South by Southwest Taste on a MyTown Budget

SXSW has become such a high-profile music industry event that marketers clamor to it and then try to rise above the fray to create a killer buzz campaign. And that gets pricey.

(Click here to better understand why music is such a powerful marketing tool.)

So your product or service is perfect for a music industry showcase & festival, but what’s a small business to do? Well, check around for a SXSW knock-off in your city or region. The tremendous success of SXSW has spawned tons of copy-cat events all over the country. Of course they may not offer the same prestigious association, but they do offer a heck of a lot else that any savvy marketer can and should take advantage of. They also offer the chance for a more meaningful interaction with potential consumers – an opportunity that marketing-campaign-saturation renders less relevant every year at SXSW .

So here’s a partial list of similar events in other cities that might be more budget- and marketing-friendly to you:
DFest in Tulsa, Ok.
MusicFest Northwest in Portland, Or.
Atlantis Music Festival in Atlanta, Ga.
NoisePop in San Francisco, Ca.
MOBFest in Chicago, Il.

In addition to the above, most major markets have a local alt-weekly paper that hosts an annual music awards event. Some markets that come to mind are Dallas, Houston, St. Louis, Kansas City, Phoenix, L.A. / Orange County, Seattle, and Portland.

These events are lists that come to mind with no research (as I’ve been to most of them). So it’s just a matter of a little research.

OR…

Combo Platter specializes in this kind of thing. To find out why you should consider music events to market at, go here and here

To determine if this is a viable marketing avenue for your business – and it’s not for everyone – contact Combo Platter at info(at)ComboPlatter(dot)net.

Posted Friday February 29, 2008
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Comment

  1. Hello Amy,

    I arrived at your posting via LinkedIn, our firm has produced several campaigns for labels and brand marketers at SXSW, Coachella, Bumbershoot, Bonnaroo, and many others. I’d be interested in chatting things up with your regarding music marketing. I am the Director of Marketing, and my company also represents one of the top tour marketing agencys in securing tour sponsors. We handle the sponsorship sale all the way to the street level activation.

    Cheers,

    Ben Randolph
    blr@waveomnimedia.com

    — Ben Randolph · Apr 2, 21:38 · #

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