INSC 20263

Information Systems in eEnterprise

Festivation Inc.
Project Proposal
submitted to

Dr. Beata Jones

By
Sabina Dedja
Jason Coats
Paul Ratliff
Cam Cunningham
1. Industry overview, based on research (include sources):
Our research was strictly based on some of the major current musical festivals in the United States from
whom we will gain our main sources of valuable information so as to successfully run our company. Our
main industry research came from the San Francisco Jazz Festival, Bonnaroo Music Festival,
Summerfest, and the Austin City Limit Music Festival.

San Francisco Jazz Festival: Debuting in 1983, the San Francisco Jazz Festival is an annual three-week
celebration of today's best music, with over 30 concerts. Produced by SFJAZZ, a non-profit organization
dedicated to jazz and jazz education. Every fall, a phenomenal array of jazz concerts, from the classic to
the avant-garde, gathering the legends of today and the rising stars of tomorrow in premier venues
throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area. Originally a small-scale event known mostly in the local
community, the Festival has risen to national and international prominence featuring dozens of events,
including commissions of new works by some of the most creative contemporary artists, unique "Jazz on
Film" presentations, family matinee concerts, dance performances, and photography exhibits.

Bonnaroo: The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an annual, four to five-day music festival, created
and produced by Superfly Productions and AC Entertainment, first held in 2002. The festival is held at
Great Stage Park on a 700 acre (2.8 km²) farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles (97 km) southeast of
Nashville, Tennessee. The main attractions of the festival are the multiple stages of live music, featuring a
diverse array of musical styles including indie rock, world music, hip hop, jazz, americana, bluegrass,
country music, folk, gospel, reggae, electronica, and other alternative music. The festival began with a
primary focus on jam bands, but has diversified greatly in recent years. The festival features craftsmen
and artisans selling unique products, food and drink vendors, and many other activities including some
put on by various sponsors.

Summerfest: (also known as "The Big Gig") is a yearly music festival held at the 75-acre Henry Maier
Festival Park along the lakefront in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The festival lasts for 11 days, is made up of
11 stages with performances from over 700 bands, and since the mid-1970s has run from late June
through early July, always including the 4th of July holiday. Summerfest attracts between 800,000 and
1,000,000 people each year, promoting itself as "The World's Largest Music Festival," a title certified by
the Guinness World Records in 1999. Summerfest is run by the non-profit organization Milwaukee
World Festival, and features both local and nationally known music talent from a variety of music genres.
The event also provides the opportunity to sample a wide variety of food from many Milwaukee-area
restaurants. Other Summerfest attractions include comedy acts, shopping vendors, fireworks (including
"The Big Bang" on opening night), other special attractions, family activities and more. Live musical acts
are offered on 11 stages throughout the grounds from noon to midnight, including the 23,000-capacity
Marcus Amphitheater.

ACL: The (Austin City Limits Music Festival) is an annual three-day music festival in Austin, Texas's
Zilker Park. The Festival brings together more than 130 bands on eight stages, including rock, country,
folk, indie, Americana, hip-hop, reggae, and bluegrass, and attracts a crowd of about 65,000 visitors each
day. Named after the legendary PBS concert series, the festival is produced by C3 Presents, who also co-
produce the Lollapalooza and Big State festivals. Austin City Limits is a very popular event in Texas for
rock, indie, blues, world/ethnic contemporary and traditional, reggae, eclectic, fusion, electronic, soul,
folk/Americana and almost all other music fans. Major metropolitan areas Dallas, San Antonio and
Houston are each within a 3 hour drive of Austin. Zilker Park also features nearby Nature City and its
gardens, the botanical gardens and Barton Springs pool, beach volley ball courts and a rock formation in
Zilker park. The festival is located near downtown Austin, where many artists perform after-shows after
they play at the festival.

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 2

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_City_Limits_Music_Festival
http://www.aclfestival.com/info/faq.html;

http://www.apassion4jazz.net/sanfrancisco.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Jazz_Festival;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summerfest;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnaroo.

2. Perform a detailed Porter's Five Forces analysis for your industry. Be sure to discuss entry
barriers and switching costs.

Power HIGH LOW Justify

X For music festivals, there is not much variation as to where a
Buyer Power customer can purchase tickets. The venue of the festival or its top
contributors will give out the limited tickets.
X As the buying potential is low, supplier power is high. This is due
Supplier Power to only a small amount of sellers of the sought after festival
tickets.
X The only competition for music festivals would have to be
Threat of Substitute concerts, and even then, the two are not fully comparable as
Products or Services festivals offer a larger variety of musical interests while concerts
may only offer one or two bands.
X Although it is possible for any willing new festival to enter the
Threat of New realm of potential buyers, it is not considered a threat to any
Entrants already existing festival. This is because once existing festivals
have been established, they have gained their own customer base
that will most likely continue to support their chosen festival’s
cause due to consumer loyalty for that festival.
X Competition is very complacent among the music festival
Rivalry Among industry. Festivals are independent of each other therefore not
Existing enticing rivalry.
Competitors

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 3

3. Description of the competitive environment that is relevant to the use of the Web by the industry.
Competitive Force … and their Web Usage within the Industry

Customers look to music festival websites for any, and all, information
regarding the performances. They attempt to locate tickets, view artists,
Customers venue locations, directions, and more.

All of the elements necessary for the festival including bands, equipment
staff, photographers, videographers and food servers can log onto the
Suppliers website and provide information (both to the public and to festival
operators) regarding their input for the show.

New entrants primarily use websites to compare how effective and

successful their new ideas will be alongside the existing festivals’. Based
New Entrants on this research, they are then able to launch their own websites.

Competitors are able to pinpoint effective and ineffective strategies on

websites of other music festivals, and can therefore improve their own
Competitors for anything they see fit such pricing, graphical representation, artists
and performers, and overall content.

Alternative festival services, such as concerts for example, would utilize

the websites of festivals to pinpoint possible imitation services/ goods
Substitute Products they can offer, possibly at a cheaper cost to attract the maximum
customers.

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 4

4. Using what you have learned about good/bad web design in class and using class notes, please
identify: four web sites in your industry that you believe are ‘good’ and four that you consider
‘poorly designed.’ (Each individual researches two companies.)

San Francisco Jazz Festival Zimbabwean Music Festival Organization

Company Name Organization

www.sfjazz.org www.zimfest.org
Web Site’s URL

Jazz music lovers and music Anyone wishing to attend or be a part of

Site’s festivalgoers. Zimfest 2009.
Target
Audience

To educate visitors of the site about the To reach out to the public about Zimfest
programs implemented by the SFJazz and its attributes, locations, and recent
Site’s Purpose Organization and give details about news.
upcoming musical venues, etc.

Good? (Yes/No) Yes No

1) Chunked information for 1) Way too much passive white

readability and added space.
appropriate hyperlinks so as to 2) Home page longer than two
not bog down the page. screens of information with too
2) Good use of active white much text (font may even be too
space. small for some tastes); does not
3) Used very appropriate summarize company motives.
photography throughout the 3) Very vague visual support such
Design elements from page. as appropriate pictures, etc.
the lecture notes/lecture
that contributed to a
Positive/Negative
impression
- provide at least 3 for SEE ATTACHMENT 1. SEE ATTACHMENT 2.
each site & explain;

Attach website
screenshots with
discussed features
highlighted with
diigo.com or
awesomehighlighter.co
m

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 5

1)

2)

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 6

 Bonnaroo Kentucky Lake Bluegrass Festival
Company Name

http://www.bonnaroo.com/Festival.aspx http://www.klbf.org/
Web Site’s URL

Music fans who are interested in seeing Music fans who are interested in seeing
Site’s one or multiple artists or groups play one or multiple bluegrass artists or
Target bands perform
Audience

Provided updated information regarding Provided updated information

the festival. This includes- lists of who regarding the festival. This includes-
Site’s Purpose will be appearing, special offers, lists of who will be appearing, photos,
photos, and travel/ticket information. and travel/ticket information.

Good? (Yes/No) Yes No

1. Consistent layouts- 1. Consistent design-

Each page follows the same format.
The sites contain only information that
is necessary and relevant to that
particular page.
2. Gives what the users want-
The homepage has important
Design elements from information and easy to find links to
the lecture notes/lecture further explain each topic.
that contributed to a
Positive/Negative 3. Color format-
impression Only two colors are used (a light blue
- provide at least 3 for and a green). They go well together
each site & explain and with the active white space and
background.
Completely lacking. Each link you
click on brings you to a new site with a
completely different look and design.
2. Color of text-
The color scheme is not picked out
well. Too much black and white then
all of a sudden red (warm color) and
blue (cool color).
3. Title pages-
Difficult to find as you need to scroll
down past the advertisement.

Attach website
screenshots with SEE ATTACHMENT 3. SEE ATTACHMENT 4.
discussed features
highlighted with
diigo.com or
awesomehighlighter.co
m

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 7

3)

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 8

4)
Milwaukee World Festival (Summerfest)
Company Name The Bamboozle

www.summerfest.com
Web Site’s URL http://thebamboozle.com/

People interested in purchasing festival

Site’s tickets
Target People interested in purchasing festival
Audience tickets

To persuade the customer to purchase a

ticket
Site’s Purpose To persuade the customer to purchase a
ticket

Good? (Yes/No) Yes No

- Has a lot going on in the website, but not

too much.

- While the task bars are on the left side

(correct) and the bottom (usually on the - Uses black as a background and a
top) it still works. yellow that almost hurts your eyes

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 9

 - Even though they used a dark - The opening page does not tell me
Design elements from background, the other colors used make anything about the festival.
the lecture notes/lecture bring out the fonts.
that contributed to a - Takes three clicks just to get to the
bulk of the website.
Positive/Negative
SEE ATTACHMENT 5.
impression
SEE ATTACHMENT 6.
- provide at least 3 for
each site & explain

Attach website
screenshots with
discussed features
highlighted with
diigo.com or
awesomehighlighter.co
m

5)

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 10

6)

Company Name Coachella C3 Presents (ACL)

Web Site’s URL http://coachella.com/ http://www.c3presents.com/

Site’s People interested in purchasing festival tickets

Target People interested in purchasing festival
Audience tickets

To persuade the customer to purchase a ticket

Site’s Purpose To persuade the customer to purchase a
ticket

Good? (Yes/No) Yes No

- Too much passive space

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 11

 - Uncluttered information for ease of use - Dark colors for the background are
- Good amount of active/passive white unappealing
space
- Contains appropriate search bars on the - It takes multiple clicks to get to the main
Design elements from
top and news on the bottom and the right screen
the lecture notes/lecture side of the page.
that contributed to a
Positive/Negative
impression SEE ATTACHMENT 7.
- provide at least 3 for SEE ATTACHMENT 8.
each site & explain;

Attach website
screenshots with
discussed features
highlighted with
diigo.com or
awesomehighlighter.co
m

7)

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 12

 8)
5. Industry ‘key competitors’
Competitor’s name and How (what features?) are
URL of the web site they using on the web?
San Francisco Jazz Good use of active and passive
Festival white space; utilized
appropriate hyperlinks;
www.sfjazz.org contained appealing graphical
content.
Bonnaroo Banner at the top of the page,
appropriate theme colors, links
http://www.bonnaroo.com/F along the top and left side,
estival.aspx
active white space
INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 13
What are their What are their
most effective or most ineffective
unique ways of ways of using the
using the web? web?
All parts of the All articles to the
webpage aid in right of the page,
contributing to the are very congested
overall purpose of on the screen
the company. although they
signify the
company’s success.
The green, blue, and The website has a
white colors go well “More Headlines”
together and with section on the main
logo at the top. The page causing it to
site is very simple run well over two
 but very effective screens of
and appealing. information.

Milwaukee World Festival
(Summerfest)
www.summerfest.com
Task Bars; effective color
Schemes; use of appropriate
search Engine; helpful FAQ
section
While the task bars are Some passive space
on the left side towards the bottom.
(correct) and the
bottom (usually on the
top) it still works;
utilizes great use of
colors that mesh well.

Coachella Highly effective use of Very distinct The video on the

graphics and color schemes to graphical content homepage may not
www.coachella.com guide a visitor’s eyes when on that sets site apart work for all users.
the webpage; hyperlinks also from other
aid in overall appearance. competitors.

6. Industry Key Competitors - Web Site Ratings

Company Website Ease of Site Graphical Clarity of User Overall
Name Content Navigatio Appearanc Content Purpose friendly
n e

SFJazz 9 10 10 10 10 10 10

Bonnaroo 9 8 10 10 9 9 9

Summerfest 7 8 7 7 9 8 8

Coachella 10 9 10 8 9 10 9

Legend: 1-10 rating (1 being highly ineffective and 10 being exceptionally effective)
Company#1- San Francisco Jazz Festival

Rating Explanation of Rating

Website Content All content clearly focuses on the main purpose of the website however, the
articles also included add a bit of a visual clutter to the overall appearance.

Ease of Navigation Very easy to navigate anything needed on the page no matter what competitive
force a visitor may be.

Site Appearance Homepage includes an exceptionally well-incorporated color scheme with high
quality pictures and flash media.

Graphical Content Excellent use of applicable pictures, media, and other graphical content which
aids in developing the overall effectiveness of the company’s purpose.

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 14

Clarity Of Purpose It is very clear at any given time that this site intends to capture the general
audience’s attention with an abundance of information about the SFJazz
organization and attributed.

User Friendly It is very simple to navigate this website to get to any desired location and all
aspects aid in the incorporation of the sole purpose.

Company #2- Boonaroo

Rating Explanation of Rating

Website Content The website has everything there is to know about the Bonnaroo Music Festival.
What one is looking for is easily found.

Ease of Navigation All aspects of navigation work well on this site, it can be daunting however for a
visitor because there are quite a bit of links all throughout to choose from.

Site Appearance The website is very simple and visually appealing. The colors fit well together
and everything is easy to read.

Graphical Content The site only uses two graphics, the logo and the concert design at the top of the
page, however, they are sufficient in portraying the purpose of the page.

Clarity of Purpose It is obvious to tell that Bonnaroo is a music festival from the headlines and
descriptions, so the company vividly displays its purpose.

User Friendly The site covers everything and has trouble-free navigating along with Frequently
Asked Questions to volunteer information.

Company #3- Milwaukee World Festival (Summerfest)

Rating Explanation of Rating

Website Content There is not that much on the main page of the website. There is some idle space
but it is not overly daunting.

Ease of Navigation The homepage contains task bars and a search engine, which aid visitors in
navigation all throughout.

Site Appearance Utilizes a good color scheme, a little dark of a background but it works because it
allows the fonts to stand out.

Graphical Content The site does contain pictures from previous years however they are dimmed
because of text covering them, making it difficult for visitors to distinguish what
the graphics represent.

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 15

Clarity of Purpose The purpose is clear, to sell tickets and get people to come to the festival. On
every page there is a section or box that will take the user to a payment page.

User Friendly All content on the website can be accessed with only one click; the user does not
have to search through the whole website to find something.

Company #4- Coachella Music Festival

Rating Explanation of Rating

Website Content Site content is highly effective for this festival, everything is nice and compact so
a visitor does not have to avidly search for what they are looking for but is able to
access information easily.

Ease of Navigation The page contains great examples of hypertext links and navigational bars for
easy handling of the content. It may be necessary for a visitor to search around
some however, to find exactly what they need.

Site Appearance The site design is exceptionally effective, use of fitting color scheme and
graphical content enhances the visual appeal of the site.

Graphical Content The site uses an abundance of photographs and videos to convey the festival
efficiently; users are drawn to discover more about the event by clicking and
accessing these graphics; however, for some users it may be too much.

Clarity of Purpose Site is well balanced in defining exactly what the purpose of this organization is
and letting visitors know how to access more information pertaining to the event.

User Friendly There is no trouble at all attaining the correct amount of information needed by a
visitor to this site therefore making it a well balanced homepage for accessing
appropriate data.

7. The industry’s strengths and weaknesses in regard to the effective use of the web?(at least 3 each)
Strengths Weaknesses

1. Visually appealing 1. Webpage is too long

2. Simple 2. Too many links to choose from

3. Content is exactly what you’re looking for 3. Not enough graphical content

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 16

8. Proposed website enhancements for the industry(at least 3 each):
i. What type of information would you recommend they add to their websites?

Many have to travel long distances to make the performances offered by a festival so a website
should provide information regarding the travel accommodations. This can include links giving
detail of where to stay, where to park, and what to eat would be helpful. Volunteer information
would also be a good feature. Not all sites have a “Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)” page,
however this would be an improvement for any music festival website.

ii. What modifications would you recommend to their web design?

It would be beneficial to group the content better so as to not overwhelm the user with an
abundance of choices regarding too many links. Next, the “Headlines” section should only list
about four or five examples with an “Even More Headlines” link to click to view the rest so as to
not unnecessarily lengthen the homepage. Finally, adding more pictures can help the overall
appearance of the site and draw in more possible customers.

9. Name of the company that you propose to create and its geographic location:

Our team would like to create Festivation Inc., primarily located in Destin, Florida, which is
in the music festival segment of the music industry.
10. Detailed description of the proposed new business, including mission/goals, services and products
it will offer, size, etc.

Our new company’s primary goal will aim to develop and implement an elite annual festival that will
compete with the best in the market. We will seek to attain a diverse group of sponsors so as to
successfully satisfy our customers the best we can. Our company intends to develop a high-quality
festival that will have anywhere from five to ten stages and at least 150 different artists from every
popular genre. We will be holding general admission tickets with a price range of $50-75 in order to
cover the different venues that will be on the festival grounds. We will utilize an available location in
Destin, Florida similar in size and proportion to Zilker Park in Austin, Texas.

11. Determine which of Porter's Three Generic Strategies you will use as you build your company for
the 21st century. Explain your answer.

Out of Porter’s Three Generic Strategies, Festivation Inc. will seek to successfully instigate a Focused
Strategy. Music festivals are primarily in a narrow market, meaning there is not much competition
between major festivals, so this aspect will develop to our advantage. In addition, a festival is typically on
the high end of cost. Our cost will depend upon event sponsoring and what services/ products we provide
to our customers.

12. Discuss the many eBusiness strategies that your company could use to increase revenue and
decrease cost.

A. Company web site’s target audience – who will use the website (internally and externally), for
what purpose and where are they located geographically?

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 17

 Our company’s target audience will be young adults from anywhere in the country, or possibly
even around the world. Anybody looking to attend our music festival or gather more information
will visit our website. Our musical festival will have many top artists performing, so our website
will reach out to people across the nation to attract them to come to our music festival. Suppliers
and sponsors can also discover useful information about our company and our services so that
they can appropriately contribute to our cause.

B. Company’s website purpose:

Our company’s purpose on the web is to inform people about our music festival and attract them
to purchase tickets to attend the event.

C. Company’s primary usage of the web

a. Is the primary use going to be informational or transactional or both? Justify.

Our primary usage of the web will be both informational and transactional. The website will
give the user information about upcoming performances and performers, location of
performance, and times, among other things. The site will have useful links where users can
make online transactions and purchase tickets for the festival.

b. What pages will be found on the website? Please list major sections of the site.

Home – homepage of website

Events – will allow user to see the dates and times of upcoming performances

Ticket Sales – will allow users to purchase tickets online

Background – gives the user background information about music festival

Performers – gives the user background information about artists performing

Contact Information – gives the user necessary contact information if they have any
other questions or concerns about the festival

c. Is the website primarily for B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to consumer) or
both? Justify.

B2C – our website is primarily a business to consumer page because our company is
ultimately attempting to attract and sell tickets to consumers in exchange for their
attendance.

D. How can an eBusiness strategy help your company attract customers and increase sales?

The eBusiness strategy can help our company attract customers and increase sales because using
the Internet will improve our company’s information content. Our website will present

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 18

 consumers with up to date information in real time about our musical festival. Utilizing the
Internet will allow our company to reach out to more possible customers despite being limited to
our geographical location. Also, using the Internet will decrease cost. The web costs less to run
than other business communications, which will decrease expenses and increase revenue.

E. How could eBusiness strategy help customer service?

The eBusiness strategy can help customer service because utilizing the Internet will make our
good/service more accessible to consumers. It will allow users to purchase tickets 24/7. Also
using the Internet increases customer convenience. Ebusiness automates and improves many of
the activities that make up the buying experience.

F. How could you use an eBusiness strategy to partner with suppliers?

For our company, we could use the eBusiness strategy to collaborate with suppliers by contacting
and retrieving artists for performing. In addition, our company could use the emarketplace to find
the best supplier of goods, such as drinks and food, to provide people who attend the music
festival.

G. How could a portal help your employees?

A portal can help our employees by allowing everyone to become part of the same email system.
This will allow our company to keep in contact with all employees efficiently and effectively.

H. How could a kiosk help your business?

A kiosk could help our company by allowing us to check and compare other competitors in our
market. A kiosk could allow us to see other competitor’s prices and attractions. Knowing this
information, our company could change our prices or come up with new attractions to entice
consumers to come to our music festival.
I. What types of metrics would you want to track on your eBusiness Web site? Be sure to justify
your answers.

Clickstream Data Metrics – our company could utilize this metric by viewing what pages users
are looking at the most or the least. Knowing this information will allow our company to make
improvements to our website as necessary. This metric will enable us to gather valuable
demographic information about our consumers.

Visitor Metrics – our company can use this metric to observe what kind of users are visiting our
website. The metric will ID users, tell us how long or how many times they have visited the
website, and provide us with other important information. By knowing who visits our website,
our company will be able to see what attracts visitors to the content and what improvements
could be made accordingly.

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 19

INSC 20263 -- Project Proposal – Page 20