CrowdCanDo

Market

Target market

CrowdCanDo is a Complex Adaptive Network powered by people with a Can Do attitude; the potential is so vast it's almost impossible to pin down one specific target audience, as the platform will continue to evolve. We hope to build up a collection of similar markets that all interconnect & contribute to the sustainability of the platform.

Our traditional ticketing service offers an alternative to current sites such as Eventbrite & Fatsoma whilst our crowd funding options offer an alternative to sites like Indiegogo & Kickstarter.

By combining these two technologies & bridging the gap between crowd funding & event management we hope to appeal to a much wider audience, plus we aim to offer an alternative to sites such as Groupon & Wowcher.

CrowdCanDo is a disruptive innovation set on challenging all of these existing markets while hoping to create new ones by educating organisers & putting the power in the hands of the crowd.

Our main target age group is people aged 25-34 but we hope we will appeal to the wider demographic of ages 18-40. With that in mind, rather than marketing our services to such a wide audience we're focusing our efforts on identifying different markets & targeting them individually with specific campaigns.

Our initial campaigns will focus on the combination of crowd funding & online ticketing for events along with the ideology of ticket buyers contributing towards the making of events at a discount price while organisers raise the required funds.

We can imagine the platform being used by established businesses, event organisers, venues and people of all ages for a whole host of different events, festivals, daily deals, private functions, charitable fundraisers & more. It's amazing what the CrowdCanDo.

Characteristics of target market

In 2011 crowd funding platforms raised $1.5 billion, most of which came from countries in Europe and North America. It's been predicted that in 2013 global crowd funding volumes will reach $5.1 billion.

Events in the UK contribute an estimated £36.1 billion towards our economy every year. According to a forecast from Business Visits & Events Partnership that figure will increase to £48.4 billion by 2020.

Receipts from ticket sales and ancillary income from live music events generated total revenues for the UK of approximately £1. 4 billion and in 2012 an estimated 2,820 days of festivals were attended by nearly 30% of the population.

Over £12 billion is currently being invested in Event Venues and 20% of existing facilities are reporting upgrades or extensions. £11 billion is gained from over 1,600 trade shows with 250,000 exhibitors and 13 million buyers and suppliers.

Across the UK over 400 folk festivals take place every year, which is worth £100 million to local economies.

Marketing strategy

This pitch will form the foundations of our initial soft launch marketing campaign where we hope to find possible event organisers as well as investors. As we're offering a unique service to the UK we also hope to receive a considerable amount of media attention and through means of PR we hope to maintain that coverage until the launch.

We will be using the platform to organise our own events and this will allow us to experience first hand what our customers do & by maintaining communication we will strengthen existing relationships.

With our fixed funding option ticket buyers understand that if enough tickets aren't sold then the event won't go ahead. This inspires not only the event organiser but ticket buyers alike to share the event on social media sites, plus we offer an embed code so users can advertise the event page on their own website.

We intend on building partnerships and advertising with relevant retailers, service providers and event services companies as well as venues and event organisers. One example of this is our plans to partner with a national printing company in order to offer our customers discount printing for event flyers.

As the platform grows and we identify new and different markets we will be targeting them individually with specific campaigns tailored to them and their current situation. Our initial campaigns intend on targeting university students studying event management, event studies or other related courses. We intend on reaching these students through means of both print and digital marketing.

We plan to print a 'How it Works' brochure explaining the sites key functions and giving helpful tips on event organising and how to have a successful funding campaign. Copies will be distributed to Universities across the UK. This brochure will also be designed in the form of an Infographic.

Print & Digital Media

Email & Customer Service

Google & You Tube Advertising

Facebook Advertising

National Radio Advertising

Competition strategy

By integrating our customers' ideas into the process of innovation and development and by offering an open way of communicating and marketing to consumers we hope to gain a competitive advantage based on trust and disclosure.

We hope to maintain long-term relationships with our clients by keeping open lines of communication. This means asking for input on how things are going and how they feel about the service.

This business was born out of a passion for events and the genuine need to raise money up front in order to host some of these events. This is what makes us so unique and gives us the determination to make this platform a success.

Now we're constantly thinking up new ways the platform can be used and we intend to go the extra mile by actively seek to help our customers make their events and funding campaigns a success by offering hints, tips, help and guidance along the way.

We consider the platform to be both disruptive and sustainable innovation as this brand new concept allows us to create new markets while challenge existing ones. Initially we will only be offering the service to the UK and we're aiming to have first mover advantage. As the platform evolves, we will be spending more time on research, development and user experience and by doing this we hope to offer a unique, innovative service.

You wouldn't usually relate Google with the financial services sector but recently they've invested in crowd funding platforms 'Lending Club' and 'CircleUp'. This decision by one of the biggest names on the Internet is a defining moment for the entire industry and it confirms the power of crowd funding and financial innovation as well as the crowds’ ability to change financial markets and create new ones.