Case Study: Tillerman Records

Tillerman Records Ltd is a Private Limited Company established by its director, Paul Whitelaw. Paul is a singer/songwriter who has already gained market exposure and established positive brand awareness throughout Europe and USA.

Introduction

Paul is a talented singer-songwriter who has decided to utilise these inherent talents to pursue a professional career within the music industry. Paul has had the privileged of performing at high profile venues such as the Palms Casino in Las Vegas and the Palapa lounge often and has also featured on the Totally Band TV show. Previously, Paul has performed throughout Europe as part of the music group ‘Ohio Rain.’ In recent months Paul has also performed at numerous popular venues within Liverpool where he resides, and examples include the Everyman Bistro and the Zanzibar. The director of Tillerman Records now aims to become a global recording artist and to be renowned for producing unique, high quality and strong eclectic music.

Paul is also committed to using his success and song writing talents to provide support to and raise awareness of the issues affecting underprivileged people world-wide. In pursuing this goal, Paul manages all aspects of service provision, including song writing, production, editing and live performances. In addition, his team of four oversees the daily operational tasks which are fundamental to the long term success of the business. These tasks include marketing, quality control, networking, customer support and administration. However, because the business is enjoying success and steady growth, it is apparent that additional staff will be required to assist with the development aspect of the business. This will then enable the director to focus more on writing and producing music.

Marketing Strategy

While it is recognised that the quality of the music produced by Tillerman Records Ltd differentiates it from its competitors, Paul further adopted a unique and innovative marketing strategy. In addition, to the conventional marketing activities, Paul engaged an online promotional strategy designed to provide customers/fans with increased incentive to purchase CD albums retailed by the company. By answering just three questions online, the customer will be placed in a prize draw with a chance to win monetary prize. The potential buyer’s personal details will be registered on the website before entering the prize draw. Establishing customer records through this method has, in turn, enabled Tillerman records to encourage future custom through the use of promotional emails to raise awareness of new products.

The strategy has achieved increased sales as customers appreciate the added value associated with purchasing music and gaining the chance to enter a competition simultaneously. This marketing approach raised brand awareness and increased the number of ‘hits’ to the company’s website, whilst creating opportunities to generate additional streams of revenue via sponsorship and advertising income.

Growth Strategy

In pursuing business growth and sustainability, Paul has teamed up with other like minded artists and is completely confident that together they can build upon the success achieved to date. Growth has been exacerbated by the increasing support and encouragement targeted at the creative industries by the government and associated bodies. Furthermore, in light of these trends, the business has benefited from the huge awareness of Liverpool, (its culture and creative industries boost which has largely resulted from the 2008 European Capital of Culture Award). Creative industries in the North West of England and in particular the Merseyside sub-region place emphasis upon innovation and thus encourages the development of creative businesses and cross-sector affiliations which endorse links to market opportunities.

Paul is confident that the time is right for the company to continue to enjoy the opportunities presented by the environment. He researched and found out that the UK music industry has witnessed a period of sustained growth and is currently worth the excess of £2 billion per annum with a growth rate of 8% per year.

Success at Tillerman Records

The production of a second album ‘Yesterdays Clown’ has brought a successful sale of 1000 units to the business, within a short space of time. Consequently the intensification of promotional activities by the director has resulted in gaining 3000 new subscribers to the company.

Issues

The challenge is to sustain the increased growth that the company is currently experiencing. Paul has realised that the music business can be unpredictable and therefore is developing additional facilities and services intended to maintain the current level of stability and growth. A new studio is under development and this will be equipped with recording and editing facilities which will enable the company to become self sufficient in producing its music. The challenge is to meet the timescales for completion while staying within the project budget limit.

Legal Entity: Private Limited company. Description: Trading as Tillerman Records Ltd, Paul has produced eclectic range of music to attract customers and built a client base at an international level. Products: music writing and production. Trading since: 2005. Turnover: £61,000. Website: www.tillermanrecords.com.

Learning Curve

Paul is a professional singer-song writer whose ambition is to expand the geographical market and target global customers. However, the artist has learnt the hard way, that developing the business while still concentrating on his area of expertise is more than a challenge. Paul has now recognised the need to engage a professional marketing company to take the marketing strategy forward. This can take the weight off his shoulders and release more time for him to concentrate more on developing his music talent.