CASE BACKGROUND Mobile applications are indeed increasingly being famous nowadays especially those involving social networkingsites. At the same time, tourism industry is also booming. More people are travelling domestic and international. However, more travellers prefer independence and their own preference when it comes to travels. Travel / Tour agencies don’t do much to them and only constraints them. These new trends created Adventeur. Adventeur is a free smartphone application that provides consumers, regardless of the time they’ve spent in a town or city, a wealth of themed adventures based on their leisurely interests by recommending a series of three to four activities in specific locations. ISSUE IDENTIFICATION Since it is the first of its kind in the Philippines, Adventeur is unbeknownst to the Filipino population. Being set up in a third world country, the technology it uses is hard for the Filipinos to understand and use. In addition, only smartphone users can use this application leading to the short - term problem: How will Adventeur be introduced in the Filipino market and be able to penetrate Filipino smartphone users? Technology is constantly changing and improving and just like any product or service in the market, Adventeur is prone to obsolescence and loss of market share to competitors as the industry offers countless opportunities and little to no barriers to entry. In addition, the very targeted market is also a threat to Adventeur with regards to sustainability, leading to the long - term problem: How will Adventeur sustain its presence in the Philippine market and maintain its users’ loyalty to the application? SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS I. Environmental / Industry Analysis – STEP Analysis (nalagay ba dito yung direct/indirect competitors? nasa guide question kasi) Social. Philippine tourism is being taken to greater heights through extensive campaigning efforts, with the tagline “It’s more fun in the Philippines.”, to entice more and more people, foreigners and Filipinos, to engage into traveling and visiting sites. As per records, the tourism in the country is continuously progressing as the visitor count for the first five months of 2012 totaled to 1,819,781, which is 13.05% greater than the visitor count for the same period of last year. The month of January 2012 had the most number of visitors at 411, 064 and t his had the highest increase at 17.54%. The Korean market constitute the biggest group for these arrivals at 21.83%. Visitors from USA and Japan are the second and third biggest groups, respectively. Filipinos love to plan and schedule trips during weekends or holidays. Technological. There is an increasing movement to high tech phones with touch screen and wifi-access capability. In addition, the number of smartphone users in the Philippines is continuously increasing. Almost 19% of Globe Telecom subscribers own a smartphone as of end of 2011. This percentage is equivalent to almost 6,000,000 million peple. But some Filipinos do not maximize the use of their smartphones because of the lack of know-how on the smart features these can have and the applications these can be used for. Economic. People are willing to spend on trips as long as as it fits their budget. Nowadays, young adults allot more budget from their income/allowance for travelling and barkada trips. There is also a prevalence of low-fare or piso fare airline promos which makes travelling to different parts of the country more affordable. Political. The government is aggressively pushing for the “More Fun the Philippines” tourism campaign which seeks to attract foreigners to visit the Philippines. Local Government units has joined as well in the beatification of hot spots which has given premium to the tourism industry. II. Target Market Demographic: Adventeur’s target market are all those who are in their 20’s to late early 30’s regardless of their sex and nationality. This means that foreigners who are to visit the Philippines can use the application. They are are part of the working population, and for Filipinos specifically, part of the AB to upper C SEC. For foreigners, they are the backpackers, and solo travelers. While for Filipinos, they are groups or barkadas. Psychographic: Foreigner: These people are those who desire control over their lives. They don’t want someone deciding on what they will do, where they should go and how should they do it. They love trying out new things and discovering new places. They are the type of people who’s ready-set-go. They can go into places just when they feel to without drawbacks on spending their money. Enjoyment is their primary concern, convenience and safety will probably be the least. They seek for thrills and adventures and they are not afraid of taking risks. Filipinos: (Pretty much the same with foreigners di ko na imemention pa kasi redundant na yata? Yung pinagkaiba nalang sa foreigners) They love to travel, and travelling won’t be as fun as when you’re with your friends/loved ones. III. Source of Business & Marketing Objective Since Adventeur was developed and introduced to the US market in the early part of 2012, the application is not yet made available here in the Philippines. It has no market yet here in our country. Thus, the source of business of Adventeur in the Philippines will be the non-users, defined as those who do not use any travel mobile apps as well as those who use the other travel mobile apps. To reach this source, the marketing objective will be penetration which will be achieved by enticing absolute non-users to use the Adventeur app and by shifting preference of users from the current travel app they are using to Adventeur. IV. Consumer Insights Foreigner: X is a 25 year old American working as a marketing consultant. He takes a break from work and decides on taking an out-of-the-country vacation. He prefers to travel alone and wants to be in control of his vacation. He doesn’t want to be constricted to the itineraries set up by travel or tour agencies. He wants his vacation to be customized in accordance to his preference. But then, he has to be familiar of the country he is visiting. He doesn’t mind where he will stay or where he will go. All he wanted is an experience that he will really have fun. Filipino: A group of working professionals, ages 23-25 years old, decided to have a vacation. This group wanted it to be affordable yet they wanted it to be spontaneous and adventurous. They don’t want to be tied up by the schedules and itineraries set by travel agencies. They want their travel to be random at the same time, they don’t want to miss visiting the famous and beautiful destinations and try the activities offered there. RECOMMENDATIONS A. Market Penetration through the Creation of Travel Database - Online Focus ● Twitter One way of promoting the application is through the use of the social networking site Twitter. First step would be the creation of the Adventeur Twitter account which would be a venue for micro bloggers and Twitter users to share their travel experiences in places in the Philippines (What’s your Adventeur?). These tweets would be hashtagged with the places traveled (e.g. #CamSur, #Bora) along with the Adventeur account (@Adventeur). The most frequented places would have the possibility to get “trending”, thus creating awareness of the app, and great Philippine destinations. Experiences shared will include where and when the travel time happened, a short description of the place, the traveler’s opinion on the place, and a general rating (5 as highest, 1 as lowest). It may also include a user-generated “twitpic” featuring the place. Plus, the site would be automatically connected to the app to enable real-time check ins and status updates. An incentive for the Twitter followers is the chance for them to get featured on the site, giving them an opportunity to get Twitter followers. ● Facebook A Facebook account will also be simultaneously started along with the Twitter account. It will be used mainly for fanbase interaction through various promotion and will be a venue for a freedom wall (similar to the site 9gag) where people can post pictures of their travels and write short captions about their experiences. Wall posts will be segregated (with the use of tabs) into five categories based on travelers profiles, namely: Sporty, Couples, Artsy, Food Enthusiasts and Thrill-seekers. ● Bloggers Filipino travel bloggers will be a source of data and itinerary for the application. The application will be introduced to them through a major blogger event. Bloggers will be introduced with promotions that they will host on their respective sites which are connected with the twitter website. As said earlier, they are going to be the source of data through their creation of specific itineraries based on the profile of the travelers. In this way, itineraries created are more customized to more focused target markets. Locations featured will also be more unique and will be out of the usual sight-seeing places found in the area. ● Department of Tourism (DOT) The Department of Tourism will also be a source of data for the usual destinations as well as on hotel ratings (1 star to 5 star), protected areas and provinces to take caution in. The DOT’s campaign, “It’s more fun in the Philippines”, will be utilized through the use of “It’s more fun in the Philippines with Adventeur”. The application will include already a watermark system wherein pictures shot by app users will be watermarked with the statement and will be posted in facebook and twitter. B. Sustainability of its Presence and Users’ Loyalty In order to sustain its presence and users’ loyalty to Adventeur, innovations should be made. These include giving traffic updates on Metro Manila travelers and making the app in virtual 3D via partnership with Google Earth. There will also be user interaction through challenges in certain places. Freebies and promotions of business partners can be availed through the accumulation of challenge points. Accomplished challenges will be automatically posted in social networking sites. Rewards program through miles traveled, badges earned and points accumulated from challenges will also be offered. In addition, discount partnerships will also be established with Ensogo, Deal Grocer, and Deal Spot. A plug-in tracker will also be installed. The application will track browsing on travel sites and blogs. On the side tab of social networking sites, Adventeur pop-outs will be seen that is fit for the traveler profile created through the gathering of browsing history. Some 19 percent of Globe Telecom mobile subscribers own a smartphone, or almost 6 million as of end-2011. The Philippine communications provider also expects that the growing preference for smartphones will increase the use of mobile internet over the next three years. Telecompaper Asia and Africa (Netherlands) (2012) (Newsbank) Philippine tourism continue to show its strength as visitor count for the first five months of the year aggregated to 1,819,781, recording a double-digit growth of 13.05% compared to the 1,609,651 arrivals for the same period in 2011. The month of January 2012 recorded the most number of visitors at 411,064 and the highest increase of 17.54%. Visitor traffic for the period was boosted by the Korean market as they comprised the biggest group with a share of 21.83% (397,170 arrivals). This market registered a double-digit increase of 12.41% versus its arrivals of 353,307 a year ago. Visitors from the U.S.A. supplied the second biggest arrival with 298,355 and expanded by 5.26% vis-àvis its corresponding arrivals of 283,422 visitors the previous year. This market shared 16.40% of the total arrivals. Coming in third are visitors from Japan with a volume of 167,410 arrivals and an increase of 7.11% compared to its contribution of 156,296 in 2011. (DOT, Philippines, Industry Performance) Age group Total 100.0 15-24 26.4 25-34 25.6 35-44 19.9 45-54 14.8 55-64 8.6 65 yrs old and over 4.7 Total number of trips1 42,234 Average number of trips per traveler 2 Total number of times of visit 1 42,692 (Percentage of age group travelers) (Visitmyphilippines.com) Foreigners Demographic Age: 18? to late 30s? Sex:M&F Occupation: Working Psychographic A backpacker An independent one spontaneous Loves to travel Loves to try new things thrill seeker Doesn’t care much about his/her safety and convenience Filipinos Demographic Age:20 to early 30s Sex: M&F Occupation: Working SEC: AB and upper C Marital Status: Single Psychographic Adventurous and willing to try new things One who likes to travel alone Willing to spend high level of curiosity seeks enjoyment trendy risk taker Independence is important value for enjoyment Nationality: foreigners and Filipinos alike Income class: A & B smartphone users Young professionals, young couples, spontaneous people, network providers Market Segmentation ● Foreigners ○ More suited for backpackers and solo travelers who are just in it for the experience and the traveling profile (sporty, food enthusiast, etc.) ● Locals ○ More suited to barkadas and group traveling ○ Budgeted itineraries ○ Spontaneous outings by the group