An outline of my marketing plan : alfred , the PA app

An outline of my marketing

plan

Meet alfred

your personal assistant app , your virtual wingman and faithful pocket butler

But why alfred ?…...

You don’t have to be the world’s greatest detective to know the answer to that , master Bruce

Overview of the app

Predictive sense Alfred uses history from previous purchases , browsing history , social media uploads , online activity and online logs of the activity that you have engaged in……..in short, it tries to know everything about you

It observes what you post and follow on social media

It observes your google searches , Quora queries , DIY interests

It makes a note of the places that you’ve checked into

It keeps track of torrent searches , pinterest saves , goodreads history , imdb searches…….

Purchases from amazon , flipkart and so on…….

So….what does it do with this inside out knowledge of your interests ?

It predicts your online behaviour and notifies and assists you with multiple aspect of your personal and professional life

Your virtual wingman

Alfred scans the vicinity for people who share your interests and want similar things out of life .

It notifies you and the other person about the both of you (provided he/she also uses alfred ) and if both of you like each other , alfred informs both of you and well…..the rest is up to you (*wink)

Your travel guide When alfred is on tourist mode , it informs you about places that you might be interested in over others based on it’s extensive knowledge about you

It informs you about local restaurants , dishes that fit your budget and lifestyle

Views that you’d kill for based on your instagram uploads ….

That friend of yours who informs you about the “in-thing”

It keeps track of the latest events , experiences , movies , book releases , game releases and notifies you when there’s something hip and happening

Your virtual butler Alfred also plays the traditional role of a butler cum automated “yellow pages” , very efficiently after analysing services based on vicinity , cost effectiveness and user reviews

The market overview

Competitors

Tinder , happn

Haptik

Google Now , Citymapper

Competition is intense as alfred covers a lot of aspects

Collaborators Restaurants , theatres ,

pubs , bookstores Travel agencies ,

hotels , event agencies

Imdb , goodreads , amazon , flipkart

Target customers

Generation X

Generation Y

Early Generation Z

Goals

The conversion rate

CR for a month = ( ( monthly subscribers for full app) + ( monthly subscribers for “pay for what you want” ) ) / ( total number of users for that month)

CR = ( (subscribers for full app) + (subscribers for “pay for what you want” ) ) / ( total number of users)

The overall target conversion rate is about 10% in about a year

Strategy

The target market

Millennials : this segment of the market consists of young working adults who are much more tech savvy than the preceding generation

Value proposition : alfred offers them the opportunity to connect to people with similar interests like no other app , and if there is one thing that is essential to millennials , it is connectivity

Early generation Z : these young adults live lives that revolve around technology and depend on apps like these to a greater extent than any other generation

Value proposition : alfred offers them the ability to stay in touch with the trends with minimum effort

Business executives : Time is of the essence to them and making life automated is of importance to their work ethic

Value proposition : alfred is a highly efficient and automated system that keeps track of schedules for you and sets reminders , alerts and alarms by analysing past history

Hitchhikers and tourists

Value proposition: alfred provides a one stop solution to every traveller’s need , from connecting the user to hotels , venues , events to notifying them about potential selfie spots

Or just anyone who wants to live life to the fullest !!!!

Collaborators

Restaurants , theatres , pubs , malls or any large scale commercial organisation

Value proposition : alfred provides greater visibility to these services , it is a symbiotic relationship where both parties benefit mutually

Online marketing entities : Amazon , Flipkart , snapdeal , quikr , OLX etc

Value proposition :these entities will have greater online traffic diverted towards them through the automated system that alfred offers

Social media : facebook , twitter , instagram etc…

Opinion sharing apps : imdb , goodreads etc

Value proposition : it streamlines online traffic towards these online entities

Brand building strategies

Product brand The name alfred is synonymous with reliability , trustworthiness and the warm fuzzy feeling that you get when you see alfred in the batcave

One of the key features of the brand’s identity would be simplicity

Cost structure

20$ for a lifetime subscription , 5$ per month , for the entire app Under the “pay for what you want” scheme 7$ for lifetime subscription and 3$ per month for every 2 aspects of the app

Product elements (Symbology) Butler (cold , calculatingly efficient)

Pocket guide (handy , concise)

Wingman and friend (reliable , hip , trendy )

Iconic ( it combines the traits of so many iconic established apps and builds on it )

The free version The basic functions of the apps from which it derives are meant to be free . The free version of the app uses previous info of the same user to provide notifications about trends , offers , experiences , people , events and services based on the current location of the user

The premium version The premium app uses the history and search preferences of the user to make more precise decisions than the free app . It also cross references the history of other users that have similar interests to make more informed decisions for the user . It does not provide services only based on the options in the immediate vicinity (however , it is the most important factor) , it provides an interactive map that allows the user to keep track of things globally as well as in places that the user has checked in . It allows the user to register automatically for services and set appointments automatically using user information (with security in place) based on a very accurate analysis of the user history whereas the free version only provides info and notifications whereas registration and booking will have to be done manually Since the app involves multiple services , a “pay for what you want only” scheme can be introduced

Communication Traditional modes of communication (print and electronic

media)

Publicity and product oriented marketing campaigns by tying up with collaborators

( for example : restaurants could publicise the app by introducing a scheme that app users who have stumbled on the restaurant using an app code )

Referral campaigns that award users who refer the app to others

Distribution

Traditional app stores like google playstore and apple itunes

Apk versions in licensed apk providers

The app link can be publicised in the promotional material of the collaborators

Company team infrastructure Backend and frontend coders who are

responsible for creating and maintaining the apps user interface

Big data analysts who are in charge of maintaining the raw data and the massive database that the app will have to maintain

Creative content writers

Publicity strategists , who work with the content writers to come up with promotional media

The outreach team , who negotiate with collaborators

Schedule The backend and frontend developers work on the app structure and interface and later flesh out the remaining with the help of the data analysts

The outreach team bring in collaborators who work in tandem with the team that is working on the app database The content creators work with the strategists to create promotional media , the entire process should take about a year and a half , as reaching out to collaborators and building a network is a time consuming process

Created by NITIN. N , IIT Madras during a

Marketing internship under Prof Sameer

Mathur , IIM Lucknow

Image sources :

Shutterstock , google images

DISCLAIMER