Mappa: Instagram and Pinterest for Travel.
DMBA 2020 Capstone Project by Liberty Kikerpill, Kainoa Philpotts and Andres Resendiz Gonzalez.
80% of travelers get recommendations from personal networks and plan the majority of their trip off of it. There is no site in which these communities can exchange this travel information seamlessly, and is a huge opportunity to collect and store this trusted knowledge.
Existing solutions are clunky and ripe for disruption.
A trip typically is defined in 3 phases: discovery, planning and sharing. The process for users is atrociously disjointed. The existing patchwork of clunky solutions are ripe for disruption.
The Online Travel Industry is massive, but fragmented.
The online travel industry is expected to reach $1B by 2022 and has a CAGR of 11%. Our research shows that people need a place to pull it altogether. There is no site where users can search, exchange and implement recommendations seamlessly into the planning.
Our Value Proposition: Discover, plan and share in one place.
Mappa is offering a way to discover, plan and share in one place, inspired by authentic recommendations from people who travel like they do. We are the Pinterest meets Instagram, for travel. Through collecting and sharing this trusted and authentic user generated knowledge, we can build a viral loop to enable rapid growth.
Mappa is an integrated desktop & mobile software platform. Our business model is a freemium model with subscription and ad revenue. Some people will use it for free and some will pay monthly subscriptions priced according to research and designed to meet the needs of each of our unique user segments: Casual Traveler, Avid Traveler and the Professional Traveler.
It is estimated that there are 110M Millennial and Gen Z travelers in the US alone. Mappa will initially target Millennial and Gen Z tech-savvy users who plan their own travel, take at least 4 trips a year and spend at least $3.5k a year on travel. These two generations uniquely place travel as their highest priority and aspiration.
Next generation marketing built in.
In contrast to prior generations, less than 1% of Millennials + Gen Z groups are influenced by traditional ads. Engagement and buying come down to word of mouth, UGC, and Social Media. Mappa’s social platform is fueled by UGC and word-of-mouth which provides a unique value to them, as well as brands in and adjacent to the space. Similar to how users and brands have profiles on social media now, except that they are embedded in a targeted travel community.
Brands are our friends, not foes.
We are not a booking app. In the countless hours spent planning for travel on web searches, videos, and web page visits travel brands are missing out on an average 400 micro moments. We want to bring those brands into those micro moments. We are not trying to compete with travel brands, we are connecting them with users by aggregating them into a unified user experience.
Macro Trends
- Hyper Personalization is the new norm
- Cash Free Culture
Industry User Trends
- Emergence of travel influencers
- Female Solo Travel
- Ancestral Travel
- Carbon Offsetting
- Travel to Second Cities
- Desire for Slow Travel
The trends align with our vision.
Social media influence is shifting to smaller, more localized fan bases. We aim to enable searchable travel segments for groups like pet lovers, fellow female solo travelers, wellness vacations, second city and ancestral destinations, and how to travel like a local. Additionally, travelers are coming to expect the ability to offset their travels’ carbon footprint and we plan to offset our company’s carbon footprint and provide our users the access to do the same.
Develop a phased go-to-market approach.
Our platform requires an in-depth engineering platform build with phased rollouts, coupled with a tailored marketing and hiring plan to support each phase.
- Phase 0 is all about our early adopters and power users working hand in hand with them to develop our product to meet their feature needs and feedback. This will involve a lot of user research and micro pilots as we build our MVP.
- Phase 1 is the official launch and focused on rapid user growth through viral ad campaigns and social media.
- Phase 2 is focused on building relationships with and enabling brands.
Build a strong user base to unlock brand partnerships.
We focus on building a strong user base early on, as it will allow us to leverage and entice brands leading to long-term revenue. This model assumes that 99% of the user base is consumers. These revenue numbers assume we only have 800 brands on the platform. To put that in perspective, Instagram has a whopping 25m brands on their platform which represents 3% of their entire user base.
Team of global lifetime travelers.
- Liberty has visited 6 continents, over 35 countries and is a dual-citizen of the US and Estonia. She curates intimate and big design at scale. She brings an expansive perspective grounded in unique travel, entertainment, venture, and design-ops experience. She brings passion for experiences to all aspects of life. She cultivates being-a-local everywhere she goes.
- Kainoa, originally from Hawaii, has been to 16 countries and visited countries/continents. He has a passion for prototyping, 3D printing, surfing, and exploring. The DBMA has transformed his thinking on how to create new products, and reimagining how businesses can create better value for society, beyond their pocketbooks.
- Andres, a resident of Mexico City, has visited 5 continents over 15 countries and traveled on over 25 different airlines. He is an experienced design strategist and passionate storyteller. He develops simple and concrete strategies with attention to the layers of detail, to make them effective, impactful, and memorable.
Mappa has the first mover advantage.
As a recap, this is a massive industry that is incredibly fragmented. Someone is going to do this, but it won’t be brands. It’s not their expertise. Travel companies are struggling to stay afloat. We are partners to travel brands, not competition. And today, more than ever, people are dreaming of travel. Our ultimate goal is to build a platform that users love and trust.
