1. DOWNTOWN GRAND RAPIDS EVENTS MOBILE APPLICATION
Jacob Lewis, Brittany Lipkea, Jessica Majerle, Audrey Oake | Grand Valley State University Hospitality Management
Purpose
To provide The Arena District in conjunction with
DGRI, input, ideas and proposals to formulate a
strategy for the creation of a mobile application
marketing platform for interactive events in
Downtown Grand Rapids
Acknowledgements
Gender Age
How Did You Find Out About
Event?
Male Under 18 Social Media
Female 18-30 Advertising
30-50 Internet
50+ Work
Word of Mouth
Smart Goals
• Create a data set of currently available mobile apps and their usage by
contacting similar companies that have an app while finding out analytic
information about these apps and how they work within the next month.
• Analyze data to determine current event information platforms being used
and by what demographic by physically going to various types and sizes of
events happening in downtown Grand Rapids and interviewing people in
how they find out about these events going on by the end of March.
• Create a mobile application template for the near future utilizing data
collected in determining what would be desired, relevant and utilized in our
local market along with costs for purchasing v. developing this app by the
end of the semester by compiling our findings from the first two goals and
applying our own thoughts as well as knowledge.
Application Research
Cost of Application
Screen Shots
Survey Questions
Survey Results
Recommendations
• Annamarie Buller, Stakeholder Engagement Specialist, DGRI
• Dennis Moosbrugger, Arena District
Works Cited
- Bay Area Events (2014). CyberWalkAbout.com (Version 11) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://play.google.com
- Dojo - Best stuff in London. (2016). Dojo (Version 3.0.12) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://play.google.com
- Downtown NYC. (2014). I-SITE, Inc. (Version 1.11) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://play.google.com
- Go Detroit!. (2015). MyCityWay (Version 1.0.5) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://play.google.com
- Gravy. (2015). Gravy (Version 1.5.8 ) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://play.google.com
- Husson, T. (2016, February 3). 2016 Mobile and App Marketing Trends. Retrieved March 16, 2016, from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/forrester/2016/02/03/forrester-mobile- trends/#192cb70e5106
- LA Weekly. (2014). Voice Media Group, Inc. (Version 2.6.5) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com
- Metromix Picks-Chicago. (2015). Saambaa (Version 1.18.12) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://play.google.com
- Nearify - Discover Events. (2015). Nearify (Version 6.4) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://play.google.com
- Official Visitor App to Denver. (2013). VISIT DENVER: The Denver Tourism & Visitors Bureau (Version 3.2.2) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from
http://itunes.apple.com
- OnMilwaukee.com. (2016). OnMilwaukee DoApp (Version 4.17.0.6) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://play.google.com
- ParisBouge. (2015). ParisBouge (Version 2.3.5) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com
- Plug In. (2015). Saambaa (Version 1.18.12) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://play.google.com
- Pure Ludington. (2015). Bluebridge Tourism LLC (Version 5.1.0.1 ) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://play.google.com
- Roam. (2015). Newsbloom (Version 1.2) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com
- Traverse Traveler. (2016). GoLocalApps (Version 3.2) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com
- Triposo. (2016). Triposo (Version 4.2.5) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://play.google.com
- Visit Indy. (2015). Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association (Version 3.3.1) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com
Options Cost Rating/Review Cost
Platform Yes $6,000
Apple $8,000 No $0
Android $8,000 Website connection
Log in Yes $15,400
Email $6,200 No $0
Social Media $12,400 App Appearance
Personal Profile Beautiful looking $29,200
Yes $6,000 Stock $12,400
No $0 Bare-bones $6,000
App Cost App Icon
Upfront Cost $3,100 Yes $11,300
In app Purchases $9,300 No $0
Free $0 Total Cost $96,300
Application Upkeep per year $19,000
City/ App. Downloads
Average
Stars
(Apple)
# of Ratings
(Apple)
Average
Stars
(Android)
# of Ratings
(Android)
App. Age
Rating
ROAM 100 5 78 4.5 19 (T)
GRAVY 100,000 3.5 383 3.7 581 (E)
Triposo 500,000 4.5 1,103 4.4 5,279 (E)
Pure Ludington 500 4.5 9 4.7 3 (E)
Traverse Traveler 1,000 3.5 21 3.6 9 (E)
GO Detroit 10,000 4 8 4.1 170 (E)
Metromix Picks 1,000 4 11 3.5 17 (T)
Visit Indy 10,000 3 29 21 54 (E)
OnMilwaukee 5,000 3 79 4.2 60 (T)
Cincinnati N/A 2.5 13 N/A N/A (T)
LA Weekly 10,000 2.5 42 4 149 (E)
Downtown NYC 5,000 4.5 33 4.1 24 (E)
Plug in Orlando 1,000 4.5 18 4.2 57 (T)
Bay Area Events 5,000 N/A N/A 3.3 22 (E)
Official Visitor
App to Denver 10,000 3.5 267 2.8 123 (E)
ParisBouge 100,000 2.5 50 3.7 407 (E)
DOJO London 50,000 5 11 4.5 551 (E)
Nearify 50,000 4.5 54 4.4 1,732 (E)
19.33%
19.33%
12.00%
26.00%
23.33%
How Do People Find Out About Events?
Social Media Advertising Internet Work Word of Mouth
• Findings: Mobile applications are not a current event information platform in Grand Rapids. In
Cities that have event mobile applications, there is not enough usage of these apps. There is
also a high price associated with creating an app and the maintenance of keeping it updated.
• We recommend not creating a mobile application for events in Downtown Grand Rapids at
this time. We believe that it is not a current trend for event information and that it is not worth
the high cost if people aren't going to end up using it.
• We also believe that the best way to reach out to people in Grand Rapids is to utilize the Arena
District website. Keeping this website updated and searchable for the public could be a very
useful platform for event seeking individuals.
• To get the website more usage, we suggest to advertise the link through social media
platforms along with the other communication sources that were responses to our survey. We
then suggest to have the option to subscribe by making a personal profile on interests,
location, and pricing. Then sending push notifications every Thursday via email on the
weekend’s upcoming events or specials in relation to the personal profile.