ParkingBee

Happy Valley Communications Campaign Book

Fall 2016

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Table of Contents

Team Contacts……………………...…………………………………………………………………...3

Client Summary………………………………………………………………………………………….4

Goals & Objectives……….……………..………………………………………………………………4

Target Audience…………………………...…………………………………………………………….4

Social Media SWOT Analysis…………..……………………………………………………..…....5-6 Twitter…...………………………………………………………………………………………..5 Instagram………………………………………………………………………………………...6 Mobile App SWOT Analysis…………..………………………………………………………..……..7

Website SWOT Analysis……………..……………………………………………………………..….8

Social Media Posts………………..…………………………………………………………………....9

Media Kit………………………………...…………………………………………..………………10-15 Media Pitch……………………………………………………………………………………..10 Media Alert- Café 210…………………………………………………………………………11 Media Alert- General………………………………………………………………………….12 Fact Sheet………………………………………………………………………………………13 PSA………………………………………………………………………………………………14 Press Release………………………………………………………………………………….15 Ad Hoc Projects………..……………………………………………………………………………....16

Evaluation of Goals and Objectives……………………………………………………………......18

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Team Contact Information

Amy Walker aew5329@gmail.com (717) 439-129

Megan Krause megankse@gmail.com (215) 882-0700

Rebecca Sorensen rzs5520@psu.edu (732) 425-8954

Amanda Malinchak aqm5269@Psu.edu (484) 866-0591

Shayna Rogoff skr5209@psu.edu (908) 565-6592

Tim Ingersoll tingersoll13@gmail.com (724) 552-7000

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Client Summary

ParkingBee is a new app developed by Penn State alumni that is giving students and

the State College community the opportunity to buy and sell their parking spots through

the convenience of their phone. Michael Black, a recent Penn State engineer,

developed this online and mobile platform to fill the void between cheap and convenient

parking. Essentially an AirBnB for parking spaces, ParkingBee is a mobile and online

platform that allows users to find cheap, convenient parking. By listing all spots from

campus parking to free parking to spots listed by people who aren't using their parking

spaces at the moment, ParkingBee is giving students the opportunity for affordable and

convenient parking that was never available before. Goals & Objectives

To promote ParkingBee and spread awareness to the Penn State and State College community; to create media recognition through their online social media platforms; to create media kit materials for their possible promotional events. Objectives:

1. Promote the ParkingBee App to the Penn State student body as well as the State College community.

2. Raise awareness about the opportunity and capabilities which correlate with the ParkingBee App.

3. Create content for the Parking Bee’s social media accounts 4. Collaborate with the ParkingBee team to create a successful promotional event. 5. Generate 300 transactions per week.

Target Audience

The target audience for Parkingbee is primarily those who come to State College and have trouble trying to find parking and are fed up with the prices and safety of parking garages. In addition, people who had and extra parking space that they wanted to rent out to make money off of were also an audience Parkingbee is geared towards. We typically tried to push for people who were coming up for weekend events in State College like football game weekends and THON 2016.

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Social Media SWOT Analysis

Twitter

Strengths: ● The header photo works well with setting the overall vibe of the twitter. ● The articles that are shared and retweeted are informative. ● The handle is easy to remember and professional. ● The orange text for links goes well with the theme. ● The few replies or mentions are informative and helpful.

Weaknesses: ● The overall activity on the twitter. There are only 103 total tweets since

December 2015. The last actual post was on July 15. ● Articles are shared and retweeted too often, and the majority of them are not

relevant to Parkingbee. When people see an account posting an article consistently, they start ignoring it entirely. They could also think that it’s spam.

● There are only 57 followers, and the majority of the followers are other companies or programs. Might need to advertise the presence of the Twitter more.

Opportunities: ● Start sharing past and current customers’ stories and thoughts about Parkingbee

as opposed to parking in a garage or on the street. ● Share numbers and statistics for busy weekends. For football weekends mention

how many people on average are in State College, and how much it costs to park in garages, tailgates etc.

● Start reaching out to people who tweet about driving to State College to visit or students who are in need of parking downtown.

● Start a new hashtag about Parkingbee and football weekends. Also start promoting their business more.

Threats: ● The excessive sharing of articles could come off as spam, leading to unfollowing

from people. ● The majority of people who drive up for football weekends tailgate by the stadium

with their own cars. ● Alumni that are over 40 generally don’t use Twitter as much as Facebook –

making it more difficult to reach them through these ● The most recent retweet was an article targeting startup companies which is

unappealing to customers.

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Instagram Strengths:

● Memorable and simple icon ● Posts including employees

○ Shows who the company is, makes posts more personal and relatable ● Promotional game day posts ● Use of hashtags

Weaknesses: ● Posts are not cohesive/posts do not compliment each other

○ Companies that are do a really good job of having a solid theme on their instagram:

■ @Headspace ■ @Lyft ■ @wework

● Limited variety in posts ● Less than 100 followers/less than 100 likes on all posts ● Bio is not very effective in drawing people’s attention.

○ A bio that is more interesting / doesn't completely explain ParkingBee can lead to your audience exploring posts to find out more information about the app

■ Ex: “Have a parking space waiting for you, wherever life takes you.” ■ Ex: “your (car’s) home away from home

● Humorous posts are low quality images ○ ParkingBee is an innovative, modern app and some of the meme posts do

not reflect that ● The app/website’s theme does not match the instagram’s theme.

Opportunities: ● Posts promoting brand ambassador program ● Teaming up with PSU instagram accounts that can promote ParkingBee / tag

ParkingBee’s account ○ @psueeeats ○ @gopsusports ○ @psufootballproud ○ @pennstate ○ @onwardstate

● Instagram giveaways or contests ○ If you follow and like a post you are entered into a drawing to win a gift

card or discount with ParkingBee ○ Example: https://www.instagram.com/p/BI6EoF2gNJ6/?taken-by=lyft

● Video or boomerang content

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● Follow hashtag trend schedule ○ #followfriday ○ #ThrowbackThursday

● Post on holidays Threats:

● Students who do not have a car here will not follow the account ● The possible cost to have ParkingBee promoted on more popular

instagram/social media accounts ● Better quality posts require more time and skill

○ Once you set a higher standard for posts, all posts in the future will require the same amount of effort/time/dedication

Mobile App Strengths

● Memorable icon ● Aesthetically pleasing colors ● Simple, clear, understandable layout ● Good use of Emojis ● Ease of listing or purchasing a spot ● Contact support feature ● The preview photos of the app in the app store before you download

Weaknesses ● App is named Parkingbee on iphone homepage, not ParkingBee ● No photos of available parking spots ● Spots that are very close together could look cluttered/difficult to tap

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● No description of the payout method Opportunities

● Add a feature where you can compare the spots listed near you ● Allow users who are listing their spot to include a photo of the open spot ● Allow users to rate their spot experience ● Allow users who list a spot to say how big the spot is ● More personalization for your account

Threats ● Users over pricing their parking spots ● Users listing a spot that certain cars would not fit in

Website Strengths

● Visually appealing (graphics, images, modules, ect.) ● Tabs that link to their social media accounts ● Informative about the about the app ● You can reserve spots ahead from 9/08/16- 7/31/17 ● When making an account, you receive a personal profile which lists your account

history, trips, listings and payment methods ● Once account is made, the process of listing or renting is easy and direct

Weaknesses ● You need to sign up in order to see or list current listings ● Does not generate a lot of social media followers

Opportunities ● With the Ambassador program, members can share the website via social media

accounts, specifically Facebook o This will generate more page visits as well as knowledge of the app

● Social media posts and flyers will generate more of an audience ● Could do a promotion to give first time users a discount on their parking ● Students can refer family members to the website and use a referral code

Threats

● The lack of social media follows can reflect on the lack of website views ● Lack of student knowledge

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Social Media Posts Twitter:

● Don't let yourself get 'tackled' by parking fees this weekend! Use Parking Bee to find the most affordable parking for this weekend #parkingbee

● #BEATTEMPLE...and the 102K others trying to find a parking spot #ParkingBee ● Heading home for the weekend? Don't forget to list your parking spot to make

some extra $$$ while you're gone. Download #ParkingBee and let's get started Facebook:

● We have a "spot" for you on the Parking Bee team! Apply to be a Brand Ambassador today and receive commission, relevant work experience, and more: https://parkingbee.co/campus

● WEARE looking to add Penn State students to our team! Apply to be a ParkingBee Brand Ambassador to gain unique experience with an award winning start-up company that is changing the way you find (and sell) parking!

● Are you planning to visit State College for the Homecoming weekend? Reserve a parking spot through Parkingbee, and make parking this weekend the least of your worries.

● Looking for a parking spot for this weekend? We've got you covered. ParkingBee shows all available parking spots around campus and State College so you don't have to pay a fortune to leave your car alone. Download the app or check out our website (https://www.parkingbee.co/) to learn more, list your parking space for sale, or rent a spot whenever you need

Instagram:

● Do you love college as much as Asher Roth? Are you the Champion of Beer Pong? Show us! Come out to Cafe 210 for the ParkingBee App's beer pong tournament!

● ParkingBee Executive Board Spotlight: Meet FirstName LastName, ParkingBee's Exeuctive Finance Director. He joined the team three months ago and has been as asset ever since. After graduating from University, he declined a job offer from Merill Lynch to pursue his passion for entrepreneurship with ParkingBee. He previously worked for Company and has a passion for travel.

● Parking in State College is now just a click of a button during football weekends. #PSUfootball #Parkingbee

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Media Kit The media kit included a media pitch, media alerts, fact sheet, PSA and press release for the ParkingBee team to use. The kit also includes instructions for Mike, the CEO, on when and how to use each element that we have provided. Media Pitch

Hello,

ParkingBee is an online platform and mobile app that allows users to rent and list available parking spaces in their local area. Visitors attending this weekend's White Out game can find all available parking downtown and rent for as many hours or days as needed. Those leaving town can also list their parking space and earn money while gone.

PSU Alum, Mike Black, created this resource in 2015 for those in State College who want to avoid the headache of finding affordable, convenient parking.

For more information the app and its founders, please visit: parkingbee.com or https://app.xtensio.com/folio/53etzfuu. Let me know if you have any questions!

Rebecca Sorensen Happy Valley Communications | Account Associate

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Media Alert CAFE 210 BEER PONG TOURNAMENT, SPONSORED BY PARKINGBEE

WHAT: ParkingBee is teaming up with Café 210 to host their weekly beer pong tournament. All teams must be registered by 9:30 p.m. on October 10th and pay $10 per team. A grand prize will be awarded to the winning team of this tournament challenge.

WHO: The ParkingBee team, Café 210 employees, and any State College residents 21 and older.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Any person 21+ interested in growing with a company or just to play some good, old fashioned beer pong.

WHY: ParkingBee wants to spread awareness about its company and product to potential employees and customers. Essentially, Airbnb for parking spaces, ParkingBee is a mobile and online platform that allows users to find cheap, convenient parking. By listing all spots from campus parking, free parking and also spots listed by people who want to rent out their space, Parking Bee is trying to ease the parking stress in State College.

WHEN: October 10, 2016 at 10 p.m.

WHERE: 210 W. College, Ave. State College, PA 16801

Contact: Mike Black msb5334@gmail.com (267) 638-8000 parkingbeeapp.com

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Media Alert

MEDIA ALERT ParkingBee

Contact: Mike Black Office #: (267) 638-8000 PARKINGBEE APP FILLING THE VOID OF AFFORDABLE, OPEN PARKING

WHAT: ParkingBee is essentially Airbnb for parking spaces. It is a mobile and online platform that allows members to find cheap, convenient parking. By listing all spots from campus parking, free parking and also spots listed by people who want to rent out their space, Parking Bee is trying to ease the parking stress in State College.

WHO: Founder, Mike Black, is a recent Penn State graduate who understands the difficulties of finding good, affordable parking. He and his team launched the well developed app to help assist students, visitors, and the community in finding convenient parking.

WHY: The team developed ParkingBee to assist members of State College in finding parking and also utilize their open spaces for some extra money.

WHO: ParkingBee is open to the community, students, and visitors.

WHERE: Parking spaces are available throughout State College and University Park.

NOTE: ParkingBee is currently looking for motivated, driven students to join their Campus Brand Ambassador Program. If chosen, the ambassadors will get paid to promote the app to students. For every five referrals made, $100 will be given to that member. These members will be key in increasing ParkingBee’s campus exposure. To apply, visit their website at www.parkingbeeapp.com/campus.

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Fact Sheet

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PSA :30

LOOKING FOR AFFORDABLE PARKING IN STATE COLLEGE?

DOWNLOAD THE NEW APP, PARKINGBEE, ON YOUR

SMARTPHONE TO PURCHASE, OR SELL, PARKING.

PARKINGBEE CREATES A MARKETPLACE WHERE PEOPLE

CAN SELL THEIR AVAILABLE PARKING SPACES. BY

ALLOWING USERS TO RENT THEIR SPACES OUT,

PARKINGBEE IS ADDING MORE PARKING OPTIONS TO

DRIVERS AT MORE AFFORDABLE RATES THAN THE

EXPENSIVE GARAGES THAT CHARGE UP TO $64 FOR A

FOOTBALL WEEKEND. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT

WWW.PARKINGBEEAPP.COM/

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Press Release PARKINGBEE LAUNCHES IN STATE COLLEGE, PA By Amy Walker October 9th, 2016 State College, PA - ParkingBee is known as “Airbnb, but for parking”. The mobile app and online website have been finding users affordable parking since its launch in June 2016. Users are able to search available parking spaces, cross-reference hourly rates, and book all within the app. There is also an option to list a parking space, which gives users the freedom to set their own prices. This tool simplifies the typical aggravating process of finding parking during crowded event weekends or even week nights when students need to park on campus. ParkingBee lists all parking spaces and hourly rates within the area, even if those spaces are not affiliated with the company itself. Users have the ease and flexibility to search the most desirable spot based on price, location, and duration. For more information, visit: https://www.parkingbee.com/ About ParkingBee Team ParkingBee was founded by Penn State alumnus, Mike Black, during his senior year. Other members of the ParkingBee team have held internships with and received job offers from acclaimed companies; such as: Google, PepsiCo - Frito Lay, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Merrill Lynch, and Booz Allen Hamilton. About Brand Ambassador Program ParkingBee is looking for Penn State students to help promote its brand within the State College area. Ambassadors have the opportunity to be part of the fastest growing start up in State College, build a killer resume, and earn money. Brand ambassadors launch marketing campaigns to spread the word about ParkingBee. Students could make $250-$750 each month promoting the app, referring new users, and seeking new listers. There are also weekly competitions and prizes, like a trip to New York and dinner with the CEO. For more information and to apply, visit: https://www.parkingbee.com/campus Contact To learn more about ParkingBee, the team, or upcoming promotional events, please contact: Mike Black 224 S. Allen St, State College (267) 638-8000 mike@parkingbee.com

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Ad Hoc Projects

Email Templates ● These email templates were for getting the word out to students at Penn State

about the new brand ambassador program Parkingbee created, and for media outlets to write a story about how people can use Parkingbee during the White Out game. It was also an opportunity to share with the public what Parkingbee is all about.

○ ParkingBee Brand Ambassador:

o White Out Weekend:

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Other Promotional Ideas for ParkingBee:

● We came up with an idea for ParkingBee to partner up with the local bar, Café

210, for a beer pong tournament that they have every week. ParkingBee would

be there handing out swag and maybe even creating a ParkingBee drink that

customers could buy there.

● There were multiple promos that we came up with for the Penn State Dance

MaraTHON. These included donating a percentage of the profits for each

transaction to THON, ParkingBee donating a certain amount to THON for every

share of a post or retweet from ParkingBee and creating a ParkingBee sticker

that can go on a car that says “text ______ to _______ to donate 25 cents to

Penn State THON 2k16.”

● There are various other promo ideas in general for ParkingBee including having

Mike Black be a guest speaker at entrepreneurship and car clubs, putting flyers

around campus and in garages downtown and partnering up with EcoCar for

events on campus that usually get a lot of media buzz.

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Evaluation of Goals & Objectives

Our goal to promote the ParkingBee App has been met through our various

marketing and communications efforts. In order to reach students and people visiting

State College while simultaneously building brand awareness about the new start-up

application, we created custom social media content and media kits and promoted the

app’s brand ambassador program. These initiatives helped advertise the app to our

target audiences. In order to ensure a successful promotion, we first conducted a social

media analysis to identify ParkingBee’s current social media platforms’ strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Prior to building the press kits, we compiled a

comprehensive media list of outlets that would be potentially receptive to our pitch.

Each pitch’s message was tailored to specific outlets.

In order to improve the overall student body’s awareness, our team created a list

of promotional event suggestions. One of our suggestions was picked up by CEO, Mike

Black. The event was in downtown State College at Cafe 210 where customers

participated in a beer pong tournament and ParkingBee swag was distributed. In

addition, we marketed the app’s brand ambassador program with social media content

and flyers in the HUB. Another outcome that contributed to the app’s brand awareness

was major State College media outlets, The Daily Collegian and The Centre Daily

Times, releasing articles regarding ParkingBee and Mike.

http://www.centredaily.com/living/article109817947.html

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/campus/article_794804cc-973e-11e6-afdf-

776052a25e37.html