Leadership Portfolio Month 4: Entertainment Business Finance

LP Assignment: Interview a professional in the banking industry

During this month I was privileged to meet and interview Isaiah Evans, Jr., Vice President and Banking Center Manger at Bank of America (Orlando location). We talked about the qualifications of banking professionals and lending, available services for individuals and businesses, and current interest rates on deposits and loans. This assignment taught me meaningful and practical lessons on finances that I was never shown throughout my childhood and undergraduate years. There are a lot of ways to capitalize on your money that can be tailored to your affordability or interest. Everyone can take advantage of the saying; “let your money work for you”.

Leadership Portfolio Month 3: Business Storytelling and Brand Development

LP Assignment: Tell a significant childhood story that lead to interest to business plan interest

For this assignment, I created a short clip telling a story about my childhood and how it shaped my love for music and also developed my interest in owning a record label. Through that childhood story I learned the importance of how storytelling can capture an audience in numerous ways. Some people are captured because they can relate or are simply intrigued by a well-told story. I also learned that there are different ways in which a person can tell a story and that it does not always involve reflecting on the past or verbal communication. I included the clip below, enjoy! (Click "clip" if below does not work)

Leadership Portfolio Month 2: Project and Team Management

LP assignment: Create and develop a project proposal for golf course charity event w/group

I was assigned to a group (we named our company “Unity Events”) made up of three members and together we were responsible for developing a project proposal for a charity event located at Sand Trap Country Club. My group divided components (technical, management and cost section) of the proposal that we each would be responsible for and we alternated holding the position of Project Manager at the beginning of each week. Not only did I learn how to put a solid project proposal together, but I also learned how to be an effective leader and team player. I took slack and provided help when needed. I learned the importance of understanding the work habits of others and how I could mesh my style with that to make a winning team. This was an overall great experience in terms of strengthen my people and staff development traits.

Logo designed by Vineeth Kalva

Leadership Portfolio Month 1: Executive Leadership

LP Assignment: Identify strengths and weaknesses in my leadership traits


For this assignment I took a Leader Skills Assessment to identify my leadership traits (both strong and weak) from the book “Developing the Leader Within You” by John C. Maxwell. I learned that my strong traits were: priorities, integrity, self-discipline, vision, creating positive change, influence and attitude. My weaknesses were problem solving, people and staff development. Upon learning my traits, I was able to analyze them and formulate a plan to strengthen my weaker traits. I executed my plan through leadership activities (along with the Leadership Portfolio assignments) I participated in throughout the program like:

- Get involved with an on-campus AND off-campus organization
- Join a committee and/or executive board
- Get familiar with everybody in the chosen organization
- Recruit people I think would be an asset to the organization
- Chair an event


1st & 2nd Leadership Activities: Joined the Black Student Union and served as Public Relations and Marketing Chair

Logo designed by Bill Hudson

I found this organization (BSU) through Propeller and attended a general body meeting. Little did I know that they were going to hold elections that day or that I would become an executive member at my first meeting. Nonetheless, being involved on campus has always been important to me so I stepped up to the plate, as the organization needed my help. So without hesitation I became BSU’s Public Relations and Marketing Chair.

The Effectiveness of Digital Channels

The effectiveness of digital channels for companies has become more and more necessary and relevant. They allow companies to address and interact with consumer’s head on, sell products, stay updated on the business world from a competitive perspective and allow them the opportunity to gain and/or sustain their competitive advantage.



There are many digital channels out there especially if you interpret the word in its entirety. These channels could mean social media, email, mobile apps, display ads and much more than your attention span could absorb while reading this. Strategy is as big a deal as knowing the channels that are available and utilizing them. These channels can grow, sustain or not affect your business at all but that depends on you. The digital channels I choose are ones that I find effective for myself as a consumer which in turn gives me insight on how to utilize these same channels from a business standpoint.



Three digital channels that catch my attention are: email/newsletter, social media and advertising. My short definition for the reasons I chose these channels is as follows: you keep in touch with consumers through email, you reach out to them with social media and you bring them in and/or keep them with advertising.



I believe these channels are effective because they are more direct methods of getting to their core consumers. For instance, I love Papa John's pizza so when I receive a text or email about a special offer the chances of me going to their website and ordering something is very high. So not only am I satisfied with the product, I also put myself in a position to feel special enough for that company to contact me when they are doing special promotions. I think the psychological effect that occurs from the marketing strategy of a company is the magic that is marketing.



Tips:

1.) A good tip for a marketer to understand is the “psychology” involved that I mentioned before. Consumers hate ads but they love to be targeted in the sense that they are getting special offers or immediate updates and information on the companies/products they love.

2.) Another tip is that you should know how you can best reach a consumer and this to me is why social media is important and effective because most of our time throughout the day is spent on social media sites.

3.) The last and most important tip for any company is to formulate an objective for your marketing strategy to align with. Who are you trying to reach? What are you offering once you reach them? How will you keep their attention?



The best marketers are consumers because we know what we want. I think when a company can turn away from the bottom line and put themselves in consumer’s shoes I believe they can cook up a great and effective marketing strategy very easily.

The World of VD

The very sight of VD probably raises an eyebrow to those reading this right now. But unlike what we have known the abbreviation for in the past (and present, smh), is the best abbreviation I could cook up that integrates video with the digital world. Now that we have that all cleared up, let's briefly talk about digital marketing.

Anybody (or company) that considers themselves digital marketers should be more than willing to use video in their digital advertising campaigns. The population is spending more and more time online than any where else in terms of entertainment, news, work, and whatever else you can think of that can simply be typed into a Google search bar. The population is not only doing this on a desk or laptop but on their phones, gaming consoles, iPad, etc. Most of the projections on where digital marketing was heading have come alive rapidly. So the “smart marketer” would advertise where the traffic is most likely to take place, which is within the digital realm.



Below are two video posts within the entertainment industry that execute the digital marketing concept:













The first video “Lebron Rise” is Nike’s initiative of giving one of their top athletic sponsors an opportunity to react to all the ridicule of “The Decision” where James announced to the world that he was going to leave Cleveland and play in Miami back in July. This video has received over 3 million views since the commercial aired on Oct 24th, 2010 (same date as NBA season opener). Nike has effectively displayed their support for their superstar sponsor and has received the attention they sought out all the while advertising Lebron James’s latest shoe from the collection he has released with Nike since being drafted in the NBA in 2003.



The last video is one of the few collaborations with HP and Beats by Dr. Dre. Both companies effectively integrate music and technology to promote a laptop and its booming speakers (an extension of Beats by Dr. Dre headphone collection). HP is obviously trying to send the message that their laptops are capable of more than surfing the net and completing projects but are a great multimedia tool, particularly, for music. Dr. Dre showcases a flawless composition (as usual) in the back ground giving consumers an idea of just how well he knows a good sound and that Beats by Dr. Dre can help them obtain that same knowledge within the experience from his signature speakers and now popular brand. It’s clear that this video is obviously pushing digital marketing to those many digital users/consumers.

Digital Trends

Three digital trends that have the most impact in my industry(music) are digital distribution, social media and digital illiteracy. These trends have caused havoc amongst the four major record labels due to there slow adaptation to the rise of technology that brought along piracy, convenience and inexpensive ways to get music that rarely resulted in the labels getting a profit. Digital distribution and social media have caused artists to use the web to market themselves, get there music heard and sold. Here is a article that touches on some relevant trends: http://mashable.com/2009/05/30/digital-music-trends/

These changes will provide smart marketers with a way to get themselves out there without having to depend on a major distribution deal. Artists like Soulja Boy and Justin Beiber are examples of how powerful the web can be through mediums like Youtube whether it is your intention to turn your talent into something viral or not. If you are not familiar with these two artists (if you lived under a rock of course) here are a couple videos that made them viral video icons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UFIYGkROII (Soulja Boy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXBAGCPvrqc (Justin Beiber)