The ADventurous
Blueground Innovation Challenge
For the Blueground Innovation Challenge we were given a list of eight cities and we had to choose one that as a team we thought is the best one for the Blueground to expand to. We gave it a lot of thought and after we did some research, we all came to an agreement that Madrid is the best choice. Choosing which city to expand your business to is an important decision so of course we are able to justify and come to the defense of our choice. Firstly, Madrid offers great and multiple business opportunities and it is a stable economic landscape for companies and that is why many headquarters of big companies are located, such as Santander Bank, ACS and many more. Also, the city and the greater area of it generates 19% of the overall spanish GDP. The last few years the unemployment is significantly lower. In general, it is easy to migrate to Spain, especially for citizens of the European Union and for those coming from countries that have bilateral agreements. For the rest having a visa is required. In 2019, new rental laws were voted, making the agreement with the landlord and lessee much easier and fair for both of them.
As a real estate agency, the neighbourhoods that we choose to rent apartments in is a really crucial step, since they need to match our target group and our vision. When we want to expand into a new city that we are not familiar with, what we had to do is search where our competitors have their apartments and which neighbourhoods have more head offices and businesses there. So, that is what we did. We did a research and we selected the ones that we think are the most suitable for Blueground. Our choices are Moncloa, Nuevos Ministerios, Tetuán, Retiro and Chamartin as residential areas, while we concluded upon la Castellana for our office area.
Throughout our research we came across with two of Blueground’s main competitors, Spotahome and Idealista. Our first competitor is Spotahome which is an online platform for home rentals. It has a minimum stay of 30 days. It was created in 2014 and provides furnished apartments, rooms, studios and student residences. It expands in Europe and is an exclusively online platform.
Our second competitor is Idealista which is an online real estate for home and flats rentals, sales, purchases. It was created in 2000 and provides homes, garages, buildings. It offers a possibility to choose between furnished and unfurnished properties. Apart from the online platform, it has physical headquarters. It expands only in countries of Europe. Anyone is able to post real estate ads for sale and rent and not the company itself.
To localize the messaging, we had to decide if we should have content in a local language (and to highlight any messaging changes) so for the promotion of apartments in Madrid, we considered that it is better to translate the text to English and Spanish. The decision was made after research in which we found that people in Madrid know English but not so fluently. So our website and message will be in Spanish, too. Our message is “Apartments in Madrid Beautiful apartment rentals to book online’’ in English which translates to ‘‘Apartamentos en Madrid Hermosos alquileres de apartamentos para reservar en línea’’ in Spanish. Then, we were asked to adapt the global messaging to the local needs. We researched the format of the apartments in Madrid, as well as the style Blueground’s housing and we came to the following: the apartments are thoughtfully designed with bespoke finishes, modern furnishings, fully-equipped kitchens, and 1–3 bedrooms for you to enjoy that “I’m home” feeling with Blueground apartments in Tetuán, Chamartin, Retiro. The amenities will be: pet-friendly, laundry facilities, parking, small balcony or window, high floors with city view, elevator and staircase, heating system and air conditioning, Wi-Fi, ensuring proper cleaning, bedding and household items, a first aid kit. Certain block of flats will also have: garden, pool, and fitness facilities.
Our Advertising Plan aims, first and foremost, to localize our social media pages (Instagram and Facebook) to further promote our services and our upcoming launch with paid ads and sponsored posts. Also, is important for us to have a active linkedin presence. Furthermore, we will attract more customers with outdoors advertising. As a final step to our PR launch we created a press release that would be distributed to print and online Spanish newspapers announcing our expansion to the real estate market of Madrid. Moreover, we included some general information concerning the company in order to further inform Madrid’s citizens about our initiative.
Our PowerPoint Presentation:
Professors: Betty Tsakarestou, Eleni Aktypi, Emmanuel Kavarnos
Team: Eleni Bakoula, Georgia Bethani, Anastasia Goutou, Αγγελίνα Κοκοβίλη, Bianca Konstantinidou, Dora Kopsafti, Anastasia Papathanasiou, Theodora Trapezonta
