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"People get excited about the new designs every year," said current Bragg Jam Board President JR Olive. "My favorite thing in the world is to see someone I don't know wearing a Bragg Jam T-shirt." Bragg Jam doesn't just offer tees and posters. They sell different swag items each year, depending on what sells and who is on the board making those decisions. Olive didn't reveal what they'll be selling this year, but that's part of the fun for the people to find during the concert crawl. As they prepare to hold the 22nd Bragg Jam festival the last Saturday of July, the board will use other marketing tools they've used in the past such as billboards, radio ads, Spotify ads, social media targeted ads and in-kind trading. While all of these marketing strategies are effective, many agree that word of mouth has been a great way to get people to Downtown Macon every summer. That talk stems from two decades of music celebration. "Bragg Jam is really cool. It has that 'cool kids' feeling to it and people want to be a part of it," Howard said. "It is truly a grassroots festival. It's special and unique." Bragg Jam is much more than just one concert or a concert crawl. The nonprofit festival holds multiple events in the community throughout the year such as Second Sunday on Coleman Hill, Bragg Fam (a kids-friendly event) and more. marketing campaign for Bragg Jam. With a marketing budget of around $100, the Bragg Jam board bought a Bigfoot costume and began producing content. In 2009, they commissioned "home videos" spotting the Swamp Ape around different parts of Macon. These videos got people talking. Muddy Brown became a beloved legend, especially when he was rocking Bermuda shorts and a Bragg Jam T-shirt. He would make appearances during the late July concert crawl at different venues. "When he finally made his public debut, I still vividly remember a child holding a balloon and taking off running while crying," Walden said. But still, people were loving him. It wasn't long before Muddy had his own Facebook page and was adding new friends. His page still exists by the way — look him up! People were buzzing, wondering — Who was sweating behind the Swamp Ape costume? Walden still won't say. BRAGG JAM TODAY Social media became a big game changer for Bragg Jam, as it did for people across the world. Today, you can find everything you need to know about the festival on its website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even Spotify. As Bragg Jam grew throughout the years, so did the team working on the festival, and eventually so did its budget (although not by a lot). A thing to note is that the Bragg Jam board consists of volunteers, and most of the time, the people on it contribute what they are good at. While some things have changed, two things have remained consistent when it comes to marketing: T-shirts and posters. "The swag of Bragg Jam is probably our most effective marketing today," said former Co-Marketing Chair Stephanie Howard. "We spend a lot of time getting really cool artwork.The art has to be spot on." When you look at the Bragg Jam posters over years, it's easy to see how much creativity and time went into each design. None of them are the same. When it comes to marketing these days, most of the time is spent on trying to come up with the design for that year, with help from local artists. Each year, an artist from the Macon area designs the posters and tees. While they're all different, they all share the same aesthetic. "It has to be something that reflects the festival, the community, and the city," said former Co-Marketing Chair Leila Regan-Porter. "I'd say the aesthetic for Bragg Jam is a meeting of the past and present. There are a lot of echoes to the past of Macon music. The tones we use tend to be more vintage and have a classic but timeless feel to them." 96 maconmagazine.com | JUNE/JULY 2022