P6: Identify the channels and platforms to be used for the distribution of the new product
As my product will be an app it is clear to me that the two main forms of distribution will be through the Apple app store, which will cater to the part of my audience who are using Apple products, as well as the Google play store which will cater for those who are using android phones. Although there are many other ways of downloading apps on apple and android devices. I will be going for the two mentioned above. This is because they are the largest app directories for both platforms. This can be seen in statistics which show that the Apple app store has had over 180 billion downloads as of June 2017, I also found that the Google play store has had 65 billion downloads as of May 2016. These numbers far out perform any other digital app distribution service.
As for marketing I believe that using social media platforms like Facebook would be the way to go. I think that these sorts of channels would be very effective because you're able to directly target the audience that you want to reach out to which matches your target audience for your app. This is because Facebook, alongside other social media platforms, keeps track of it's users likes and interests which in turn allow you to make sure that you're advertising the app as efficiently as possible. I think that YouTube would also be an effective platform to advertise on because it is an audience based channel which encourages you to build up an audience and "subscribers". I think that because of this it would be effective as it allows you to gain a relevant following through uploading fashion based content and then you're able to direct your YouTube audience and fans to download your app.
I think that overall social media channels would be the most effective way to advertise because you're able to reach a far wider audience than through advertising in a traditional form like through TV or radio. This is because far more people now use social media than watch TV. Another reason why social media would be the best channel to market the app through is because it is far cheaper than advertising through TV or Radio. The only costs that usually come with marketing on social media are the costs of the actual marketing campaign itself.
When it comes to the actual platforms that the app will be on, I have four main options for it to go with. I think that the App should be available on iPhone and Android phones as it's native platform. I think this is appropriate because that way we would be targeting the widest audience possible as almost everyone has a phone and these have, by far, the largest market share of the phone market. I also think that we should expand into having the app on iPad's and Android tablets because at no further cost or work we are able to port the phone version of the app onto a tablet as they run the same operating system. This would be effective because it allows us to easily reach out to an even wider audience.
I think that it would be a good idea to also integrate the app into the Apple watch. I believe this would be effective as a lot of our audience that are interested in fashion are likely to wear a watch, and the proportion of those who do would enjoy the fact that the app is also available on it. I think that using the Apple watch as a platform would allow us to create very interesting functions. An idea that could be used is to have our app provide different watch faces in order to match the outfit that the user of the app is wearing that particular day.
I think that another interesting platform that we could distribute our app to is the Alexa smart speaker. I think this would be a very effective platform for the app due to Alexa's prominence in social media and it's rising popularity. I think that having the app on Alexa alone would be an effective marketing move as many of Alexa's tools and abilities are often showcased on social media and go viral. I also think that Alexa would be a good platform for my fashion app because it promotes convenience which is what the digital revolution is heading toward as well as what my app will be focussing on. I want my app to inspire people on how to dress and to give them ideas. I want one of the features on the Alexa version of the app to allow the user to ask Alexa about what they should wear. Once the user lists their wardrobe in the phone version of the app, Alexa will be able to connect to that and tell you what you should wear.
As for marketing I believe that using social media platforms like Facebook would be the way to go. I think that these sorts of channels would be very effective because you're able to directly target the audience that you want to reach out to which matches your target audience for your app. This is because Facebook, alongside other social media platforms, keeps track of it's users likes and interests which in turn allow you to make sure that you're advertising the app as efficiently as possible. I think that YouTube would also be an effective platform to advertise on because it is an audience based channel which encourages you to build up an audience and "subscribers". I think that because of this it would be effective as it allows you to gain a relevant following through uploading fashion based content and then you're able to direct your YouTube audience and fans to download your app.
I think that overall social media channels would be the most effective way to advertise because you're able to reach a far wider audience than through advertising in a traditional form like through TV or radio. This is because far more people now use social media than watch TV. Another reason why social media would be the best channel to market the app through is because it is far cheaper than advertising through TV or Radio. The only costs that usually come with marketing on social media are the costs of the actual marketing campaign itself.
When it comes to the actual platforms that the app will be on, I have four main options for it to go with. I think that the App should be available on iPhone and Android phones as it's native platform. I think this is appropriate because that way we would be targeting the widest audience possible as almost everyone has a phone and these have, by far, the largest market share of the phone market. I also think that we should expand into having the app on iPad's and Android tablets because at no further cost or work we are able to port the phone version of the app onto a tablet as they run the same operating system. This would be effective because it allows us to easily reach out to an even wider audience.
I think that it would be a good idea to also integrate the app into the Apple watch. I believe this would be effective as a lot of our audience that are interested in fashion are likely to wear a watch, and the proportion of those who do would enjoy the fact that the app is also available on it. I think that using the Apple watch as a platform would allow us to create very interesting functions. An idea that could be used is to have our app provide different watch faces in order to match the outfit that the user of the app is wearing that particular day.
I think that another interesting platform that we could distribute our app to is the Alexa smart speaker. I think this would be a very effective platform for the app due to Alexa's prominence in social media and it's rising popularity. I think that having the app on Alexa alone would be an effective marketing move as many of Alexa's tools and abilities are often showcased on social media and go viral. I also think that Alexa would be a good platform for my fashion app because it promotes convenience which is what the digital revolution is heading toward as well as what my app will be focussing on. I want my app to inspire people on how to dress and to give them ideas. I want one of the features on the Alexa version of the app to allow the user to ask Alexa about what they should wear. Once the user lists their wardrobe in the phone version of the app, Alexa will be able to connect to that and tell you what you should wear.
P7: Create a project proposal specification document for the new product.
Below I have attached my proposal document.