Environmental Research and Personas Analyzing the Competition Analyzing

Environmental Research and Personas

Analyzing the Competition

Analyzing Our Competitors Currently our only competitor is Viply, their digital presence is lacking significantly. There are few beach towns that have access to the Viply app which allows beach goers to purchase a tag ahead time (for a fee) but still requires the customer to carry a physical beach tag.

Analyzing Our Competitors They only have a Facebook and twitter presence. Their facebook page only has a few posts promoting their app and they also don’t have any tweets. Viply’s Facebook page has a very low engagement. Their most popular post had 6 likes and 1 comment.

Environmental Analysis

Analyzing the Environment People are increasingly reliant on their phones to gather information and interact with their world. Mobile use is actually beginning to surpass traditional computers for things like web browsing and e-commerce. In the recreation industry, customers expect to be able to use their phones to do things like purchase tickets, view maps of nearby places, and to physically gain access to concert venues, sporting events, and things of that nature. The beach tag purchasing process for New Jersey’s beaches is woefully behind in this regard. People are already avoiding obtaining tags and are opting instead to borrow from friends or avoid the process all together. NJ’s municipalities can no longer afford to ignore the trend towards mobile and must allow users to interact with their world the way they want to, via their phones.

Personas

Customer Persona - Barbara owns a home in Ocean City and considers herself a “lifer” of this Shore town. Barbara visits the beach regularly making 2 -3 visits per week. She also hosts family from out of town and provides them with several of her seasonal beach tags that she purchases from the city. Social Media/Online Activity Favorite Social Network: Facebook Post/Share Frequency: 2 -3 times per week Post Content: Photos of family Follows: Friends, family members, and local businesses

Customer Persona - Mary is a Philadelphia native and makes the pilgrimage to Ocean City every weekend. Going down the shore has been a family tradition ever since she could remember and continues it with her children today. From time to time, they’ll rent a house for a weekend but are fond of the day trips as well. Mary and her family purchased seasonal beach tags for the convenience of a one time purchase for the entire summer. Social Media/Online Activity Favorite Social Network: Facebook Post/Share Frequency: 2 -3 times per week Post Content: Photos of family Follows: Friends, family members, and favorite brands

Customer Persona - Dave is from Philadelphia and while he does enjoy the beach, he wouldn’t call himself a regular. During the summer months, Dave visits the shore about once a month for a day trip with some friends. As he isn’t a regular, Dave purchases a one day beach tag when he visits but hates the process of buying a tag as he finds he doesn’t always carry cash and wish he could pay with a credit card or other digital methods. Social Media/Online Activity Favorite Social Network: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat Post/Share Frequency: 4 -5 times per week Post Content: Photos of weekend activities, meals and shares the latest articles of his favorite tech. Follows: Friends, favorite brands, content aggregators (i. e. Worldstar), news outlets (i. e. CNN).