By: Ami Heinrich, Owner Tsunami Music Publicity
The use of posters, handbills and fliers have often been considered a critical piece of the marketing puzzle for grabbing an audience while they are standing in line, going to a like-minded event or sitting idle on the mass transit system. At Tsunami we incorporate an active national street team of over 3000 volunteers who promote hundreds of shows and festivals per year alone. With each large package stuffed full of posters, it’s hard not to recognize that the carbon footprint paper promotions leave behind
lasts far longer than the event we are promoting.

According to the US EPA, Nearly 44 million tons of paper and paperboard were recycled in 2006 alone, with only a 50% recovery rate. This means that nearly 1/2 of the materials we are passing out on the streets are ending up in nearby trash cans. Sure, it’s easy to rationalize that the other 50% will end up getting recycled locally, which will help minimize our impact. Or will it? Also according to the EPA, at least 35% of our recycled goods were shipped to other countries for processing, which add in the use of oil and other precious fuels to get it there. Not to mention the amount of energy, water, time and workforce it takes to process a piece of paper into a bright new sheet of paper. By the time it is reborn, you have to wonder if your impact was actually reduced. Of course, anything we can do to cut back deforestation is a bonus, but are there better ways to minimize our impact without minimizing our ability to be effective? At Tsunami, we think so.
Enter the On-Line Street Team.

We believe the advent of social networking, internet discussion boards and blogs can help reduce the impact of not only paper but the fossil fuels it takes to get it there. In our recent promotion for Sonic Bloom we coupled on-line networking tactics with a scaled down street team to get the word out as fast as possible. Our internet volunteers were chosen based on the size of their personal network and the number of music discussion boards they were active on a regular basis. Each member of the team was given a set amount of required posts to deliver in order to receive a discounted ticket to the show. To prove their work, they were also required to send screen shots of their postings.

Did it work?
The show sold out before gates opened.

We’re pretty certain it made a major difference in promoting this years event.
Why does it work? Word of mouth marketing is not only valuable but crucial in today’s marketplace. And when delivered to a selected group of individuals (in this case the personal network of the events biggest fans) we are marketing directly to the demographic with a personal, close friend touch. This is priceless. And in the end, there is virtually no carbon footprint to leave behind. Unless you count the hours it took to get a hot cup of morning coffee in the hands of your volunteer, while they work.

To learn more about Tsunami Music Publicity and how we execute creative marketing and publicity plans for our clients, join our educational blog or contact us!!