Revitalizing the

Community
A Proposal for
The Fargo-Moorhead Community Association

Submitted to Megan Even

November 21, 2016

Spot On
Marketing
1704 Dakota Drive N, Fargo, ND 58102 | (612)864-2643

Current Situation
The Fargo-Moorhead area is currently struggling to retain its population of
young professionals. Spot On Marketing would like The Fargo-Moorhead
Community Association work to solve this problem. In a survey and focus
group study we conducted recently many at North Dakota State University
intend to leave the area immediately after graduation. When we asked them
why they made this decision many responded that they are unsatisfied with
the number of social activities available in the area, specifically concerts.
Many survey and focus group participants said that they have to go to the
Twin Cities for music events and that they wish there were more events of
this nature available in the FM area. We did a bit of research on music
events in the area by simply looking at local news outlets such as the High
Plains Reader. We learned that there are already many artists and venues
available in the area, but the students are unaware of these events. We
suggest that Spot On Marketing helps to promote these events and in the
process encourages young professionals to learn about what is going on in
their city and find a reason to stay in this wonderful community.

Objectives
The FM area has a reputation of only keeping the young population in the
area until they graduate college. As we have identified in the previous
section one way we can solve this issue is through marketing local music
events held at various venues making the young professionals of the FM
area aware of events that are going on around town that they otherwise
were not familiar with.
The cause of this problem is the common thought among the young
professional age range that there are no activities in the FM area except for
going out to bars and restaurants. The reason the people of this area feel
this way is because they are unaware of the other many events going on
every weekend due to a lack of advertising. Not only that, but local venues
are not generating nearly as much money as they could be if there events
were advertised properly. Most young professionals hang out at the same
spots over and over because they are unaware of new venues or local events
going on around town.
The goal of our company is to team up with venues and artists in or visiting
the area and advertise their events around Fargo. This not only benefits the
artist's popularity but it also generates revenue to the venue and other local
businesses in the area. The overall strategy that we will use for marketing
our clients is through social media, print, and radio ads. Through our
experience targeting our market in the 19- 29 age range, this is the most

effective way to get their attention and draw them to our events. Our plan
for our artists and venues will consist of three methods.
The three methods we will use include:
1. Building a client base
2. Promoting clients through new media
3. Create new clients through researching venues

Methods
We are a marketing firm who will promote venues and artists in the FM area.
Our objective is to have young professionals stay in Fargo and we want to do
that by getting bands into Fargo to attract the alumni to have fun activities.
One way we will do this is by promoting local bands because there is a huge
variety of genres that are offered in Fargo. While also getting people to go to
the concert venues that many people don't know about to enjoy something
on a weekend.
Using our four pillars to make a great community in the FM area we will
promote venues and artists to get popularity for these places and people to
get alumni to stay here for the great entertainment that is offered.
First we will build the clientele base of both artists and venues. In order to
do this, we will contact existing venues such as The Aquarium, The
Windbreak, and The Hodo Lounge to name a few. While also contacting
existing artists that play in Fargo and Moorhead area. We will also analyze
the current situation of those venues and artists and ask the questions. How
are the bands/ venues promoting their music? What can our firm work on to
get the word out for these bands and venues?
We also want to create new clients with startup bands and build
relationships between existing venues and artists so they are more open to
playing at different venues. Help local businesses realize the potential to
have live music in their shop that dont already have bands playing for
example at local coffee shops like Babbs coffee house, while also promoting
them to the extreme.

Qualifications
Company History
Spot On Marketing was founded in 2013 by Jackie Jordan, a marketing
expert with a vision for the future. What started as a small advertising
agency that employed six people, in just 3 years turned into a large
company with over 200 employees. Recently Spot On has been featured in
Forbes magazine on a list of the 50 fastest growing companies.
Jackie Jordan, President
Jackie graduated from NDSU with a Bachelors degree in Marketing. While
she attended NDSU she fell in love with the Fargo/Moorhead area and knew
she wanted to return. She continued her education by receiving a Master's
degree in Marketing Management from the St. Josephs University, New
York. She then worked as the senior producer for MKG Marketing Agency for
10 years and gained great experience in the field. In Spring of 2013 she
moved back to Fargo and fulfilled her dreams by opening Spot On Marketing.
Kori Stephens, Creative Project Manager
Kori Stephens graduated from North Dakota State University with a
Bachelor's degree in Web Design and minor in Marketing. She has a strong
knowledge of web design principles and user experience while also having
extensive knowledge of digital media channels, digital advertising
requirements and print production.
Kim Meier, Social Media Manager
Kim Meier is a born and raised Fargonian who studied at North Dakota State
University graduating with honors. She then proceeded to work at the Flint
Group focusing on communication campaigns and the companys social
media. She is now solely the Social Media Manager for Spot On Marketing.
Robyn Siewert, Research Analyst
Robyn Siewert moved to Fargo from central Minnesota in 2008 to attend
North Dakota State University. She graduated with an MBA, Bachelors
degree in Statistics and a Professional Selling Certificate in 2011. Now she is
the Research Analyst for Spot On Marketing.

Budget
We will map out a customized, cost effective plan made to meet our client's
specific needs.

Benefits
Through the work from our marketing team, our overall goal is to promote
existing musical artists and venues in the area as well as bring music to new
venues. This will provide the Fargo Moorhead area with new options for
music as well as always being updated on what musical events are
happening in the area. By doing this we address the issue of young
professionals not having a lot of options for social activities. We hope to not
only better market the music that is currently here in Fargo/Moorhead, but
also bring music to smaller venues such as coffee shops. This will allow the
atmosphere of the event to be more personal allowing for young
professionals to meet and socialize.
Currently Fargo/Moorhead has more young professionals than ever before.
We need to keep young professionals in the area as well as bring in new
people. By having a variety of music genres and a variety of venues we
provide a place for people to interact and meet new people all while enjoying
great music. This gives them just another reason to stay in the area besides
the great job and cheap housing. By helping keep these young professionals
in the area we provide the community with overall population growth and
increase in revenue. Due to the states economic status this will not only
benefit the local area, but the entire state as well.
However, it is not only a benefit for the individual or the state. Businesses in
the area that we work directly with will see a large increase in traffic through
their doors, more ticket sales and in return more revenue for them. This will
allow them to continue to provide music and the area will even increase in
musical events.
Thank you for providing the opportunity for us to prepare a proposal that will
improve the life of young professionals in our area. As you can see, our
proposal would not only do that but also provide benefits to everyone in the
Fargo/Moorhead area. If you have any questions please contact our
president, Jackie Jordan, at (701)-771-0000. We look forward to hearing
from you and greatly appreciate you providing us with the chance improving
the life of our area's young professionals.

Resources
Music. High Plains Reader. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2016. Retrieved from
http://hpr1.com/index.php/arts-entertainment/music/

Appendix 1
Survey Questions
1. What is your age range?
a. 18-19
b. 20-21
c. 22-24
d. 25+
2. What is your Major?
3. Are you originally from Fargo-Moorhead?
4. If originally from Fargo-Moorhead, what drew you to stay in the area?
5. If not, what drew you to the area (besides school)?
6. What is one thing that would get you to stay in Fargo-Moorhead?
7. Is there another place you would like to live?
8. How likely would you be to recommend that another student come to FargoMoorhead?
a. Very unlikely
b. Somewhat unlikely
c. Neutral
d. Somewhat likely
e. Very likely
9. How long to you plan to stay in the FM area?
a. Leave right after graduation
b. At least 5 years
c. At least 10 years
d. Permanently
10.Do you feel satisfied with the FM area nightlife/social activities?
a. Very unsatisfied
b. Somewhat unsatisfied
c. Neutral
d. Somewhat satisfied
e. Very satisfied
11.If finances were not relevant, how likely would you be to move out of the
area?
a. Very unlikely
b. Somewhat unlikely
c. Neutral
d. Somewhat likely
e. Very likely
12.What is most important to you when thinking about where you would like to
live as a young professional?
a. Job market
b. Cost of living
c. Family friendly area
d. Good social life options
13.What most affects your decision on how long you are willing to stay?
a. Family/Friends

b. Job market
c. Cost of living
d. Finances
14.If you could bring any business to the FM area, what would you choose?
15.What type of things do you enjoy doing outside of work or school?
16.Have you had an experience in Fargo that you enjoyed and would tell other
people about, that stuck out for you to tell other people about?

Appendix 2
Focus Group Questions
1. What is your age, major and hometown?
2. What is a hobby/activity you enjoy doing that is not offered in the
Fargo/Moorhead area?
3. What do you feel Fargo/Moorhead is lacking most in terms of a social aspect
for young professionals?
4. How important is it to you that a city offers good social life options when
looking for a location of a future career?
5. What originally drew you to the FM area besides school?
6. Do you plan to stay in the FM area after graduation? What affects this
decision?
7. If you could live in any city in the Midwest, where would you move and why?
8. Have you lived in a city other than Fargo? If so, what types of social activities
did you participate in there?