MORE ON TEMPO.
THIS IS GREAT
March 3, 1997
Marketing with music tunes in profits
After buying his firm back, May sets TEMPO on fast
growth track
Kimberly Harvey Contributing Writer
The Entertainment Marketing & Promotion Organization Inc. (TEMPO)
has built a growing business on helping brands get personal and
entertaining in their marketing efforts.
The $3-million Atlanta company, first organized in January 1995, is
riding a wave of lifestyle-type promotions and campaigns that
marketers have increasingly turned to in the 1990s, according to the
company's principals.
TEMPO creates entertainment software (audio cassettes, video
cassettes, CDs and CD-ROMs) that brand marketers like Kodak and
Cadillac give away as premium gift incentives. Retailers such as
Victoria's Secret and The Limited also have tapped into the lifestyles of
their customers and are packaging music to suit their audience.
"We match the product and service to the lifestyle of the consumer and
create a product that really connects the two through entertainment,"
said Kevin Bryant, director of new business development for TEMPO.
At 48, TEMPO President Robert May, a former University of
California-Berkeley philosophy major, still draws on his introduction to
the entertainment industry -- he played in rock bands as a teenager.
After 15 years in entertainment marketing, he has moved behind the
scenes to create what he calls "soundtracks of life."
"Lifestyle marketing" promotes products "based upon who the customer
will be when using the product, as opposed to how well that product
will perform," May said.
Cadillac, for instance, launched a campaign geared to a younger
audience and turned to TEMPO to produce "Tunes for the Road." The
compilation of classic rock music was offered as a gift for test driving
new models, and was to help drivers "feel the freedom" as they opened
up on the highway, said Bryant.
Kodak customized the method for its Olympic promotion. TEMPO
produced a 20-minute sampler of music for the Olympics dating back
100 years. When customers sent in their Kodak film for processing,
they received, along with their pictures, the compilation recording and
a coupon for a 70-minute version of the CD.
Tempo has completed six compilation tapes for The Limited and has
taken on the latest Victoria's Secret program. They've also completed
programs for Lane Bryant, Gerber and Easter Seal.
Facing the music
TEMPO was founded by May in 1995 after he sold his share of a former
business, Score Productions. Shortly after TEMPO was formed, it was
bought out by K-tel International, and May continued to operate the
business independent of the corporation. Revenues grew from $1.5
million in 1995 to $3 million last year.
In spring 1996, May bought TEMPO back from K-tel and inked a
contract with PolyGram Records Special Markets division in July 1996.
"PolyGram is the biggest record company in the world. . . . In spite of
that, they have never done this corporate work that we do," May said.
He said he expects revenues to reach $7.5 million in 1997.
Since purchasing TEMPO, May has applied a "team approach and a
creative process," May said. The new and revised TEMPO team
consists of concept-development, creative, legal and production
talents, and has learned from mistakes made in other agencies.
"Our sales presence is a team instead of an individual," said Bryant.
"When a client calls up, everybody in this office knows what's going
on."
The seven-person office includes an in-house producer who puts
together song lists and does research for the compilations. Bryant said
that in larger agencies, often one salesperson has contact with the
client and hands everything down to a production crew.
"We don't say that these people are salespeople and these people are
support people," said May. "We treat everybody as a client contact in
the company. It's a team selling concept."
Marketing strategies
TEMPO has taken its small size and the complicated nature of the
entertainment industry and incorporated them into its marketing
strategies.
To compete with major record companies like Sony Corp. and Warner
Bros., TEMPO must "think as quickly and creatively as the world
moves," said May.
One strategy TEMPO uses is "independent agency empowerment."
This method focuses on guiding the independent promotion agencies
that TEMPO deals with through the often confusing entertainment
world.
May referred to the strategy as "the proper education of the
independent sales force of the promotional marketing industry."
TEMPO is teaching promotion agencies about the subtleties of music
licensing and manufacturing in an effort to arm them with information
and turn them into a "pervasive and productive sales force."
May said he believes in the concept of "knowing your product," which
can be challenging in a creative field.
"The difficulty with our business is that the product does not exist. And
worse, the entertainment industry is pretty unwilling to tell anyone
exactly how it gets developed," said May.
"We can't stress the quality in the product. It's a CD. It plays or it doesn't
play. It really comes down to people," he said.
TEMPO has created a plan for agency professionals to follow and will
present seminars on the business of producing music for marketing to
national agency representatives.
"This company is here to deal with promotions agencies," said Bryant.
"We know all the things you have to do to get the jobs done."
TEMPO's most important strategy for pursuing new business is
direct-mail marketing, which has been overlooked by the industry, said
May.
Two years ago, TEMPO hired Bryant, an expert in entertainment event
marketing who had worked with the American Red Cross. Bryant
introduced an idea for using TEMPO products to inspire greater
response to direct mail marketing efforts.
His first project was to include CDs and cassettes of seasonal music as
part of the well-established greeting card campaign of Paralyzed
Veterans of America (PVA).
The percentage of response for direct-mail has doubled to 23.3 percent
since the project began. With its initial success, PVA signed a
three-year contract with TEMPO that has spurred more business with
associations and charitable groups.
TEMPO expects revenues for its direct-mail business to reach $10
million within the next three years.
Looking ahead
The company has set an aggressive goal of reaching $25 million in
revenues in four years. To make that happen, TEMPO plans to "break
new marketing ground with an emphasis on technology and hard work
. . . within the framework of a small team."
"We come to work early and leave late," said May. "With all companies,
growth brings change, and often enough in the entertainment
business."
Week of March 3, 1997 | Small Business Strategies | Top of the page |
