M:IX Marketing Report
Executive Summary: M:IX is an app founded by students for students. It offers unique collaborative experiences for arts based disciplines to work together and create a cohesive outcome. The aim is to help others fInd students with similar styles and remove the awkwardness of fInding collaborators. Target Market: Obviously in broad terms the app is aimed at students, however it is more specialised but not solely restricted to arts based subjects. The type of student that uses our app is male or female aged between 18-24 and uses technology in their everyday life, and places particular importance on their phone. They are creative and have a keen eye for artistic style, taking pride in their creations with quite a strong work ethic. They are kept busy between university and socialising and enjoy creating a large network of contacts. They pay fIne attention to detail yet have an open mind to the world and are keen to learn more. Product: M:IX as a company focuses purely on the app and this is our only product. In the future it could be expanded into an online web browser version but our vision currently is to refIne the app for streamlined user use. It is a slicked back display to be as user friendly as possible with muted colour palettes so as not to distract from users work being displayed. It is modern and minimalistic, appealing to the future thinking market we are aiming at. It will initially be priced at ÂŁ4,000 as an annual subscription for each university so as to not be priced out of the market, and develop some faith and history behind the name. Once the app is established and tried and tested the price can be increased to ÂŁ5,500 when demand grows. Promotion & Communication Strategies: Taking inspiration from WGSN, as they also deal in subscription services to universities, the app would be introduced in a more personal and exclusive way. This would involve hosting informative talks and inviting relevant people from arts based universities across the country so they are fully aware of the new opportunities we offer for them. These would be held roughly every 3 years to keep up to date with recent app updates and changes. LeafLets detailing the apps features and costing would also be sent individually to universities to advertise in a quieter manner, this would be done annually to encourage subscription renewals. Once it has been initially launched brand recognition will be grown by attendance at trade fairs such as CILIP, ILI & UKSG to reach as many potential customers as possible. Hopefully this will improve word of mouth and help to sell as a desirable asset for universities to have. As well as this M:IX will have to have a social media presence so as to appeal to the student consumer. Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat will be used to display images of real life collaborations taking place to encourage and inspire users more. In future marketing would be kept fairly similar, as word of mouth and trust grows personal contact with universities would need to be maintained to encourage repeat subscriptions. Advertising would also be done through the universities themselves, as it becomes more well known and desirable they will advertise the fact they have it to students to sway them to attend their institution, therefore causing competition to purchase M:IX.
Market Placement & Competitor Comparison: M:IX is the fIrst of its kind in the market purely for students and this sets it apart as a USP. Because of the lack of competitors it is hard to pin point exactly where it will sit within the market, however it is aimed to be one of the more slick and professional apps so will sit slightly higher. One of the closest competitors would be Co:Lab as this is an app to help people fInd collaborators, however it is restricted to only industry uses so aims at a completely different market than M:IX. It is however well established and lessons on what works well can be learned from it, for example the users individual profIles and the category of work. But other things don’t work so well, such as lack of location services offering collaborations across countries or tinder style swiping system.