11 Pages
2748 Words
UniConnect Features and Objectives
Task 1: Business Idea Pitch
Part A: Business Idea Overview and Justification
The business idea is to establish a mobile app based on the platform under the UniConnect with the target of attracting the University students across different campuses. This app can serve as a centralized hub for the students in order to connect, collaborate and access the exclusive campus-specific services. The business can be operated on the online basis with the utilisation of a mobile application platform.
Justification
- Sector: Technology/Software
- Location: Nationwide, focusing on the university campus
- Operation: Primarily addressing the operations online that can be accessible with the help of mobile devices
Reasons for the Business Idea
UniConnect meets the demand and makes university life better for students by engraving everything they need in one single app. It is special because it provides a unique selling proposition (USP) which lies in combining academic collaboration, event planning, and exclusive campus services, making student life simpler and more enjoyable.
Key Competitors
- CampusHub: This offers similar types of academic resources and event listings
- StudentLifge Connect: The platform a focuses on student interactions along with addressing the campus services.
Competitor Justification
CampusHub and StudentLife Connect are addressed as the identified key competitors in terms of their overlapping measures with the services. However, the USP of the UniConnect lies in the comprehensive approach by offering an all-in-one solution for the academic and social requirements by differentiating it from the existing competitors.
Part B: Business Objectives and Ownership Structure
Objectives
- Developing special tools to help the students in group study, resource sharing, and virtual classrooms in order to boost academic engagement.
- Help in creating a strong event management system for smoother experience and efficient promotion and organisation of campus events.
- Teaming up with local businesses to offer student-friendly discounts, and making sure about everyday needs.
- Best user experience for enhancement and making the app super easy to use.
Objective Justification
- The objectives can enhance the utility of the app by addressing the primary reason for attending the university the students
- These objectives can further enhance the sense of community and engagement among the students
- There can be the addition of values for the student experience with the promotion of local businesses
- These objectives are essential for retaining and attracting users for ensuring sustained growth opportunities
Ownership Structure: Sole Proprietorship
Justification
A sole proprietorship can be considered as the most suitable form of ownership for the new development of UniConnect in terms of the simplicity and flexibility initiatives (Davey, 2022). Being a founder, it is essential to maintain the control over decision-making processes in the initial stage of development. In addition, this structure can be helpful in allowing the owner to enhance the decision-making aspects along with the ease of implementation.
Task 2: Planning and Budgeting for the UniConnect Launch Event
Part A: Defining the Launch Event
UniConnect's launch event which will be a dynamic and inclusive affair that perfectly matches the business goals of fostering user engagements and building a strong sense of community. This event will take the form of an enchanting evening filled with a blend of business presentation and warm social interactions. The chosen venue will be a spacious and trendy off-site location to create a vibrant modern atmosphere for everyone to enjoy the eve.
Event Format
The launch event will commence with a short presentation, with an introduction of UniConnect's features and benefits. Following this, it is an honour to welcome a keynote speaker from the education or technology sector, whose insight will align the essence of the app and connect with our targeted audience (Kalle Lyytinen, Heikki Topi and Tang, 2023). The gala will focus on the interactive features which demonstrate the app's functionalities, creating an engaging hands-on experience.
Catering and Entertainment
A special care will be provided in the form of food and beverages at the UniConnect launch with the image of quality and innovation. With high-quality catering, including appetizers and beverages will enhance the overall experience. Entertainment with a live band or DJ ensures a lively and celebratory atmosphere (Lacey, 2023). This event should be memorable and proves to be the reflection of our commitment with our business objective of fostering a positive and vibrant community.
Guest List
The guest list for the UniConnect launch will be key stakeholders, including university representatives, potential investors, local business partners, and influential figures in the education and technology sector (Baldwin, Raven and Jones, 2022). This diverse assembly perfectly aligns with the business objective of establishing valuable connections and partnerships.
Justification
UniConnect's commitment to quality, innovation and community building will be emphasised by the chosen arrangement, venue, and elements of the event in order to create a lasting impression on the guests and other attendees.
Part B: Producing a Budget
Budget for UniConnect Launch Event:
| Expense Category | Estimated Cost (£) | Notes and References |
|---|
| Rent for the venue | £ 6,000 | Arranging local event spaces, calculating average cost based on multiple quotes |
|---|
| Catering services | £8,000 | Arranging premium catering services, researching those with the help of local providers |
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| Free Keynote Speaker | £5,000 | Free standards for industrial experts, industry average |
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| Entertainment | £4,000 | Fixed rates from the entertainment agencies from the local departments |
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| Marketing materials and requirements | £4,000 | Arrangement of printing and promotional materials, estimated marketing rates |
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| Miscellaneous expenses | £1,000 | Addressing the contingencies for the unforeseen costs based on the industrial standards |
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| Total. budgetary spending | £30,000 |
|---|
Table 1: Budget formulation
The allocated budget for the launch of UniConnect is distributed carefully in order to ensure a memorable and impactful introduction that can be aligned with the objectives of the business. A substantial portion of the budget has been allocated for venue rentals within the trendy off-site location for the generation of the vibrant atmosphere. Catering the amount that can emphasise the quality and innovation aspects can be helpful in enhancing the overall experience. Allocation for the keynote speaker can be aligned with the objective in terms of the connection of establishing industry. Apart from this, addressing the entertainment budget can ensure a lively touch that can enhance the positive community spirits. The marketing materials can support the promotional efforts. Lastly, a contingency plan can cover the unforeseen costs by ensuring the financial prudence and successful execution of the event.
Task 3: Developing a Comprehensive Marketing Plan for Business Growth
Marketing Objectives/Branding
UniConnect needs to be a top-notch tool for university students, with a blending of academic collaboration and smooth social connection. It is designed for everyone, with innovation and user-friendly design and building a community. UniConnect aims to become essential for students to make their university experience better (Poole, Thompson and Galloway, 2023). This platform offers a seamless blend of academic help and social interaction, with an aim to redefine the university life of students. With a focus on innovation and community, UniConnect dares to lead in making university life easier and simpler for students in different academic disciplines.
Target Markets
UniConnect is designed for all university students, irrespective of their age, gender, or socio-economic background. The goal of launching this app is to bring together the entire student into a broad range of individuals (Alam and Mohanty, 2023). This strategy ensures that UniConnect is widely known and recognized as a universal platform for every student. It aims to create unity among students and bring a sense of belonging among students from diverse backgrounds, fostering a community that casts differences. With this strategy, UniConnect becomes a go-to platform for students, emphasizing its commitment to being easy to use and easily accessible and beneficial for every student in the university community.
Marketing Strategies for ONE Target Market
The marketing strategy of UniConnect for first-year students includes personalised onboarding sessions during the orientations of the university. The collaborations in terms of university administration can further facilitate the direct engagement of the social media campaigns with an emphasis on the role of the application in order to ease the transaction for addressing a university life that can be employed efficiently. The modification of the marketing mix can be included with tailored promotional messages to highlight the features that are crucial for the first-year challenges with the enhancement of a sense of belongingness.
Marketing Mix
| Element | Description | Justification |
|---|
| Price |
- There is the introduction of competitive pricing with the freemium model for basic features that can further increase the widespread adoption.
- Discounts for the annual subscription can enhance the loyalty of the users.
| These measures can be aligned with the objectives in terms of accessibility and inclusivity for the students. |
|---|
| Product |
- There is a need to address continuous improvement in terms of the features of the app based on the user feedback
- There is a need to ensure relevance and satisfaction with regular updates and maintain the innovation and usability aspects.
| There can be ensured consistency with the brand message in terms of innovation and user-centric design. |
|---|
| Place |
- There can be online distribution with the help of the accessories on the smartphones and the web
- There is a need to partner with the university bookshops for the promotion of the events that can enhance visibility.
| This can be met with the requirement for convenience and accessibility for the students in these regards. |
|---|
| Promotion |
- The promotion can be done with the help of social media campaigns and university partnerships along with the influence of collaboration aspects
- There is a need to place emphasis on targeted messaging during the addressing of key academic milestones.
| Promotional engagement can be aligned with the diverse communication aspects as per the preferences of the students. |
|---|
Table 2: Marketing Mix
Task 4: Understanding Information Needs and Systems for Operational, Tactical, and Strategic Business Decisions
Operational Business Decision
Decision: Replenishing Inventory Levels
Importance: Ensuring adequate stock levels for meeting the daily demands along with prevalent stockouts
Information Needed
- Acquiring real-time sales data in terms of the product
- Addressing the current inventory levels
- Addressing supplier's lead time along with the order processing times
Source and Characteristics
- Addressing sales data and inventory levels reliable from the viewpoint of sales system
- Acquiring supplier information from the procurement and supplier management systems
- Gathering real-time and granular data sets for facilitating quick decision-making aspects
Business Information System
With the help of an operational support system in terms of an inventory management system, there can be the promotion of real-time data on sales inventory levels and supply information that can further enable efficient decision making aspects for timely replenishments.
Tactical Business Decision
Decision: Addicting the strategies of marketing
Importance: Optimization of the marketing efforts that are based on intermediate-term for enhancing the performance metrics
Information Needed
- Addressing the performance to collect the data based on marketing campaigns
- Addressing customer feedback and preferences in order to deal with them efficiently
- Continuing with the computer analysis and the marketing trend
Source and Characteristics
- Analytics of campaigning from different marketing information systems
- Gathering customer feedback in terms of CRM system
- The competitor's data from external market research sources are required to be gathered
Business Information System
A decision support system, especially in the field of marketing information, can further consolidate the data from different sources by facilitating independent analysis and visualization to support the tactical decisions in terms of the adjustments made for ensuring an efficient marketing strategy.
Strategic Business Decision
Decision: Expansion into the new markets
Importance: It can be helpful in identifying the opportunities for addressing long-term growth and market diversification aspects
Information Needed
- Need to do market research for gathering potential locations for expansion
- Need to address financial projections for enhancing the expansion measures
- There is a need to address legal and regularly considerations
Source and Characteristics
- Market research can be reported from external databases
- The financial databases are from the enterprise resources of the planning system
- The legal advice and regulatory information from legal databases can be helpful in ensuring adherence
Business Information System
In this regard, an executive support system can be helpful for the integration with external databases in terms of market research. This system can further provide comprehensive information that is required for strategic decisions that are included with financial data market analysis along with the legal considerations for successful expansion of the market.
References
- Alam, A. and Mohanty, A. (2023). Facial Analytics or Virtual Avatars: Competencies and Design Considerations for Student-Teacher Interaction in AI-Powered Online Education for Effective Classroom Engagement. Communications in computer and information science, pp.252–265. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43145-6_21.
- Baldwin, J., Raven, N. and Jones, R.W. - (2022). Managerial Cultures in UK Further and Vocational Education: Transforming Techno-Rationalism into Collaboration. [online] Google Books. Springer Nature. Available at: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=24J0EAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP5&dq=The+guest+list+for+the+UniConnect+launch+will+be+key+stakeholders [Accessed 14 Dec. 2023].
- Davey, K. (2022). Learning to Cope on Your Own: The Reflexive Educational Trajectories of High-Achieving, Working-Class Girls. [online] Available at: https://pure.hud.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/67012629/FINAL_THESIS.pdf [Accessed 14 Dec. 2023].
- Kalle Lyytinen, Heikki Topi and Tang, J. (2023). MaCuDE IS Task Force Phase II Report: Views of Industry Leaders on Big Data Analytics and AI. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 52, pp.429–464. doi:https://doi.org/10.17705/1cais.05217.
- Lacey, A. de (2023). Level Up: Live Performance and Creative Process in Grime Music. [online] Google Books. Taylor & Francis. Available at: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=cKazEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT14&dq=Entertainment+with+a+live+band+or+DJ+ensures+a+lively+and+celebratory+atmosphere&ots=n5JmykMW0V&sig=9P41sUTbhUdexW5JBvgue3WzVaI [Accessed 14 Dec. 2023].
- Poole, R., Thompson, D. and Galloway, D. (2023). Decisions, decisions, decisions: an exploration of factors affecting the decision-making of ‘Uni Connect' students, when choosing higher education study. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, pp.1–22. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2023.2275752.
