THE BLUEGROUND EXPANSION

During our spring semester , we were given a real challenge , to help Blueground pick the right city for its growth and expansion. The one that real won us was Berlin.

WHY BERLIN;

There are multiple reasons why we thought that Berlin is the best choice for Blueground. More specifically, to start with, Berlin is one of the most industrial cities worldwide , and a major center of technological and innovative businesses. Meanwhile, is one of the only cities that keeps the architecture and art in a high level. That is one of the key reasons why we choose Berlin and why we think that that exactly combination of business and art environment can match perfectly with the mentality of Blueground.

Another reason that lead us to our selection is the fact that Berlin has approximately 180.000 companies mostly in the domain of services , something that can lead to a potentially big customer base for us. On the same time is one of the leading centers of blockchain startups, due to its crypto scene background, and its economical rate has growth by 3,58% in 9 years.

On the other hand, is a green city with a lot of parks and grounds, beneficial for the renters of our apartments there. It is also a city with preference in rental rather than buy (85% of Berlin’s population prefers rent). Last but not least , a controversial reason why we picked berlin is that in October 2019 the mayor decided to froze all of the rents starting in June 2019. That is a factor that could be useful depending on the angle we see it, useful from the angle of the landlords but possibly not really efficient from the angle of our renters .

On one of ours classified publishes , “Immo Scout24” we show that 95% of the rental flats in Berlin are overprized with the ones on the desirable neighborhoods showing rents up to twice the allowed level.

WHAT WE HAD TO DEAL WITH

As far as competitors are concerned, Blueground is operating in a field that many companies are already know for their business. So, to have an overall point of view about the active companies in Berlin and about the competition Blueground will have in this city, we created a comparing map according to the time staying (Short-Long Term) and to the length of the business’ operation (International-Local). The companies we took under consideration for creating the map are the most well-known Hotels in Berlin — Marriot and Hilton — the most well-known booking platforms — Booking and Airbnb — and of course the already companies in Berlin, most similar to Blueground — Berlin99, Wunderflats and White Apartments.

Then we examined and analyzed the main competitors of Blueground, Wunderflats and White Apartments because both are very similar to the company and target to people who want a long term stay in Berlin. The main difference we found out is that both companies are not operating all around the world but only in Berlin — Local Companies. Thus, all above companies are being active and target the same people, so the competition seems to be high with the significant exception that Blueground has managed to be known all over the world, so it can appeal many worldwide business travelers.

THE BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS

Another important task we were asked to carry out was to make business model canvas about Blueground. It was quite time consuming and demanding but we still managed to get it out and through it we learned a lot of important things.

So first we focused on the customer segment, where we actually had to emphasize who our company is targeting.

So we made two persones who essentially represent the two customers of the market we are addressing: landlords who offer their home for rent and renters who want to find a cozy home far from their towns.

So once we understood the clients we were addressing, we decided to highlight the points that differentiate our company and make the customer choose us. In value proposition we therefore focused on the benefits that landlords and renters will have if they choose Blueground, as the company offers security at all levels, prices that reflect to the houses provided, and the sense of being at home.

We understood as a team that the main thing of what the company offers is the feeling of home and we wanted to spare this vibe to the city we chose to expand, to Berlin.

Moving forward and keeping in mind the above, we tried to understand the following, key resources, customer relationship and channels. More specifically Key resources are the main inputs that the company uses to create its value proposition, service its customer segment and deliver the product to the customer, such as high tech software, website and application, suppliers, houses and many more. At customer service, Blueground is trying to build a relationship of trust with the customer and be there in every problem and so provides transparency in transactions, feedback etc. and all the above are achieved with the right channels. In the final stage of completing the business model canvas, our team identified the key activities and the key partnership that the company has to succeed its strategic plan, as well as the revenue streams and the cost structure.

OFFICE LOCATION

When it comes to the office location, we decided to build our Blue ground’s office in Charlottenburg, a small town in the Germany’s vicinity.

Generally, both Blue ground and its competitors do not prefer the center of town in order to construct theirs offices due to the fact that they concern about their employees.

OKAY, BUT WHERE?

As members of Blueground’s growth team, we decided to set up the city of Berlin, by following specific guidelines. Taking into consideration the office location, we subducted a research in depth, in order to find the most suitable neighborhoods. In a few words, firstly we asked some people who already leave there, in order to create a holistic mindset and then we searched the competitors’ activities in the area, in order to understand better their point of view.

After the research, the next step was to find a city map and dot the neighborhoods, that -from our perspective- were the most suitable for this new project. More specifically «Grunewald», «Schoneberg», «Kreuzberg», «Mitte» and «Prenzlauer berg» are the locations that we chose, in order to rent apartment and provide to the customers a holistic experience. All these areas have something in common…they are located in the heart of Berlin and they are considered as some of the most beautiful neighborhoods of the city! These specific territories manage to combine the architectural style of Berlin and the urban culture, with the art element and of course the cultural status. Moreover, these areas are known not only for the sentiment of safety that exude, but also for the quality of lifestyle that can offer. At the same time, the location of these neighborhoods appears to be very helpful, due to the closeness to business hubs and companies. In a few words, these areas can fulfill the needs and preferences even of the most demanding customer, regardless of the reason why they travel abroad. Finally, one of the main points that we went with these specific territories was the fact that there are close to nature! In this way, the travelers can make good use of their free time, by going for a jogging in the park or by drinking their favorite cup of coffee alongside the river.

LOCALIZATION WAS IMPORTANT TO US

Localising the message of Blueground in Berlin entails translation of it in German. People tend to feel more secure with contents that are written in their mother tongue. In addition using cultural references can make message more “local” therefore more familiar to our potential customers. The translation will be conducted collaborating with native speakers in order to achieve the wanted result; localising the message.

About our Message

“Make people feel at home wherever they choose to live”. Blueground aims to make people feel like home even if they are far away from it because of work or because they want to protect their loved ones (during COVID-19). This is the global message of Blueground, but the way to accomplish this target differ from country to country. To be more specific, in Berlin Blueground searches and provides brighter, cozy, beautifully furnished apartments because that is what Berliners want. Blueground also respects and embraces the city’s vibes and offers to its potential customer city guides and means in order to make the renter adapt Berlins’ cultural habbits.

Top classifieds

Conducting a research about top classifieds of Berlin, appears that people who want to find the perfect apartment to rent, visit websites such as ImmoScout24, WohnungJetzt.de and Immowelt.

NEED TO SPREAD THE WORD

As for the newspapers and magazines that we had to use so as to make Blueground known in Germany , we thought of choosing all kinds of newspapers and not just be limited to the well-known ones, so we chose from economic to cultural newspapers, trying to appear in as many as possible publications and in the same time trying to keep our position in travel-related columns.

Finally, as for the drafting press realease, we firstly maganaged to be comprehensive and interesting. And that, in the beginning, by introducing the blueground’s mission in order to be known better by the people there. Then we announced the expansion in Berlin, describing the reasons why we chose that city and we finally made a reference to the current condition of the covid-19 to show that we take into consideration that situation and we manage to give solution to that.

In conclusion it was quite a challenge for us to be conforted with the expansion of Blueground , but through out this process we were given the opportunity to pull off, we came across with a range of new knowledge and data that opened our way of thinking and that could be useful for our future tasks.

Eva Anagnostakou Christina Dry Dorina Papanikitopoulou Fani Papageorgiou Evi Titiki Migena Tsouka Betty Tsakarestou Eleni Aktipi