ACADEMIC QUERY COUNCIL(AQC)
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
BUSINESS CONCEPTS
WHAT WE DO
MISSION AND VISSION STATEMENT
CURRENT SCOPE OF AQC BRAND
MARKET ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The development of Academic Query Council (AQC) model and concepts began
several years ago when Mr Henry Ita observe the hazy information available
between the student and the higher institution of his/ her choice. The lack of
adequate information leads to the wrong decision of choice. AQC brand was
birthed to bridge the divide and as well provide quality programming and
entertainment for online users. The aim is to set up a world-class studio.
Academic Query Council (AQC) Recording Studio aim to be a one-stop and
standard recording studio that is fully equipped with the latest technology in
the recording studio industry. Our recording studio will be located in Ikeja
the capital of Lagos state, Nigeria and we are positioned to work for a wide
range of client ranging from universities, polytechnics, college of education
and Higher Institution across Africa. We will also incorporate organizations
such as Multinational oil and gas companies, Telecommunication companies and
Financial Institutions.
The company is seeking a Loan of N40 million to fund the launch of the
AQC Project. The AQC show is an online television and radio-based show reaching
students with vital information about schooling, keeping them informed on
activities around their campuses and connecting the University and college
community across Africa in one show.
The Funds required will be used to conceptualize a standard and a
vibrant studio for the project. The cost expected to be incurred is N30.7M. The
Five years financial Plan shows that the project will transform the Company
into an integrated entertainment company focusing on the multibillion-dollar
film market bringing together a top-flight management team to execute a new,
highly-profitable distribution model that provides a greater ROI on urban-themed
feature programme.
Academic Query Council (AQC) Recording Studio is not just going to be
engaged in the recording of educative and informative programmes for Higher
Institution but we will also open our doors to corporate organizations for branding
and advertisement purposes and also authors who would want to record their
audiobooks and other related works. Our business goal is to work towards
becoming one of the leading recording studio brands in the whole of Lagos and
in the nearest future compete with the leaders in the industry in Africa.
We are not ignorant of the fact that building a standard and world-class
recording studio from the scratch requires huge capital base– class studio
equipment (production equipment) et al, which is why we have perfect plans for
a steady flow of cash from our business partners with interest in our line of
business. We can confidently say that we have created a robust financial plan
and we are ready to take on any challenge that we encounter in the industry.
We will ensure that all our employees are selected from a pool of
talented and highly creative people with ears for good content in and around
Lagos. We will make sure that we take all the members of our workforce through
the required training that will position them to meet the expectation of the
company and to compete with other players in the Industry.
At Academic Query Council (AQC)®
Recording Studio our client's best interest will always come first, and
everything we do will be guided by our values and professional ethics. We will
ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards by meeting
our client's needs precisely and completely. We will cultivate a working
environment that provides a human, sustainable approach to earning a living, and
living in our world, for our partners, employees and for our clients.
BUSINESS CONCEPT
Business Overview
AQC will create the first Internet Entertainment Network offering
educative and informative programming along with the music. Recognizing that a
vital aspect of selling merchandise online is to provide compelling
entertainment content to inspire sales. The company's unique content will
showcase the new and exciting Entertainment and all the products, events,
services and adventures associated with campuses in Africa.
Offering an interactive
experience, the channel will cater to a worldwide audience of "like-minded"
enthusiasts in an effort to build a synergistic global educative community.
The AQC Show will bring the campus to the doorstep of the viewers. The
Company revenues will be generated from three specific sources: (1) Product
branding paid by product sponsors (2) School profiling (3) AQC app and AQC
recruitment.
How the Service Works
AQC website will be designed to facilitate product transactions and
entertain our viewers.
The service will work as follows:
Registration. Anyone can browse through the site. However, in order to
purchase an item for sale, the buyer must first register with our service. This
can be done extremely quickly via online forms that are provided. In addition,
the user will specify certain preferences such as the language in which they
will view the site, currencies, to ease use on repeat visits.
Purchasing. Buyers can find items of interest by selecting on the
categories provided within the site, or, can use our sophisticated search
engine to locate items of interest. Once a product is selected the transaction
is seamlessly recorded simultaneously within AQC BRAND's site and the
respective vendors' site. Buyers are kept informed of their transaction records
via email and through online purchasing records. Upon completion of a
transaction, buyers can choose where and how to send products. Our vendors
fulfil orders for all products.
Selling. Our product sponsors can list products for sale. This can be
done via AQC brand custom sponsorship packages. The Company pays all fees associated
with the transaction including a prepaid listing fee (fees will vary depending
on sponsorship package or a number of products) as well as a commission of the
final sale price, ranging 3 to 30% depending upon the size and complexity of
the transaction and product.
Community. Users of the site will be encouraged to take part in our
community experience, using message boards, chat rooms and email. Thus,
building an ongoing profile of our customers that will provide value-added
marketing and demographic data and feedback to our sponsors.
Opportunity / Value Proposition
Benefits to our Consumers
People will be attracted to the site because of several key value
propositions:
Cutting edge content. Our content will inspire our consumers to explore
articles and encourage repeat visits to discover exciting new
"insider" activities, courses offered and important information about
the campus. Our content will be derived from a number of qualified writers and
producers. The acquisition and development of our content will be exclusive in
most cases to protect our brand.
Unique information/viewing experience. The site will provide a unique
visual experience for prospective students and others who browse through our
site. shopping experiences and show events on each campus will be displayed in
3D and we will provide our viewers with this experience through an animated
experience. Users will have the opportunity to use our cutting-edge 3D
mannequin technology. We will capture the campus in 3D technology and showcase
to the world.
Highly customizable. The site will be highly interactive and
customizable for viewing and shopping. The more frequent our consumers use the
site the richer their viewing, shopping and interactive experience will become,
eventually offering selections that match each customer's personal tastes. Each
time a user re-enters the site, AQC brand will recognize the customer and
present products and content most likely to be purchased or preferred.
Easy to use. The site will be built specifically for the consumer and
will be extremely easy to use and purchase products. Our navigation, shopping
and purchasing experience will be effortless and unlike some of our competitors,
our site will present our products, programming and content in a manner that is
uncluttered. Our site will contain more pictures than text, thus navigation
will be frequently activated by clicking on objects rather than text.
Community. AQC Brand will build a strong community of people who have
similar interests in our programming and content. This direct communication
between our sponsors, celebrities and consumers will allow for an exchange of
information, fostering customer loyalty and repeat site use. Providing a
community experience has proven to be an important element of success for most
online companies.
Benefits to our Sponsors, Advertisers and Syndication Partners
Sponsors will be attracted to the site because of several key value
propositions:
Large numbers of qualified users. The site will target and capture
behavioural and demographic data from our consumers. Each customer profile data
will be stored in our database for targeting future buyers and traffic.
Enhances brick and mortar business models. For products not sold through
the Internet, AQC brand will drive traffic from its website to physical store
locations of its' sponsors. A few articles of high-end sports, clothing and
accessories which is attractive to the youth will be exclusively promoted on
our site. Online customers will be referred to the nearest retail store for
purchase.
Global distribution. Our unique Internet viewing experience will provide
our sponsors with a cost-effective and efficient method of marketing their products
to a global audience. Through our targeted and global marketing efforts the
company expects to reach unique and qualified audiences worldwide.
Unique integration of content & product advertising. Our content
will integrate products from our sponsors with a unique combination of pictures
and text. Presentation of storefront will be designed to the specific tastes of
our viewers and product.
Customized sponsorship/advertising packages. Each package will be
catered to the needs of our sponsors' advertising, marketing, and sales
objectives. Options within our custom packages will include: Targeting specific
customers, countries and audiences, featured presentations, premiere storefront
space, featured articles, celebrity endorsements and co-branding opportunities.
Syndication of content. AQC brand will provide fresh content and
programming directly to its syndication partners, thus enhancing their brand
and attracting traffic. Fresh content will be provided to our partners through
links to our site. Our editors and writers will provide "insider"
entertainment, celebrity and rich content that will attract customers and
encourage repeat use.
Revenue Streams
The Company will target several different types of transactions. They
are:
Product Branding
School Profiling
QC app and Content / Programming Syndication
QC recruitment.
Product branding and Sponsorships.
The Company will provide custom sponsorship packages to a selected group
of sponsors. In return for paying fixed fees, sponsors will receive premium
placement on the site, advertising and content integration services. Sponsors
will receive integrated product placements in our content. We will provide our
elite product sponsors category specific exclusivity.
School profiling:
The Ministry of Education has approved our concept-AQC Show as one of
the media machines to promote and report admission and academic information in
Nigeria. We embarked on a 3 months' awareness campaign in 2015 and the response
from the schools was very heart-warming.
Each school are eager to profile its activities such as Matriculation,
Convocation, groundbreaking ceremonies, seminars, NUGA games etc., through our
concept and they are expected to pay for the profiling.
AQC app and Content/Programming syndication
The AQC app will be available at the play store which is downloadable
into a device.
WHAT WE DO
ABOUT ACADEMIC QUERY COUNCIL? AQC show is an online television and
radio-based show reaching students with vital information about schooling,
keeping them informed on activities around their campuses and connecting the
University and college community across Africa in one show.
AQC creates lifestyle attractions that are built around learning,
helping improve students through our media platform, to discover and stay in
touch with information about academics and schooling, showcase their talent and
skills as students. It invents trends that are built around the framework of
keeping students in school.
The show is made up of four (4) information/ lifestyle segments:
Cross campus. "Bringing
Campus to you"
Cross Campus is bringing information about Universities and Colleges
around Africa on TV, the Web and Print Media.
It highlights the distinction and peculiarities of each Institution, as
well as its strengths, relating these to those seeking admission into them.
It presents drama through a documentary of outstanding institutions in
Africa, from the archives created by the information we have gathered over the
years, telling stories about schools, and the fascinating history behind their
establishment.
It simply showcases the Campuses in Africa and the moments they hold to
share with the world. "It brings Campus to you".
The Village
The Village focuses on building a network of circles around Universities
and Colleges in Africa. It brings you
the Campus experience, hype, trend, fashion and unique people. From inside Africa, it connects with events,
faces and communities inside the Campus.
It presents students with experiences they have to share. It celebrates the achievement, introduces a
way of life and brings every student the opportunity to be heard through
innovation in technology, art, special skills and talent. It presents "the
community that speaks".
Campus Drop (Music Mix Trend)
Campus Drop gives every student the opportunity to decide what music and
top rated videos trend on TV/Radio.
Students around Africa vote online for what will become the top rated
music videos to # Drop on the AQC show. It projects upcoming talents in the
industry from the Campus. From making hot songs to the best music videos, we
bring you those making music inside Africa.
It is "Music Mix Trend".
Pitch Africa
Africa is known for her significant history rise and reign of empires,
rich traditions, colourful landscapes, beautiful seasons, legends and myths.
A continent of over 2million years old.
We take a look through its existence and the history of those who
contributed to the future we live in today.
The world calls her Africa. For
us it is Home.
Pitch Africa presents a review on Africa, now and the future. Pitching history, it travels across the great
continent bringing you people, places and events, telling times, the origin of
culture, backgrounds, technology and songs that built communities.
It showcases Africa's fascinating architectures in time. Here we pitch on Africa, "The Big
Continent".
AQC On Radio
AQC ON RADIO focuses on lifestyle on Campus, extracts from the TV
content "THE VILLAGE". It
presents the talent students possess and the music that inspires them to
achieve the unimaginable on Radio.
The show is made up of Twitter moments, School tube. Voices on Campus
Roll tape
Roll Tape is the Game. Here every
student has the opportunity to participate by texting for a chance on the
show. You copy a rhyme, make your own
lyrics on it, and then bring it to TV/Radio on Roll Tape.
Meet our MCS: (Reps on Campus)
The show presents the opportunity for students from 100 to 300 level
across schools to become MCs on the show, representing their School and
reporting activities from the Campus.
Videos from Schools' round trips are brought on TV for our viewers on
the AQC SHOW as we select MCs from auditions in the different Campuses. From
across Africa AQC is making media personalities inside the Campuses. Student MCs from Colleges and Universities
represent their institutions on The AQC Show!
Mission and Vision Statement
Mission
To enable a higher education information resource; an academic media
platform showcasing trends around schools; inspire the energy within circles
and friends.
To create a recording in a comfortable home-like atmosphere and to
create an efficient and cost-effectiveness in order to achieve a superior
product of the highest professional quality. AQC BRAND studios also wishes to
build a strong long-term relationship with clients in order to be able to
facilitate a networking community for our family of clients to build on each
other's successes, and to capitalize on the growing entertainment market in the
Nigeria through uniqueness and the ability of customization for each project
while at the same time maintaining a comfortable family atmosphere where
everyone is treated as if he or she were a star and belong to the AQC BRAND
community.
Vision
AQC Studios aims to become a major networking facilitator in the
entertainment industry in Nigeria and providing a comfortable atmosphere for
clients to record a high-quality product in order to fulfil their end user's
desire for their product. Through partnerships with brands and organisations,
AQC Studios can be a provider for all recording needs, becoming home to both
local and International Higher Institutions.
CURRENT SCOPE OF AQC BRAND
The Project is an existing project managed by Henry Ita. It has
developed into a project that is ripe for expansion. In the last 5 years, He
intended to showcase his pool of talent by conceptualising the AQC show.
It was a massive hit as it toured 35 campuses in the south-west,
south-east of Nigeria in order to records its programmes. The Company incurred
N10m in logistics, travels and overheads expenses in the bid to actualising the
AQC BRAND show.
However, because of the paucity of funds, the Company could not realise
its objectives. Hence the need for injections of funds in order to achieve the
goal and objective of the AQC project.
During the local promotional
tours, The Company assessed the acceptance of the projects from stakeholders
such as Dean of faculties, Vice-chancellors of the schools and the reception
received was very heart-warming. The tour was successful because, in a
two-weeks' time span, the schools were urging the Company to quickly commence
the project.
The AQC show is an informative, educative and entertaining show that is
innovative in all spheres. The company's goal is to expand its territory
(market share) and increase the marketability and product awareness of our
brand partners.
Like any new business, the
success of AQC project depended squarely on start-up capital during its early
stages of development.
In 20014, Engr. Nwosu was
appointed into Board of Directors as Chairman of the Company and this is a big
milestone in the Direction of the Company. Engr. Nwosu will bring his wealth of
experience to the multi-faceted business sector for the growth of the Company.
The company is firmly structured, knowledgeable about its market, and
efficient in its core competencies. With adequate financial backing, AQC BRAND
project will quickly become a chief competitor in the educative and
entertainment industry in Nigeria.
MARKET ANALYSIS
Target Customers
The target customers for AQC can be characterized by the following:
Persons who have the interest to study in a higher institution in
Africa.
Persons who enjoy the entertainment experience of online shopping.
Persons who identify with entertainment.
Persons who are familiar with good programming and are comfortable
purchasing online.
Have access to the Internet either at work or home.
Target Customer Demographics
A more detailed view of AQC's targeted customers by demographic
characteristics is the following:
82% Male: age 16-34 / 18% Female:24 years avg. age.
79% undergraduates.
75% need more information about the school of their choice.
59% love music and entertainment.
72% access Internet from Home/Home Office.
45% go online daily.
Market Characteristics and Trends
There are a number of trends that are converging to make AQC the ideal
marketing solution for an education platform.
Lack of a well-coordinated platform for campuses
New Technology – Is enabling a more "rich" viewing experience
for consumers online. 3D graphics, colours, Interactive Television, and
broadband technology are enabling new and exciting businesses to challenge
existing viewing and shopping experiences.
The entrance of Brick and Mortar Magazines – Traditional print magazines
are building Internet magazines to build interactive advertising revenue
streams. Most Companies are teaming up with online media companies to expand
traditional print businesses online.
Merging Partners – Online commerce and content sites are merging and
partnering together to strengthen offerings.
New Advertising Models – Pay per click models are changing to
performance-based and click through models where content is integrated into
content and programming. Integrating content and product appears to provide
more value to sponsors and advertisers generating substantially more
click-throughs, impressions and site impression time.
Significant growth of WWW consumers. According to International Data
Corporation, there are approximately 196 million people worldwide online today
and this figure could exceed 500 million within the next three years.
Education Industry is notorious for being technology-shy, Online
companies have been reluctant to adapt to new technological advances for
education. Most of them concentrate on sales of product offering such as Jumia,
Konga, OLX etc. for fears of protecting their brand. However, AQC sees the
Internet as an opportunity to change old ways of doing business within an
evolving industry.
Increase in people shopping online - According to Cyber Dialogue, 24.4
million surfers bought online in Q1 2016, up 10 million in Q4 2015. Though the
latest consumer e-commerce forecasts vary widely depending on which kinds of
products and methods of shopping are included, all estimate at least a
five-fold increase in sales from 2016 to 2020.
Market Size & Revenue Potential
After more than a decade of digital disruption, the African
entertainment and media industry has entered a new landscape – one where the
media is no longer divided into distinct traditional and digital spheres,
according to a report from PwC titled "Entertainment and media outlook:
2015 – 2019.
Nigeria's entertainment and media market grew by 19.3% in 2014 to reach
US$4 billion. By 2019, the market will be more than twice as big, with an
estimated total revenue of US$8.1 billion. As in South Africa, the Internet
will be the key driver of growth for Nigeria. Television, comprising revenue
from TV advertising and subscriptions, is the other main driver.
Consumer spending on the internet and online viewership are set to see
the sharpest rise in forecast Compound Annual Growth Rates (CAGRs) at 14.3% and
11.4%, respectively. Piracy continues to remain a problem in Nigeria, limiting
growth across several entertainment and media sectors.
Kenya's total entertainment and media industry was valued at US$1.8
billion in 2014, up 13.3% from 2013, when it stood at US$1.6 billion. The
market is expected to surpass the US$3 billion mark in 2019 to reach US$3.3
billion.
Again, the Internet is expected to be the largest driver of growth,
followed by television and radio. TV advertising will overtake radio in 2016,
and Internet advertising will see the fastest growth rate at a CAGR of 16.8%.
Traditional mediums such as TV, radio and newspapers will continue to be the
first choice for most Kenyan advertisers in the foreseeable future.
Dissatisfaction with the Target Market with Current Product Offerings
It seems that while the nation is becoming more diverse, broadcast
television in particular television news—is not. A majority of our target
audience believe that television news focuses negatively on politics and
corruption and perpetuates stereotypes. Our target audience feels they are only
represented in stories involving crime, drugs, and cults related stories.
Although examples of the disservice abound, a few of the more telling
statistics show that:
• While cult-related and violence within the higher institution
decreased by 33% over the past decade, television news coverage of those
incidents increased 473%;
• While less than 1% of all armed robbery related, these arrests
represent more than 30% of television crime news coverage; and
A one-week audit of television news sound bites on the economy, foreign
affairs, politics, and sports and entertainment shows the following:
Dissatisfaction with traditional television news among Our target
audience is very real and growing. Almost unanimously, Our target audience is
aware of the importance of how they are represented in television newscasts,
with more than 70% of those polled saying it is "very important" to
have a fair portrayal of the student audience in television news. More than 80%
of those polled say it is "very important "to have a news channel
programmed for Our target audience. AQC show is set to fill the void.
Considerable Demand for the Product
As mentioned previously, more than 80% of Our target audience polled say
it is "very important" to have a news channel programmed for Our
target audience. Our target audience, who comprise roughly 15% of the general
population, will switch to culturally-specific programming that showcases and
addresses their concern. 8
Our target audience watches more television than any other group. Not
only does the average household who have a ward in the higher institution
interested in events in the school environment but are also concern about the
milestones and achievement in the school of their ward.
At the centre of the business case for launching The AQC Show, we are
envisaging a strong overall demand for news programming and skilful reporting
style of our news channels.
Also at the centre of the business case for launching The AQC Show is
the fact that our target audience is both television's most profitable
consumers and television's most severely under-served customers. For the cable
television industry that serves 17 million households, the risks involved in
not meeting the demand of our target audience for a more representative news
network are enormous.
However, none of these broadcast shows accurately represents our target
audience nor targets our target audience as a viewing audience. The same can
said of cable news networks.
An environmental scan of today's television programming reveals a
sizeable gap waiting to be filled by news-oriented programming that targets
campuses on a holistic scale. We intend to fill the void.
Innovative Launch Strategy
The success of a programme launch can be measured by its ability to
acquire distribution, attract viewers and sell its advertising availabilities.
Success begins with "distribution. "The first step of The AQC
Show distribution strategy after launching is to ensure that the network is
launched on an online platform such as YouTube. With this subscriber count, The
AQC Show can aggressively compete for national underwriting and corporate
sponsorships. The AQC Show's distribution
will initiate an agreement with cable TV giant, DSTV, which will enable the
network to reach 52 per cent of African households.
Original Programming—Tested and Proven Audience Appeal
The AQC Show creates strong
viewer loyalty by instilling a sense of "ownership" among its
viewers. The brand identification tagline for The AQC Show is "Our
Voice."
By positioning the network as "Our Voice" in the mind of
viewers, The AQC Show encourages the perception of ownership and involvement.
Simply put, if consumers feel they have a stake in the product's success and
are involved in the product's design, then they remain loyal to the product.
The format for The AQC Show's prime-time programming consists of
flexible "report out" styles, including stand-ups, voice-overs, live
interviews, archival footage, viewer call-in, and investigative reporting. At
the same time, the rundown is rigid with regularly scheduled segments within
each show.
The typical programming day for The AQC Show consists of 12 hours per
day of news around the campus, six hours per day of feature prime-time
programming, and six hours per day of entertainment programming.
THE AQC SHOW.TV Broadband and Mobile Data Services
Once at the epicentre of the digital divide, our target audience is more
likely to download the video via the Internet than other ethnic communities.54%
of Our target audience owned a smartphone, and Our target audience tended to be
heavier users of mobile data features.
Our target audience utilizes their smartphones more than other
demographics for features such as texting, Internet access, and mobile video
downloads.
The AQC Show will leverage its promotional properties to position its
online and mobile data service as the sole destination for Our target audience
to access all forms of digital content.
THE AQC show will provide a dynamic platform for Our target audience to
access news in an interactive setting.
The AQC show virtual mall will specifically target the youth with a wide
variety of consumer products, as well as offer shoppers the opportunity to evaluate
products and services.
Our target audience will also use The AQC Show social network to express
themselves on blogs or through user-generated (UGEN) video. The AQC show will convert the passive
television viewer into an active, dynamic user by creating a culturally
specific portal capable of providing access to information, products, and
services desired by Our target audience.
A creative and new approach to developing news gathering content
partnerships and utilizing production technologies allows The AQC show to
generate original programming that caters to the needs, interests, and viewing
habits of Our target audience, subscription television's most valuable
customer.
The AQC Show is an attractive
opportunity for wise investors because even conservative revenue forecasts show
strong financial returns and healthy equity growth.
Likewise, The AQC show targets audience is, economically, the largest
and fastest growing market in the country today. So there are both viable
industry and market trends that strongly support the introduction of The AQC
show to the marketplace and considerable demand for the product by the Target
audience community that has grown weary and dissatisfied with programming
options that do not reflect the needs, values or reality of the youths in
campuses.
The AQC show commits to provide intelligent programming that informs and
educates while serving to entertain, inspire and empower its Target audience.
The framework for The AQC show was tested and proven during an 18-month
trial period that showcases solid operational models, innovative program
concepts, and a highly experienced management team.
COMPANY OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES
The business objectives of AQC are:
Attract, integrate, retain, and motivate the highest quality management,
personnel and contractors.
Develop the highest quality programming and content to attract and
retain a global audience through the Internet.
Secure revenues from our sponsors and advertisers.
Successfully execute our business strategies.
Business Strategies
Product presentation, site design, service, and marketing are all key
elements of creating an online ambience that rivals the atmosphere offline and
online.
However, overly aggressive sales campaigns and creating a brand
overnight is not a key business strategy that would lend itself to the success
of our brand. We must likewise resist the temptation to hawk too loudly and opt
instead for a powerful brand representation that compels purchases in the
absence of promotions.
The Company will implement the following strategies to achieve its goals
of becoming the leading branded Internet educative and entertaining brand by:
(1) Create a compelling value proposition for sponsors, advertisers and
consumers.
(2) Build strong brand recognition and leverage the brand equities
affiliated with AQC.
(3) Develop key industry relationships with higher institution and
content syndication partners.
(4) Provide a compelling presentation of content and products to
encourage repeat visits.
(5) Leverage our technology investments to create a measurable marketing
and e-commerce platform that enables measurability, personalization and
integration with our sponsors.
(6) Provide a high level of personalized service.
(7) Build an elite team of executives and industry professionals
Marketing Strategy
As shown from the foregoing, the AQC show is an innovative brand that is
bound to succeed as a result of the booming entertainment industry in Nigeria.
AQC Brand marketing efforts will be directed toward executing the
company strategies for building awareness and driving traffic to the site. The
combination of strong creative marketing and partnerships with traffic
generating site is expected to result in many visitors who will become loyal,
repeat customers. The Company expects to use a variety of marketing tools
including guerilla/grassroots marketing, Web advertising, affiliate marketing
programs, public relations, and key strategic alliances to drive traffic.
AQC Brand forecasts 40,000 users and a sponsor in the first year. The
following will provide an explanation of each of the tools:
Combination of two complementary businesses – information and
entertainment
A unique relationship with campus administrators will result in lower
working capital requirement.
Large market base.
Marketing Strategy
We plan to deploy both online and offline marketing strategy to raise
brand awareness of the AQC show. Our multi-pronged marketing strategy will aim
to make potential customers aware of our business as well as establish a
long-term relationship with existing customers through ongoing dialogue.
Online Marketing Strategy
Website
We will develop and launch a website that will serve as a destination
for all things related to our programme-AQC Show and music. The website will be
launched prior to the business launch. It will attract potential customers
looking for information on campus. We will also have the functionality of view
it from the mobile phones.
Social Media
The emergence of social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Weibo
and Twitter have fundamentally changed the way businesses interact with their
customers. These sites provide an opportunity for businesses to establish an
ongoing, two-way dialogue with customers. We plan to take full advantage of
these social media sites by establishing a presence on Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and other sites. Our knowledge and passion for music will be a
natural fit for social media communication.
Blog
Similar to social media sites mentioned above, blogs afford an
opportunity to establish our business as a go-to place for campus information
and demonstrate our expertise to the potential customers. At the same time, the
periodic update of information on the blog encourages users to visit our
website more frequently; which will help build a deep, long-term relationship
with our customers.
Guerrilla / Grassroots Marketing.
The Company believes that it is extremely important to use word-of-mouth
marketing campaigns, especially in the early phases of site launch Brand will
target a variety of online chat groups that are likely to have a high number of
Web users interested in AQC Brand. This would include groups that are built
around specific topics, and e-commerce etc. AQC Brand intends to participate in
discussions with the goal of informally promoting the services of the Company.
Internet Advertising.
The Company intends to place banners ads with major portal sites to
increase traffic and awareness. This advertising will be specifically targeted
towards our targeted demographic audience of youths. In addition, the company
intends to lock-up keyword advertising slots in which an AQC Brand banner is
automatically served when someone enters a keyword (e.g. "campus")
during a Web search.
Online Affiliation.
The Company will place affiliate banners on various strategic partners'
Web sites. These advertisements are expected to take the form of small banners
that encourage readers to click through on AQC Brand Web site in exchange for a
percentage of the revenue generated if a user goes through that link and
participates in the transaction. Typical revenue that goes to the affiliate is
5-10% of the transaction but only in the case where the person comes through the
affiliate Web site.
Internet Mutual Links.
The Company will establish affiliations with sites who have relevant
content and get them to link to AQC Brand. There are many private lists of
links about certain subjects. AQC Brand will approach sites who have relevant
content and get them to link to our site. For example, a site on celebrities
would have a link to AQC Brand in exchange for a link to them from the relevant
chat area within AQC Brand.
AQC Brand expects to have thousands of links within several months of
launch.
Offline Marketing Strategy
Community Partnerships
We will establish a partnership with schools-both Public and private
higher Institutions. We also plan to enter into group purchasing arrangement
with them by which the students/members can get discounts.
Our facility rental provides
another opportunity to bring members from these organizations to our premises
for meetings and seminars leading to future sales.
Local Advertisement
In the initial phase of the business, we will run Grand Opening
advertisements in the local newspapers and magazines. We will also place
pamphlets and other informative material at locations that are likely to
attract our target customers to our unique AQC brand website.
Strategic Alliances.
The Company will establish strategic alliances with key companies that
help bring credibility, positive public relations, as well as qualified traffic
to the site. These alliances typically result in extensive co-marketing by both
organizations with the goal of each company driving traffic and awareness of
the other company's products and services.
Public Relations
AQC Brand will implement an on-going public relations campaign to build
awareness and traffic to the site. This effort will focus on both online as
well as print media in Lagos. Through the Company's many contacts in this
field. we expect to hire a Public Relations firm with strong expertise and
media contacts in the sports, celebrity and clothing industries.
SWOT ANALYSIS FOR AQC BRAND
STRENGTHS
Our Brand will be the first online show that will exhaustively showcase
campus and campus activities to the World.
The AQC brand is a new brand in the informative and entertaining
industry that has no ties to any other organization in its class. Therefore,
the decisions that the company makes are independent, not from the influence of
other entertainment companies. AQC Brand has no debt. Furthermore, there are no
outstanding legal matters pending or unsettled any interest groups.
The Company consist of personnel who truly love the project and are so
passionate about its growth and are willing to devote endless hours of work to
help the company achieve its goals. AQC brand has a clean and untainted slate
to build an efficient and innovative infrastructure that will help secure its
success in the industry.
The Company has been in existence
for 5years and the Company has embarked on a project related to the
entertainment business and its track record is reckoned by its promoters and
stakeholders alike.
A Company with Cohesion
The leadership of the AQC brand and its staff all share the common
vision of "spreading campus information around the world." Since the
company is a highly organised firm, it automatically inherits a strong common
culture of cooperation and support. Fortunately for the Company, this culture
shall be shared by most of the MCs of the company.
Quality of Service
At AQC brand, quality of service is a benchmark. The company is
determined to distinguish itself from the competition by producing a quality
programme that is more organized, hospitable, cordial and entertaining.
The company also uses brighter lighting, more enhanced staging, and
cleaner choreography than its competition. While other record companies will
not hesitate to use second-rate musicians just because they are free or low
cost, AQC brand project will use the best talented MCs on the market.
WEAKNESSES
Limited Funds
In the industry, record companies must follow through on the entire
record production cycle otherwise revenue cannot be earned. The steps included
in the production cycle are producing, replicating, marketing, distributing,
promoting, and selling of the programme. Once the programme is produced, it is
marketed and sold for the brand or to the client.
Notice only the last two steps,
promotions and sales can potentially generate revenue. Therefore, it is
essential for a record company to be able to financially walk through the
entire record production cycle. Most of the record company's initial fixed
cost, such as producer fees, studio rates, pre-production cost must be paid in
advance of any services being rendered.
AQC started recording AQC programme 2 years ago but almost all the money
was spent for the initial fixed costs, production cost and logistics leaving
little or no funds available to pay for the marketing and promotional costs.
As a result, the AQC brand cannot recoup its losses nor create any
profits if it does not have the funding to invest in the production of the AQC
show.
AQC Brand is growing fast, but is still unknown in the industry as a whole,
and must spend time and money introducing itself to the industry. The company
must also spend funds trying to convince sponsors that they have superior
products and services.
OPPORTUNITIES
From Mobile phones, Internet,
broadband, satellite and 3 screen technology, the demand for instant,
transmedia and media-rich content is providing new opportunities and revenues
for those who position themselves properly, as the success of a single global
marketplace enabled by technology creates the Holy Grail for the entertainment
industry – one platform for all products for all the consumers in the world.
For the time being, demand for TV, film and music content is being
driven by new, "Well-financed competitors to broadcast, satellite and
cable operators – fixed and mobile telecommunication operators and the major
media/content aggregators".
Market – Size & Growth Prospects
The Nigerian marketplace offers similarly compelling growth prospects.
For players interested in entertainment and media on and from the African
continent, Nigeria is key to conquering Africa as it has Africa's largest
population and strongly youth-skewed Demographics.
Nigeria has a population of approximately 160 Million with around 68% of
the population between the ages of 15 and 25 years old; an economy anticipated
to grow at a 6% or higher rate over the next decade and a growing consumer
class that advertisers are eager to reach.
The growth of pan-African brands is also driving the demand for content
to complement marketing and advertising campaigns. Our Main targets are the
youth who comprises 68% Million of the population of the country.
Apart from its strong demand base, Nigeria generates film, music and
entertainment content that is popular across the continent and in Europe and the
Americas. However, the country's entertainment and media businesses are
fragmented and poorly organized and financed, unable to stimulate and meet
domestic, much less continental or international, demand.
Key constraints to the sector's growth and development include
financing, domestic and international distribution, and the dearth of technical
and creative training. As a result, most players in the Nigerian entertainment
and media have stayed at the artisan level, unable to muster the depth and
breadth necessary to capitalize on continental and global opportunities.
This confluence of factors presents a unique opportunity for us to
leverage domestic demand on AQC show and consolidate content creation and marketing
power to address the immense new international opportunities on the horizon. It
is this opportunity AQC show intends to leverage upon and exploit for the
benefit of its owners and shareholders.
SERVICES IN NIGERIA
There are 3 main vendors in Nigeria:
– Multichoice DSTV – the Entrenched market leader that has been doing
business in Nigeria for more than 20 years
– Star Times with N1.2m Subscribers – established 3 years ago
– Go TV with 298,900 Subscribers – established 2012
DSTV provides a Cable TV service across Nigeria via Satellite and
presently claims to have less than 1m subscribers. However, it is commonly felt
that due to lack of monitoring by Government, DSTV in Nigeria is declaring less
than actual figures for tax purposes. The actual figures are thought to be in
the region of more than 3 million. DSTV as a foreign firm does not concentrate
more of their programme on local contents as it is widely known for sports
content programme which is the main source of its revenue.
There are more than 48 TV stations across Nigeria. The Government owned
Network NTA is managed as a Public Broadcaster. However, NTA has been unable to
provide any engaging content and is seen as the Government mouthpiece, and very
unreliable. There are other networks AIT, MITV Channels and Silverbird but
these are seen only in some regions and not across all the country.
Nigerian telecommunications company MTN and Multichoice Nigeria have
also officially launched Mobile Television. The service using DVB-H technology
is transmitted on the MTN network.
Nigeria began testing the DVB-H service in
Abuja during September 2007 extending the service to Lagos later. Free-to-air
access was allowed in both locations until December 2007 when conditional
access was enabled.
A bouquet of 10 channels spanning movies including the immensely popular
Africa magic channel, news, sports and children's programs (cartoons) are
available to customers who subscribe to the new service which is called DStv on
the MTN network. However, this service has not proved popular and DSTV no
longer promotes this service.
StarTimes, a Chinese service in partnership with NTA has launched DVB-T2
technology in Nigeria and other African countries. DVB-T2 technology to
provides a wider range of channels and sharper images. GOtv, owned by DSTV has
also launched their own a pay Digital Video Broadcast (DVB-T2) technology as
the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) service. GOtv uses the latest DVB-T2
standard leapfrogging the outdated T1 system that is still being utilized by
some pay television operators to launch digital services worldwide.
As a result of the forgoing AQC show will fill the void as enunciated.
We will launch the 1st local content programming dedicated to all the campuses
in Nigeria. It is an all-encompassing show and entertainment programme that
will bridge and utilise maximally the online technology demand.
AVERAGE CONSUMPTION OF PAY TV/ AND NON-PAY TV IN NIGERIA PER SUBSCRIBER
PER DAY
Research shows that the consumption pattern of the average Nigerian TV
Viewer is as follows:
Weekdays
Weekends
Average hours of TV the typical Nigerian Pay -TV subscriber consumes per
day
Worker – 3 hours
Non-worker – 7 hours
6 – 8 hours
Non-Pay -TV subscriber
6-8 hours
10-12 hours
ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT CONSUMPTION IN NIGERIA
The country's entertainment and media businesses are fragmented and
poorly organised and financed, unable to stimulate and meet domestic demand.
The number of Cinema Screens in Nigeria is yet to Number 200 for a population
of 160 Million people. Thus, the consumption of entertainment products is
structured as follows:
– Free to Air TV
– Cable/Pay TV
– DVD
– Cinema – Low
penetration of screens across the country
– Internet and
Web-Based entertainment Products (Low Penetration)
– Games (X Box,
Playstation etc.)
– Music
Concerts/Comedy Shows
– Theatre
CROSS-MARKETING STRUCTURES OPPORTUNITIES
Current opportunities and structures for cross-marketing of content
through retailer and telecommunication companies are in its early stages,
mainly due to a very informal and unstructured distribution system. However,
there are opportunities opening up in the telecommunication sector, where new
entrants have established channels via mobile access (though has not proved
commercially viable as a business model as of yet).
With a view to what is workable in the marketplace, AQC show will target
business-to-business solutions where such cross-marketing opportunities and
solutions make commercial sense.
DVD & HOME ENTERTAINMENT
There are approximately 6,900,000 TV sets. Nigeria has roughly 7,500,000
personal computers. Based on current research available data suggests that
Nigeria has now more than 31 Million TV sets, 100 Million Mobile Phones, 12.5
Million PC's, Laptops and tablets.
Obviously, the penetration level of the Mobile phone from almost zero in
2000 to more than 100 Million in 2015 is an indication of the high penetration
of Mobile phones.
In addition, the distribution of home entertainment products (DVD, Blue
Ray) in Nigeria, is largely informal, mainly pirated and difficult to provide
statistics other than you can be sure of finding in most homes a pirated DVD or
two.
VIDEO CONTENT AVAILABLE ON WEB
There are no restrictions in Nigeria regarding content available on the
web. In real terms, everything is able if you have the Internet speeds to
download, stream and make payment for content that requires payment. With the
introduction of international credit/debit cards such as a Visa, MasterCard
etc.
Nigerians have a window of opportunity to view any video content
available around the world on the web.
The AQC show will exploit this avenue in order to enhance the revenue
base of the brand.
THE NIGERIAN MOBILE MARKET
Nigeria has overtaken South Africa to become the continent's largest
mobile market with now over 90 million subscribers, and yet market penetration
stands at only around 60% in early 2014. Subscriber growth had slowed
significantly during the global economic crisis, re-accelerated in 2015 but
then slowed again in 2016.
Much of the remaining addressable market is in the country's rural areas
where network rollouts and operations are expensive. This in combination with
declining ARPU levels is forcing the networks to streamline their operations
and to develop new revenue streams from services such as third-generation (3G)
mobile broadband, mobile payments/banking, and others. At the same time, the
operators are rolling out national fibre backbone networks to support the
ever-increasing demand for bandwidth.
The AQC show will be available on mobile networks as we intend to
partner will all the Mobile communications company in Nigeria.
THREATS
The threats faced by the sector in Nigeria are multi-faceted. Key
amongst them are summarized below.
The current environment is plagued by copyright infringement otherwise
known as piracy and this is a disincentive to investment in content creation.
There is a dearth of human
capital in the creative and production sector of the industry.
There is a shortage of platforms
for the exploitation of the content before it is available to make the cost of
acquisition unduly high.
Access to funds for the creation
and acquisition of content is challenging because of the low level of awareness
of the potentials of the creative industry, by the financial sector.
Piracy and Government support: Piracy has a large effect on revenues generated
from any programme. This affects raising sufficient funds, as investors are not
attracted to invest in projects like ours.
Low level of technical expertise: This affects the quality of the
programme, which in turn affects the revenue generated from any programme.
No comments:
Post a Comment