitable Aspect -Strong Dependency on Brands -Strong Dependency on Celebrities -Only accessible via Internet Connection OPPORTUNITIES THREATS -Rise in Digital Devices -Growing Awareness of MOOC's -Emerging Global Markets -Decrease in Traditional Music Education -Easy Entrance of Competitors -Attention Economy / Substitute Products ! 25! CANVAS MODEL ! 26! ! 27! OPERATIONAL'PLAN' VALUE CHAIN OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL IT/Platform!Development!&!Maintenance! Business!Affairs!(Finance,!Legal,!etc.)! ! Human!Resources! Creating! Knowledge! (Research)! \Academic! Experts! \Lesson!Plans! \Strategy! Course! Design!&! Development! \Curriculum! \Platform! \Content! Course! Physical! Production! \Celebrities! \Brands! \Production! Partners! Marketing!&! Distribution! \Exposure! \Strategy! \Campaign! Student! Learning! \Experience! \Edutainment! CREATING KNOWLEDGE Before we can develop our curriculum we will undertake extensive research from professionals in the field of music education. Leveraging academic expertise is key to identify the correct approach towards developing the foundation of our company’s mission, which is to offer the highest quality of music education online. The next step is to create the lesson plan and have it verified by professionals in education. When we have the approval of educators we will design the videos and the exercises on the platform that belong to each lesson. We might make a demo to test the platform on groups of children before finalizing and continuing our strategy. COURSE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT CURRICULUM: The next step in our value chain would be to transfer all relevant data to devise the most engaging and stimulating educational experience in our lesson program. We aim to construct a ! 28! ten-lesson plan, previously approved by academics, which would guarantee the most effective educational growth. When we have the approval of educators we will design the videos and the exercises on the platform that belong to each lesson. We might make a demo to test the platform on groups of children before finalizing and continuing our strategy. In this step we will also start contacting the artists we would like to use for our organization and design the lessons with the person in mind to make the fit as perfect as possible. PLATFORM: Working hand in hand with web developers and designers we will merge the curriculum’s content into an inspirational and interactive online platform. We are aware that our online experience represents the cornerstone of our business model. On the platform we will put all the video content and the exercises that belong to each lesson. The users need to have easy access to the content and love to spend time on it. We will make our platform as interactive as possible, which means that we need to work with professional developers that know about all the newest techniques in this area. We will hire a team to work very closely with our education department to create an engaging platform. CONTENT: Each lesson will be specifically designed in relation to each chronological step in the program. Other factors to consider will be what each artist will deliver as relevant content. Conditions of delivery will be agreed upon with the artist to ensure the best performance of all parties. We are looking at different use of the artists in our videos and will have to make sure that we use the time of an artist as effective as possible. COURSE PHYSICAL PRODUCTION ARTISTS: We will identify the most appropriate artists that would fit our curriculum. The nature and character of these artists is key to reach our goals in each step of the program. The artist needs to be both appealing to our customers (the children), as well as to the brands that will support the initiative. We will contact their managers first to see if the artist is interested and pitch the idea to them. If an artist agrees we will need to schedule a time to inform the artist of all that is expected ! 29! of them and to set a time and place to record. This will take a lot of time in organization and we need to work on a smooth production. BRANDS: It is important that the brands are relevant to the content that will be delivered and by the artist in charge of this delivery. We will serve as the bridge between both to guarantee value to all parties. Therefore we will have our marketing department contacting brands and pitching the idea to them. Our marketing team will have to travel for meetings and negotiations to close enough deals for us to keep operating. MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION Once we have confirmed all players we have to maximize exposure by planning a strategic marketing campaign. We will leverage a multimedia approach to ensure that we are reaching a broad base within our target of 8-12 years and their parents. This includes online media, print, and promoting in schools and communities. STUDENT LEARNING In this step of the value chain we are at the finalization of the product. All efforts converge to offer the best experience possible for the consumer. The right balance between engaging content and effective delivery must be created to ensure that we are consistently providing a dynamic experience that is entertaining just as it is educational. The platform will expand organically with every new lesson that is introduced. In this way our students can grow with our company and remain open for starters. ! 30! STRATEGIC'PLAN'' Play It FWD’s strategy is to enter the marketplace of online music education with a revolutionary approach to how children are delivered quality music lessons. Our ABC model is innovative in its ability to connect Artists and Brands together for music education in a manner that is not currently being executed in the marketplace. It is thru this method of reaching our target consumers of 8-12 year old children and their parents that we believe is our true competitive advantage and point of differentiation from our competitors. Our plan is to initially build an operational beta version of our online platform to be able to showcase to artists and brands to gain their interest. We intend to target a select group of artists to being working with to serve as essentially spokespeople for our platform. From there, we will begin the process of pitching to brands to begin creating the content that will live on our platform. We will replicate and scale this process over time with the intention of creating a broader reach to more consumers and increasing our brand awareness in the marketplace with the long term intention of globalizing our platform VALUE PROPOSITION The overarching value proposition for Play It FWD is that our platform provides an innovative, quality music education for to children for free. We see that as a powerful proposition to all parties who might be interested in engaging with our business, because everyone involved is contributing to a greater cause. However, since we have 3 groups of shareholders in Artists, Brands and our Consumers (Parents & Children), there is specific value that we provide to each group respectively. ARTISTS From our perspective, Artists can benefit greatly by being involved with Play It FWD. Through our research in talking with artist managers, we know that most artists are very open to charitable initiatives, especially those associated with music. Via our platform, we provide artists with an easy and effective way to give back to younger generations of music listeners and music culture at large. Most artists are products of music education and many artists are passionate about the cause of providing more access to better educational resources. We believe that these types of ! 31! artists can truly provide a great benefit to the children in need of music education and, in addition, they will create incremental PR value for themselves in the process. The impact of teaching children the important elements of music is rewarding in and of itself, but there is also a greater benefit for artists to be involved. As many artists are looking for new and creative ways to engage with their fans, we see the Play It FWD platform as a vehicle for artists to connect directly to their fan base in a new way and provide a valuable exchange between both groups. By educating children, artists have the ability expose themselves to potentially new segments of fans that their music and relevance might not have reached. Moreover, the artists have the opportunity to develop deeper connections with parents, who could be existing fans or the primary purchasers of artists’ content, depending on the artist and genre. BRANDS It is common knowledge that many brands invest in charitable causes that relate to their brand’s mission and/or target consumers. Smart brands understand the value of promoting noble causes and giving back to those who support them with their dollars and brand loyalty. We believe that brands can play a unique role in the lives of their consumers by participating in Play It FWD and reap great benefits in the process. By partnering with Play It FWD, brands take a positive stance on music education and the value that it brings to the lives of children and their parents. This is an area of charitable giving that is open to brands from a wide selection of industries from Consumer to Technology to Fashion to Beverage and many more. This is one of the key values that Play It FWD provides to brands – any brand that is interested and does not do business that is a detriment to children can be a part of our platform to some degree. On an individual brand level, each brand involved will have to the opportunity to have its logo and (potentially) products strategically placed in our proprietary content. This exposure heightens brands’ awareness with consumers and can create a deeper emotional connection with them by being a part of a worthy cause that is beneficial to a large group of people, in particular parents whom have considerable amounts of buying power and influence. ! 32! From talking with expert marketers at major brands, we know that many companies consider sponsorship opportunities based off their reach and scale. Brands that partner with Play It FWD in the first stages have the ability to play a key role in helping grow the brand into the global entity that we ultimately intend it to be. This will give these brands additional touchpoints in international markets and the ability to connect to a broader set of consumers. Since Play It FWD is a Non-Profit organization, there is also a U.S. tax benefit that companies will receive for sponsoring our initiatives. We will consider all monies provided from brands (and other donors) as charitable donations; therefore, these funds will be tax exempt for all companies that partner with us. CONSUMERS (Parents & Children) We see our consumers as the biggest winners within the ecosystem that Play It FWD creates. . We know that in many states across America, funding for arts education in schools has been cut drastically over the past few years.3 As a result, many children are receiving little to no music education at all within the public school curriculum. When you couple this with the high cost of private music lessons and the current economic situation of most middle class families, a formula for a future society of people with no access to music education is being created. Play It FWD intends to serve as a solution to help fill the void of quality music education within the school systems in the U.S. and enrich the lives of its young people. Studies show the music education/appreciate helps to create more well-rounded students that perform better in all areas of academics.1 Our goal with Play It FWD is to provide children with an entertaining and appealing method to learn about the fundamentals of music. We see this as a great value to the lives of young people as it gives them a deeper appreciation for music and access to greater cultural learning. We also see equal value for parents as they have the opportunity for their children to receive music lessons from a trusted source at no cost to them. ! 33! Pricing Strategy Our Pricing strategy is broken down into two sections. The primary part, Brand Sponsorship, is the focus of how we will create revenue for our non-profit. We will also take in Charitable Donations that will serve as a supplementary source of revenue to help cover our costs. Brand Sponsorship Within our ABC business model, our Brand Partners are our clients since they are the main source of funding for our educational initiatives. For Brand Sponsorships, we will offer our brand partners 3, tiered packages that provide deeper brand engagement and exposure in exchange for greater investment. The tiers with the associated brand exposure and pricing is listed in the table below: PACKAGE Basic / Opening Act BRAND EXPOSURE • Brand Logo inclusion and Product PRICE $100K/year Placement in 1 piece of video content per month Intermediate / Emerging • Limited Website Ads • Brand Logo inclusion and Product $250K/year Placement in 2 pieces of video content per month • Brand Logo inclusion on Platform for 6 Months Premier/ Headliner • Website Ads • Yearly Presenting Sponsor Rights • Brand Logo inclusion and Product $500K/year Placement in all video content per month (4) • Brand Logo inclusion on Platform for 1 Year • ! Sponsorship of offline events 34! We also see the opportunity for specialty pricing options for brands that might be interested in creating custom packages based of their budget and specific needs. It is our goal to close on 4 Premier packages with major brands within the first 18 months of operating to cover our projected 1st year costs. We will seek out smaller and custom sponsorship packages from other brands to provide the company with additional revenue to reinvest into the educational curriculum and enhance the platform and its content. In terms of performance tracking for our sponsors, we intend to build in a backend tracking system within our platform that can provide real-time analytics and feedback on the performance of each piece of content. This helps us to justify our pricing to our brand clients, as well as to monitor the efficacy of our content and make adjustments to how our content is developed and presented in an ongoing manner. This is one perspective of how we intend to provide full transparency to our clients. As an additional revenue stream, we will accept Charitable Donations from individuals, consumer groups and small businesses. These funds will be used in the same manner as revenues from the sponsorships; once all costs are covered, the remaining money will be reinvested back into the company to continue to develop the enhancement of the platform. STAKEHOLDERS & PARTNERSHIPS As previously stated, our business model is structured by 3 groups of stakeholders: Artists, Brands & Consumers. In order for our business to function successfully and have the opportunity to scale, we need significant contribution from each party and the ability to create value for them. We understand the importance of each group of shareholders to our business model and, as a result, we have developed unique approaches to target and provide unique value to them specifically. ! 35! In terms of Partnerships, we view both Artists and Brands as key partners to Play It FWD, as both are integral to how our business model operates. We plan to strategically seek out both in a manner that is easy for all potential partners and effective for us as a company. We will detail our methodology to these partnerships in the following sections. ARTISTS Top music artists will be a very visible component of our platform. In essence, they are the face of the brand to the public and will serve as the attraction point for parents and their children to be involved with Play It FWD’s educational curriculum. Therefore we must build strong relationships with key artists that positive public images to best connect and resonate with our consumers. We have created a 4-step process to how we create our artist partnerships: • Selection • Outreach • Training/Content Creation • Retention The first step in building a roster of qualified artists is to have a defined Selection process. We will accomplish this by developing an ongoing internal filtering practice by which we assess each potential artist to partner with. The main areas that we will measure each artist by is as follows: • Positive Image o All artists must have a positive public image and cannot have any history of negative acts that would hurt the perception of Play It FWD’s initiatives • Connection to our brand and core Consumer o There must be a natural fit and/or good relation to our consumer (or the opportunity to create that relationship) • Musical Ability o Each artist must have the ability to explain musical ideas and concepts o We do not expect them to be academians in the subject matter, however ! 36! • Previous Charitable Work o Artists that have done charitable work, especially with children and/or music, is a plus for consideration We understand that much of this filtration process is subjective. However, it will be our responsibility to do our due diligence on each artist that we consider partnering with in order to build and retain trust from our consumers and maintain the quality of each educational lesson that we give. Therefore, we will initially hold monthly artist strategy meetings to brainstorm and assess the potential of new artists to be considered for our educational programming. Once we’ve selected an artist, the next phase is Outreach. By interviewing managers, we’ve learned that the best way to approach artists is through the best relationship that we have with that artist’s camp. Essentially, there is no one simplified way to contact any particular artist and therefore, we will have to be very strategic and leverage many of our existing relationships to start this process in the early phases of our company’s development. Whether the relationship lies with the artist directly or their management, agent, label, etc., we will have to assess the best path of reaching each artist individually to field interest in partnering with our organization. The promising thing that we also learned from managers is that many artists are open to doing work with charities and non-profits, especially those that help the lives of children. A lot of artists have non-profits themselves and they view doing charitable work as part of their responsibility of being in the public eye – which also helps their PR value in return. We see this as a critical part of our presentation to artists because we will be expecting them to be an integral part of our educational approach. Our goal in the initial phase of Play It FWD will be to identify and partner with 3-4 key artists that can serve as ambassadors for our initiatives to be and attraction to our consumers, brands and other artists. As a part of our process, we will not pay artists directly for their time, however we will cover their travel and lodging and all necessary expenses for them to be involved with Play It FWD. ! 37! Managers informed us that artist usually do not expect to be compensated for the time they give to charities as long as expenses are covered by that organization. In addition, we will seek legal advice on any agreements and contracts that will need to be created to determine the parameters of our partnerships with artists, as well brands. Once an artist agrees to partner with Play It FWD, we will go into our next phase, which is focused on creating the actual content that will run on our site. We know that an artist’s time is limited, so we will have a structure in place where we can shoot artists in either New York City or Los Angeles. We will outsource the production of our content to video crews in both cities, while we oversee the logistics and the content creation process. It’s important to note that an additional strategy that we have to develop a large cache of content is to shoot artists while they are at key festivals around the U.S. Through this method we can potentially get content from numerous artists within one specific short period of time. Ultimately, the process of creating content with artists has to be easy and respectful of their time in order for this phase to be successful As we are creating content, one of the main areas that we will focus on is ensuring that artists have a good understanding of what we are looking to accomplish with the content we are creating and that they can deliver the messages in an effective manner to children. All lesson plans and scripts will be sent to the artist’s management prior to the shoot date. Also beforehand, we will have one of our Educational Consultants brief the artist on set about the lesson plan that we want them to teach and allow them to cover the basic key messages that need to be communicated. This way we ensure a standard of quality with all of our content and we manage the expectations of our artist partners and reinforce their confidence in their ability to teach music. Retention of our artist partnerships is very important to us. It is our desire to ultimately have long-term relationships with the best artists in the industry. We intend on doing this by having a dedicated person within our company who is responsible solely for developing and maintaining artists relationships. As our organization chart shows, we have a position for Artist Relations & ! 38! Licensing that is held by Gabrielle Banks. Working with artists and their teams will be a primary responsibility for her, so that we can always have a growing database of contacts and artists that we can create new content with. BRANDS Brands play an integral role in our business model, as they serve as the primary source of funding for our business. We will identify brands that have a strong interest in music, charitable giving and organic connection to the Play It FWD brand and our consumers. We’ve learned through our interviews with marketing executives that there is not one simple solution that works for all brands in terms of partnerships. Therefore we must tailor how we reach out to brands and develop equally valuable relationships that have the potential to grow over time. As a result, much like with artists, we have created a 4-step process to how we create our brand partnerships: • Selection • Outreach • Content Creation • Retention Our brand selection process is primarily rooted in identifying brands that have a good fit with our educational initiatives. From our research, we’ve created 4 key areas that we will analyze to determine which brands we’d like to consider partnerships with: • Relationship with Children o All brand partners must have a positive relationship with children and cannot engage in any business that is detrimental to the lives of young people • Matching of goals between businesses o Partnerships need to organically match both brands’ personalities • Types of Brands o Niche or Mass? o Industry Leading or Not? o Brand Uniqueness? ! 39! • Opportunity for Growth o We prefer to have long-term partners over short term Again, very similar to how we intend to identify and contact artist, we’ve learned that there is no one particular model that can be adhered to when considering brand partnerships. Each brand has their own identity, initiatives and needs and we have to be aware of those as we are considering entering business relationship with each brand. We also know that brands are keen on great ideas being presented by great people, therefore is imperative for us to consistently have a strong presentation that conveys the message of the intention of Play It FWD in compelling manner. Another key point that is critical in securing brand partnerships is identifying the main decision makers within a brand. Most sponsorships are lead internally by one or two people who are passionate about the concept of that particular sponsorship. It will be our responsibility to research each brand we are considering and determine who are the integral people who can help champion our cause. For our first phase of development, we intend to target on big consumer brands as our main sponsors. This strategy helps us in a few ways. First, brands such as Target, Master Card and Samsung have large budgets that we can tap into at relatively minimal cost to these brands. The support of these larger partnerships can help buoy our business and provide stability during our growth phase. In addition the association with major brands will help solidify the Play It FWD brand and make the platform more attractive to other brands and artists as well. Once we’ve developed strong ties with a few key big brands then we would focus more efforts on lifestyle brands. Another element of our partnership strategy will be creating non-competing partnerships. Once we’ve secured a brand in a particular area of business, we will not develop a conflicting partnership with a potential competitor. For example, if Apple were to become a Premier sponsor for the 2015 business year, we would not seek partnerships from a rival tech company within that same year. Brands pay for category exclusivity as a part of our sponsorship packages. However, ! 40! if a brand wants to waive their rights to that exclusivity at any point, they would have the ability to do so. The content creation process for brands should be relatively simple and streamlined since we would know how much exposure a particular brand is designated to receive based off their sponsorship package. Once the first round of content is shot and edited, we will have a one-time approval process with each of our brand partners to make sure that their brand elements are placed correctly within our content and are aligned with their brand identity standards. We will be open to feedback from our partners, however we want to make our content creation process as efficient as possible and having to receive approvals from potentially multiple brand partners for every piece of content we shoot would prove to be very time consuming and counter productive. Since brands are the backbone of our revenue model, it is imperative that we establish great relationships with those that are good partners with us. It will be the responsibility of all members of the Play It FWD team to work with brands in an effective manner. However, as the company is currently structured, the lead in managing these relationships will be the CEO, Chris Wade. He will be in charge of maintaining connections with key executives at brands to nurture existing brand relationships and find business opportunities with new brand partners. A lot of this will consist of identifying networking opportunities and attending select events where marketing executives are present to help increase the visibility of Play It FWD in the marketplace. One very important element that we learned in our qualitative research with marketing executives is that brands prefer transparency when they are giving money to non-profits. Because some non-profit, charitable organizations have private accounting practices, many brands have an understandable concern about where the money they donate or contribute actually goes. It is our goal to be fully transparent with our brand partners about where their dollars are being used and the impact that they have on our platform. We will do this by releasing quarterly reports detailing the sponsorship activity for each brand for the previous quarter, as well as the performance of the content those dollars generated. We feel this is the best way to build and sustain the confidence of our brand partners ! 41! One special area that we would like to note is the pre-existing relationships that Artists and Brands may have. For example, Pepsi currently has a business relationship with Beyoncé.2 If we were to consider partnering with Pepsi, we could potentially have greater access to Beyoncé as well if Pepsi agreed that her involvement with Play It FWD would be beneficial to enhancing the promotion of their products and their relationship with her. This scenario could work the opposite way where an artist that we are partnering with already has an existing deal with a brand and that brand gets involved with our platform via that relationship. Obviously, we would still have to be the discerning agency between both parties and determine if this type of cross collaboration fits within our brand and makes sense for our consumers. However, we do believe that situations as those described could prove to be fruitful for all parties if executed and managed correctly. Regardless of how these relationships are formed, there is a great value in partnering the right artist and the right brand together. This creates a stronger consumer connection to our platform, but it also can create significant benefits to the artists and brands involved that extend beyond our platform. Every artist and brand has the ability to leverage their affiliation with one another to further enhance their own initiatives and relationships with their respective consumers. This is an intentional spill over effect from our ABC model that we believe provides added value for all artists and brands that choose to be involved with Play It FWD. It is one of our secondary goals to help manage these relationships in a manner that create Wins for each stakeholder that is engaged with our platform. ! 42! MARKETING'PLAN'' Target Customers Our primary Target Costumers in Play It FWD can be analyzed in two different groups: the direct customers, in this case the children, and the secondary indirect customers, the parents of these children; equally important to the success of our business model. Demographic Profile of Direct Costumers. In Play It FWD, we are focusing on an age group that goes from 8 to 12. Reasons behind this decision lie in that they are computer friendly and know how to independently interact with technological devices such as computers connected to the internet. Added to this, recent data from the US Census Bureau1 indicates that 62% of children between 3 and 17 years old already access the internet from home individually. Percentages are practically equal in male and female usage, which benefits our approach to gender equity in education. We believe this age group is ideal when considering an approach that is based on an inspirational introduction to music, rather than a profound technical approach on skill-based knowledge. Entertainment in education is key to our success as recent data shows that 9 in every 10 children aged between 8 and 18 play currently play video games in the US. What is more, the age group on which we are focusing (8 to 12) was the biggest group last year for massive multiplayer online gaming in the US2. Demographic Profile of Indirect Costumers. The age group of the parents that we are targeting oscillates between 30 and 40 year old. We aim to focus on engaged parents who are also comfortable with the usage of technology and that are comfortable surfing independently through the internet. It is important to us that they have good media awareness and that Music education is also important to them. In this matter, according to data, US adults spend on average 4.30h daily on media consumption3 and according to our latest survey results a striking 93% out of 143 participants answered that music education is very important to them. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1!https://www.census.gov/hhes/computer/publications/2012.html! 2!http://crisisboom.com/2012/09/18/programmed\for\demise/! 3!http://www.emarketer.com/! ! 43! Shareholders Given the many different parties involved, we have come up with guidelines for targeting both artists and brands with which to collaborate: Artists/Celebrities: • Should be a musician, but can primarily be a celebrity (actor, athlete, etc.) with some musical knowledge • Kid-friendly, animated image • Non-controversial (especially through the filter of the parents) • Would be recognizable by the children • A bonus would be if they have children • Should be current, but could be legendary as long as they are still culturally relevant • Should not have any current scandalous endorsements/partnerships Brands: • Should not have a mission that contradicts with the mission of PlayItFWD in any way • Need not be nonprofit • Should not be affiliated with any child-labor controversies, domestically or abroad • Cannot be a brand that produces or markets tobacco, alcohol, or firearms • Doesn’t have to be linked to an exclusive children’s brand Unique Selling Proposition (USP) In Play It FWD, our Unique Selling Proposition is: "The best quality music online education, absolutely for free" Pricing & Positioning Strategy Within the industry of Online Music Education, Play It FWD aims to deliver the best quality, at no price for the consumer. It is important to us the fact that it is free of charge, as we don't want any socio-economic filters to exclude children from the experience. Our positioning strategy is to create differentiation within competitors by being the only brand that offers active engagement by celebrities. ! 44! Distribution Plan Consumers of Play It FWD will be able to log on and engage freely with our platform as soon as it goes live on the web. The experience, based on a chronological set of lessons, will start with easy accessibility and will only require a computer, a web camera and a working internet connection. Once engaged, the distribution plan is to set up a system of accumulative points that any consumer can gain to unblock different content. Offers Our strategy is to reward users to invite friends and family onto the platform. This will serve to expand the awareness of our brand and increase engagement from day one. Other approaches will include acting within specific time frames during the launching period of the platform, so as to gain further points. Marketing Materials Print. Since our brand awareness will consist largely of early negotiation and connection of all parties onto the platform, we will need much of our marketing materials to be easy for trade. Business cards will be essential and also brochures that explain the model in an accessible manner to parents and children alike, as well as brands that could be interested in sponsoring the business model. Digital. However, further marketing of our business will consist mainly on digital strategies such as digital banners to be used within our initial phase of email contact. Similar to this, will be to have well designed press kits and HTML's that explain the formula and also have animated videos that we can send through our network. Promotions Strategy Implementation of a good strategy of awareness of our brand is key to a fast positioning in the ! 45! industry of education. In order to promote ourselves with solid credibility we aim to attend international educational summits worldwide such as Education International4 or the Higher Education Summit5 in Arizona, US, to name a few. Furthermore, we intend to contact schools and educational centers all across the US, with digital ads and animated videos that explain our approach. Same strategy will apply to high traffic websites that are actively engaged by the age group we identified (8 to 12) and also on popular video games, by partnering with some of the most successful brands in the entertainment industry. We aim to use printed strategies too by creating posters for selected neighborhoods across the country and selected malls, sports centers and large populated sites such as playgrounds, skate parks, supermarkets and airports. Online Marketing Strategy Keyword Strategy We would implement keywords such as 'online music education', 'celebrities teaching' or 'play and learn with music', to name some examples, in order to appear in specific search engines, when typing similar content. Search Engine Optimization Strategy We would create and deliver constant updates on our platform to make our website show up more prominently for our top keywords. Paid Online Advertising Strategy Some of the online advertising programs would be developed by digital platforms we would invest in, such as Google Ad Words, for instance. We would purchase packages that would include visibility on the web and that would offer strategic placement in related fields. Social Media Strategy Creating profiles on most visible social media networks would be an absolute priority. Platforms !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4!http://www.ei\ie.org/en/websections/content_detail/3247! 5!http://www.salesforcefoundation.org/events/higher\education\summit\2014/! ! 46! such as Facebook, Twitter and Google + would enable us not only to create profiles of our business but also to engage and communicate with our users; whether for updates, news worth sharing of upcoming events and celebrities or for further possibilities such as getting different users in different parts of the country to interact with each other. Independently of whether we had or not our own social network, we would definitely seek to partner up with these existing trends so as to not isolate from popular culture. Conversion Strategy As part of our marketing plan, a conversion strategy would be crucial to undertake. Making sure kids that had already interacted with our platform served as testimonials on our web to increase participation and encourage the necessary hype for the excitement to be a part of the experience we delivered. Joint Ventures & Partnerships Play It FWD aims to establish long lasting partnerships with related areas of our services. Companies providing instrumentation or music sheets or hardware that could interact with our lessons, such as Wii by Nintendo (to give an example) are only a few ideas of possible relationships that could benefit both parties and increase our awareness in both fields of entertainment and education. Referral Strategy As mentioned earlier, part of our program in Play It FWD is to create an ongoing engagement with our platform that guarantees active interaction on a weekly basis. We have developed a model that will work with accumulative points, meaning that with specific rewards the users will be able to unblock content and surprise packages. We believe that if we are able to implement successfully this idea, we can benefit largely from customer referral and revolutionize our success. For every customer that would refer to us to another they would gain extra points and situate them further into the learning process by having additional access to our educational services. ! 47! Strategy for Increasing Transaction Prices Due to our non-profit model we won't have to directly incur in economic transactions with our consumers. Retention Strategy Referring back to our accumulative point system, our plan is to develop constant feedback with loyalty programs, which we intend to use in order to retain our customers. Incentives to engage longer and more efficiently will be set so as to promote our platform through the ongoing usage of it. The more we can develop an entertaining relationship between the platform and our customers, the better for the promotion and marketing of our service. ! 48! TIMELINE Note: The timeline is developed based on a chronological set of actions we engage in once we had access to capital to cover our basic financial needs. ! 49! FINANCIAL'PROJECTIONS' ! 50! Balance Sheets January'1')'December'31,'2015 Fixed'Assets Liabilities Notes'Payable Prepaid'Insurance Furniture Computers Supplies Total&Fixed&Assets 1038757 1,000 5,000 6,600 6,000 18,600 Current'Assets Cash'Avail.'for'Operating'Expenses 1,020,157 Total&Current&Assets 1,020,157 TOTAL&ASSETS 1,038,757 TOTAL&LIABILITIES 1,038,757 January'1')'December'31,'2016 Fixed'Assets Liabilities Prepaid'Insurance Furniture less$Depreciation Computers less$Depreciation Branding'&'Copyrights Supplies Total&Fixed&Assets 1,000 5,040 )630 6,600 )1,650 20,000 6,000 36,360 Current'Assets Cash'Avail.'for'Operating'Expenses Accounts'Receivable Total&Current&Assets 1,473,656 700,000 2,173,656 TOTAL&ASSETS 2,210,016 Notes'Payable'(Balance'of'Loan) Corporate'Contribution Notes'Payable'(Debt'from'Loss) TOTAL&LIABILITIES 831,006 700,000 679,010 2,210,016 January'1')'December'31,'2017 Fixed'Assets Liabilities Prepaid'Insurance Furniture Computers less$accumulated$Depreciation Branding'&'Copyright Supplies Total&Fixed&Assets 1,000 5,040 6,600 )3,300 30,000 6,000 45,340 Current'Assets Cash'Avail.'for'Operating'Expenses Accounts'Receivable Total&Current&Assets 619,464 1,500,000 2,119,464 TOTAL&ASSETS 2,164,804 Notes'Payable'(Balance) Corporate'Contribution TOTAL&LIABILITIES 664804.48 1,500,000 2,164,804 Financial Ratios: 2015 2016 2017 Debt Ratio 1 0.69 0.31 Budget of Percentage for Personnel 0.35 0.31 0.36 ! 51! APPENDICES' BIOGRAPHIES Chris Wade Chris Wade was born and raised in Greensboro, NC. He earned his love for music from his parents whom often played classic records in their home. Chris began playing music at an early age, starting with piano, then moving to viola and ultimately settling on the saxophone, which he played for nearly 10 years. Chris attended North Carolina A&T State University and received a Bachelor’s of Science in Finance with Honors. Instead of pursuing the traditional path of becoming an Investment Banker, Chris chose to follow his passion and decided to work in the music industry. Starting out as an intern at a record label, Chris held numerous roles within the business, which included Artist Management, Label Consultant and, most recently, Account Director at Octagon, serving as a Music Strategist for Artists and Brands. It is from this last experience that Chris got the initial idea for Play It FWD. He saw the need for Children to receive a quality music education due to the lack of funding of the arts in public school systems. His previous work with partnering artists and brands together gave him the inspiration to create a new educational approach to provide children with engaging music lessons for free. As CEO of Play It FWD, Chris is responsible for leading the overall strategy and direction of the company. He overseas the progress and workflow of all respective departments and is hands on with the development of the artist/brand partnership process, as well as marketing of the brand. ! 52! Chris is currently working on his Master’s in Global Entertainment & Music Business at Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain. Upon graduation, he intends on continuing to develop Play It FWD and take the business live by the end of 2014. Ankie Titulaer Born and raised in the Netherlands, Ankie Titulaer has a Bachelor’s degree in music education and a Master’s degree in performing arts. She studied classical singing at the Conservatory of Maastricht and her music education is specialized in teaching different voice techniques from pop to classical music. She wrote her thesis on the healthy development of new vocal techniques for young musicians throughout various music genres. Ankie has also obtained a Master’s degree in Global Entertainment and Music Business at Berklee College of Music. Ankie has extensive experience as a professional vocalist with Opera companies and musical events throughout Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, and the Czech Republic. As a teacher, Ankie has worked with diverse groups of young students across many different age groups at the United World College and as a personal teacher. At Play It FWD, Ankie is in charge of the development of the academic curriculum and the Edesign of the lessons. She oversees all educational elements of Play It FWD, while working closely with the Creative and Artist Relations departments. ! 53! Maxwell Moya Wright Maxwell Moya Wright is part French and part American, but grew up between Spain and the United Kingdom. He speaks 4 different languages and has been exposed to various cultures from a very young age. His passion for music began early and has been his source of inspiration throughout his professional career in the arts. He has made a living as a musician, as a producer, as a promoter, as a tour manager and as a composer. He has also been in charge of international relations for different bands, among many other musical related works, due to his grasp on various languages. Maxwell's education in the arts starts during his A-Levels in London, UK, where he studies Theatre and Music in the BRIT Performing Arts School, a school launched by Sir Richard Branson and George Martin. Upon this experience and further dedication to his passion for Theatre he continues to study at the University Darting College of Arts, where he is to meet great music professionals that initiate him into further musical practice and audio engineering. Thanks to his efforts there, he is awarded with n honorary diploma in music, for participating with other students in college. After many years doing professional work, Maxwell is currently expanding his studies in Spain, undertaking a Master in Music Business at the Berklee College of Music, Valencia Campus. Maxwell's professional work as a musician starts after University, when he joins his talent as a percussionist to the band 'Ojos de Brujo', band that was awarded with the BBC Best European Band in 2004, with the Latin GRAMMY in 2008 and a second nomination in 2011. The exposure and network he obtains from this work allows him to offer many educational programs across the globe related to music in different pedagogical organizations such as Save the Children, Roots and Routes, GMMAZ and Aftershock. ! 54! Maxwell has just recently launched a company specialized in composing original soundtracks for advertising in TV, Video Games and Film, under the name of Royal Sonora (www.royalsonora.tv). He continues to play and tour music in a new acapella project titled 'Man Ex Maqina' (www.manexmaqina.com) whilst he helps to organize the first TEDx event in Berklee College of Music as part of his Culminating Experience. Gabrielle Banks A Philadelphia native, Gabrielle Banks began her undergraduate career at New York University, studying Media, Culture, and Communication. She later transferred to the University of Miami to continue to study Communications, but specializing in Film. She graduated with honors in the top 4% of her class with a double- major in Motion Pictures and Studio Art. To pursue graduate studies in Global Entertainment & Music Business, Gabrielle studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, at its global campus in Valencia, Spain, where her concentration was in publishing/licensing. Gabrielle has nearly three years of experience in music licensing for various outlets, ranging from small independent films, to international brand campaigns, in the U.S. and abroad. In the midst of a multi-decade-long obsession with media, pop culture and music, Gabrielle spent several years during her undergraduate years working as a nanny to several families in the Miami area. It was here – along with coursework in Teaching & Learning and Children’s Literature— that she really gained an inside perspective of media and entertainment geared towards children. As head of Licensing and Artist Relations for Play It FWD, Gabrielle manages the licensing for all of Play It Forward’s showcased musical works used to teach children, directed by the Education lead. Additionally, she works with the Creative Chief to scope out and contract celebrity partners with which to collaborate. ! 55! Manuel Delgado Manuel Delgado is originally from South Florida. He grew up learning to play several musical instruments, but his love and passion for music was developed through many years of studying the piano. He received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, majoring in music. After graduating from BYU, Mr. Delgado entered the Berklee College of Music at the Valencia, Spain campus, where he is now finishing his master’s in Global Entertainment and Music Business. He plans to enter law school after completing his degree at Berklee. As a high school and undergraduate student, Mr. Delgado taught piano lessons at the Provo Piano Academy and was asked to teach a Keyboard Fundamentals class at the Young Musician’s Summer Festival held at BYU for high school students. Mr. Delgado also worked at the university’s record label, where he helped coordinate and manage projects and oversaw licensing matters. He also started his own record label to helped manage and promote performing artists in the local area. Mr. Delgado’s role at Play It Fwd includes advising on legal and business matters, among other responsibilities. His background and experience in music and teaching allow him to understand the vision of Play It Fwd. His experience as a music industry businessman permits Mr. Delgado to connect that vision with reality and results. Mr. Delgado and his wife Tiffany, a professional pianist, currently live in Spain and are expecting their first child in September 2014. ! 56! DRAFT EDUCATIONAL PLAN* *On a monthly period with a total of 10 months per academic calendar. CLASS 1 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC CLASS 2 CELEBRITY X Games + Exercises Games + Exercises Games + Exercises CELEBRITY X Games + Exercises Games + Exercises Games + Exercises CELEBRITY X Games + Exercises Games + Exercises Games + Exercises CELEBRITY X Games + Exercises Games + Exercises Games + Exercises CELEBRITY X Games + Exercises Games + Exercises Games + Exercises CELEBRITY X Games + Exercises Games + Exercises Games + Exercises CELEBRITY X Games + Exercises Games + Exercises Games + Exercises CELEBRITY X Games + Exercises Games + Exercises Games + Exercises CELEBRITY X Games + Exercises Games + Exercises Games + Exercises CELEBRITY X Games + Exercises Games + Exercises Games + Exercises INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC CLASS 3 DRUMS+ BEATS CLASS 4 DRUMS+ BEATS CLASS 5 GUITAR+ PIANO CLASS 6 GUITAR+ PIANO CLASS 7 VOICE+ SCALES CLASS 8 VOICE+ SCALES CLASS 9 MAKE A SONG CLASS 10 MAKE A SONG ! 57! Bibliography 1. Winner, Ellen, Thalia R. Goldstein, and Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin. "Art for Art's sake?: The Impact of Arts Education, Educational Research and Innovation." OECD READ Edition 1 (2013): 85-119. http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-AssetManagement/oecd/education/art-for-art-s-sake_9789264180789-en#page87 (accessed May 2, 2014). 2. Sisario, Ben. "In Beyonce Deal, Pepsi Focuses on Collaboration." The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/business/media/in-beyonce-deal-pepsi-focuses-oncollaboration.html?_r=0 (accessed April 28, 2014). 3. Stubbs, Ryan. "Public Funding for the Arts: 2013 Update." Grantmakers in the Arts. http://www.giarts.org/article/public-funding-arts-2013-update (accessed April 27, 2014) 4. Dahl, Darran. "How to write an Operational Plan for your business. http://www.inc.com/guides/201107/how-to-write-an-operational-plan-for-your-smallbusiness.html (accessed April 28, 2014). 5. Susan, Ward. About.com, "The operating plan section of the business plan." (Accessed May 4, 2014). http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/businessplans/a/bizplanoperplan.htm. 6. James Manktelow & Amy Carlson. Mind Tools, "Porter's five forces." (Accessed May 4, 2014). http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_08.htm. 7. Wylie, Jonathan. "Mobile Learning Technologies for 21st Century Classrooms." Scholastic Publishes Literacy Resources and Children's Books for Kids of All Ages. http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3754742 (accessed May 4, 2014). 8. Pappas, Christopher. "Top 10 e-Learning Statistics for 2014 You Need To Know." Top 10 e-Learning Statistics for 2014 You Need To Know. http://elearningindustry.com/top10-e-learning-statistics-for-2014-you-need-to-know (accessed May 4, 2014). ! 58! 9. "The history of e-learning." The history of e-learning. http://www.talentlms.com/elearning/history_of_elearning (accessed May 4, 2014). Sources for Market Segment Information and Statistics: • 6 out of every 7 people in the world have internet access o RESOURCE: http://www.wearesquared.com/family-guy-rosanne/ • 81% Internet Penetration in North America o RESOURCE: www.wearesocial.sg • Half of Americans 18+ own Tablets o RESOURCE: http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/01/16/e-reading-rises-as-deviceownership-jumps/ • US Adults spend 4:34 hours consuming TV and Video Media Daily o RESOURCE: http://www.emarketer.com • 212 of 278 M Internet Users are Active Online via Computers/Laptops o RESOURCE: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2013/exploring-theconsumer-media-universe.html • Media consumption among kids (up to 9 yrs) has grown over the past four years to nearly 35 hours per week, a 2.2 hours increase since 2009 o RESOURCE: http://www.4-traders.com/VIACOM-INC-9548248/news/ViacomInc--Nickelodeon-Introduces-The-Story-of-Me-Research-Study-Providing-InsideLook-At-Tod-17481902/ • Computer and gaming consoles make 27% of kids' daily media consumption (ibid) • 3/4 of kids say they watch short form video on their iDevice. More than half of kids with an iDevice now watch long-form content - 23% increase over last year (ibid) • 3/4 of all kids (0-8 yrs) have access to a mobile device at home o 63% Smartphone / 40% Tablet o RESOURCE: http://cdn2d7.ec.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/about_us/zero-to-eight20131.pdf ! 59! • TV still remains main source of educational content (61%) compared to mobile (38%) and computers (34%) (ibid) • 58% of higher income kids use educational content on their mobile devices compared to 28% percent of lower income kids (ibid) o This disparity evens out for kids with access to computers and mobile devices • Half of all babies use a computer or smartphone before age 2 o RESOURCE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/theswitch/wp/2013/10/28/half-of-all-babies-use-a-computer-or-smartphone-beforeage-2-heres-why-thats-bad/ ! 60!