Marketing Plan: Bubble Student Housing Platform in London, UK Market

This document presents a comprehensive marketing plan for Bubble Student, a student housing platform operating in London. It includes a business overview, market analysis focusing on customer and industry information, and defined objectives. The marketing strategy encompasses service offerings, pricing models with basic and premium options, distribution channels, and promotional activities including digital advertising and branding. The plan aims to increase market penetration among students and landlords, achieve significant platform usage, and generate substantial revenue within a specified timeframe. The overall goal is to establish Bubble Student as a leading platform connecting students with housing options in London, leveraging technology and effective marketing techniques.

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BUBBLE STUDENT
MARKETING PLAN
8 Greencoat Pl, Westminster, London SW1P 1PL, UK
Prepared by
(Student Name)

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Table of Contents
1. Business Overview……………………………………………………………….……3
2. Market Overview………………………………………………………………………3
2.1 Customer Information………………………………………………………..3
2.2 Market Information ……………………………………………………….....3
2.3 Industry Information………………………………………………………….4
2.4 Service Information …………………………………………………………..5
3. Objectives ……………………………………………………………………………...6
4. Strategy…………………………………………………………………………………6
4.1 Service…………………………………………………………………………6
4.2 Pricing…………………………………………………………………………7
4.3 Distribution…………………………………………………………………….7
4.4 Promotion………………………………………………………………….…..8
4.5 Advertising……………………………………………………………………..8
4.6 Branding…………………………………………………………….………….8
References………………………………………………………………………………….9

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1.0 Business Overview
Bubble student is a student housing platform based in London and was launched in Newcastle in
October 2017. This housing platform links students, investors, industry analysts and property
providers. Bubble Student was founded by former and current students of Newcastle University
with the help of specialists in student housing, technology and PR sector. The organization
provides a mobile platform where they accumulate all the students’ properties at one place from
independent landlords, agencies and PBSA providers. These platforms make it easy for students
to access housing services as well as provide a good and ready market for the landlords and
housing agencies.
2.0 Market Overview
The demand for housing among students is always growing with time due to the increase in the
number of colleges and university consequently leading to an increase in the number of students.
The students require apartments where they can stay as they go on with their studies since most
of the universities don't offer to accommodation services to the students and also most students
prefer to stay out of the school environment. So many investors have invested in the real estate
business in London mainly targeting students as the major customers.
2.1 Customer Information
The main customers for the Bubble Student organization are the students and the property
owners who advertise their products through this new mobile platform they have developed. The
target potential customers are students of Newcastle University and universities and colleges in
London and its surroundings. The landlords and housing agencies want their property to be
rented by the students and this mobile platform links them directly to the potential customers
which are the students. The platform acts as an effective advertising tool and provides interactive
interaction between the landlords or agents with their potential customers. Just at the tap of a
button, the student can view all the available housing options available in the area and the range
of prices they go at. This makes it easy for the students to make a selection and contact the
landlord or agency for the appropriate arrangements.
2.2 Market Information
According to statistical data gathered in 2017, real estate market in London and its surroundings
was really growing at a higher rate compared to the previous years. Homes were selling or rented

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very fast, prices soared and the demand for housing was insatiable. The demand for housing is
very high especially among students in colleges and universities, therefore, the Bubble Student
platform is going to be the medium between the real estate investors and their potential
customers which is the students (Kotler, 2015). The demand for housing among students is
insatiable and this has been among the major problems faced by many students in London and its
surroundings. Going from one housing agency looking for an apartment can be very frustrating
therefore this mobile platform is going to eliminate this problem by enabling students to access a
range of housing property just at the tab of a button.
2.3 Industry Information
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in April this year warned that UK house price
indicator may hit a five-year low. The liquidity of the London real estate business has been hit by
the several factors such as the government hiking the taxes property purchases and the decision
by Britain to exit the European Union causing a lot of uncertainty. Mortgages are going to
become less affordable in London since The Bank of England is planning to slowly increase the
interest rates and this makes more people opt to rent. This is somehow advantageous to the
homeowners since it implies the will fetch a good price for their property. According to UK
Land Registry, £486,000 ($690,000) is the price for an average house in London (Mohapatra,
2017). Most people will opt for rental apartments since they are more affordable compared to
buying a house. The real estate industry is expected to grow very fast due to the increasing
demand especially from the increasing number of students in London and its surrounding areas.

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2.4 Service Information
The Bubble Student is mainly providing a service to both the students and the real estate
investors. The mobile platform provides a central meeting avenue where the homeowners and
housing agencies can post their property together with the prices the students can then go
through them and chose from the available alternatives. With the era we are living in where
technology is accepted very fast, this new platform is solving a perennial problem of students
finding a rental apartment. This platform is going to make it very easy for students to access
housing services giving them ample time to concentrate on their academics and other co-
curriculum activities.

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3.0 Objectives
The key objectives for the Bubble student are:
1. To ensure that by the end of the year 80% of the house owners and real estate agencies are
using the Bubble Student mobile platform to advertise their property to students in London and
its surroundings.
2. To gain a 90% usage of the mobile platform by the students in accessing housing property.
3. To attain an income of more than $ 150 000 within the next six months by ensuring that they
make the mobile platform so popular among students.
4.0 Strategy
4.1 Service
The Bubble Student through its mobile platform is going to create a unique and interactive
interaction between students and house owners or real estate agencies and facilitate the process
of students to acquire housing services. The mobile application which is developed by
technology experts has a good user interface and allows the house owners and agencies to
advertise their property using colourful and attractive images. The organization is planning to
approach as many house owners as possible so that they can have so many houses advertised and
with every property advertised and rented through the platform the Bubble Students earns a
commission. The higher the number of houses advertised and rented or purchased the higher the
income the organization will make. The organization is also planning to use social media and
social networking avenues to ensure that more than 90% of Students in London and its
surroundings are using the mobile platform. This is going to be achieved by ensuring that the
house owners are advertising the quality property and at reasonable prices. Using good
promotion tactics like awarding some discounts for referring new users and using direct
advertising will increase the popularity of the platform (Ahearne, Lam and Kraus, 2014). This is
going to attract more students to use the mobile application leading to an increase in income. The
company is planning to provide customer satisfaction to both the landowners and the students
through aligning the students' demands and requirement with the house owner and other
stakeholder interests appropriately.

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4.2 Pricing
Pricing is a very important aspect of any service or product offered by an organization and it
depends on a number of factors. The rental of houses in London is flourishing compared to the
purchase of houses because of several factors too. Most of the tenants make long-term contracts,
the interest rates do not affect the rents, the supply is more elastic and the demand for renting is
more elastic (Baker, 2014). These among many others make people in London prefer renting to
purchasing a house. Furthermore, the Bubble Student organization is more concerned about
students who are mainly in London for academic purposes and will relocate once they are done
with studies hence renting is the best option for them. Bubble student is planning to have two
categories of advertising for the landowners namely the basic option and the premium option
each going for different subscription prices. The premium option is going to offer the landowners
a guaranteed view for their property on the mobile platform while the basic is going to be based
on the rating of the product by the students. Although the demand for housing is high, there is a
level competition among those participants in this sector and the bubble student aims to use this
to improve their income from those who want to gain a competitive advantage over their
competitors. The subscription for the homeowners and is going to be on monthly based or
annually and based on the actual number and the estimated number of subscription against the
operation cost of the organization the appropriate pricing for the subscription can be determined
to ensure that the long run the organization attains a significant profit and customer satisfaction
is also attained.
The estimated monthly subscription is $285.00 for the premium option and $235.00 for the basic
subscription. The mobile application is going to be free on apple store and play store where the
students can download it but there are some earnings the service providers we pay the
organization based on the number of downloads.
4.3 Distribution
Since all the services are based on the mobile application, the main purpose of the organization is
to look for many house owners and rental agencies as possible so that they can display their
products on the mobile platform for the students to make a selection. The organization also has
to influence as many students as possible to use this new mobile platform for accessing rental
services.

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4.4 Promotion
The Bubble Student organization is going to rely on a strategy promotion campaign to ensure
that their new mobile platform attains the desired popularity among house owners, rental
agencies and students. In order for the mobile application become so famous among students and
house owners or rental agencies, the organization is planning to allocate some bonuses earned
whenever a new user refers who introduced them to the mobile application. The bonuses are
going to be used to give a discount on either subscription charges for the house owners or for the
rental facilitation charges for the student. This promotion will ensure that the application
becomes so famous since everyone will be striving to attain the maximum bonus possible and
this will increase the subscriptions and user of the mobile application and consequently the
revenue for the company will increase.
4.5 Advertising
In the current business environment, digital advertising is growing very fast and it is outshining
the conventional mainstream media advertising that has been in place for several years
(Armstrong, Kotler, Harker and Brennan, 2015). Therefore, the organization is going to follow
with the modern trend by using digital advertisement through the social media platforms such as
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. This will not only help the organization advertise their new
application but it will offer an interactive communication with both customers and this will help
the organization realize their needs and demands hence make the appropriate changes that will
promote customers satisfaction which is among the organizational goals (Chaffey and Ellis-
Chadwick, 2016). Most if not all the university and college students are active users of these
social media platforms, therefore, this will ensure that the organization advertise their new
mobile application to as many potential customers as possible.
4.6 Branding
Branding is very important since enjoyed a good public image greatly boosts the revenue
collected by the organization (Grant, 2016). The social media platform will not only be used for
advertising but also it will be used for public relation purposes where the students, house owner
or rental agency with any query can seek clarification from the organization. Maintaining a good
public reputation and attending to customer query is one way of attaining customer satisfaction
and consequently developing a brand strong brand that can compete with other firms in the same
business sector.

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References
Ahearne, M., Lam, S.K. and Kraus, F., 2014. The performance impact of middle managers'
adaptive strategy implementation: The role of social capital. Strategic Management Journal,
35(1), pp.68-87.
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015. Marketing: an introduction.
Pearson Education.
Baker, M.J., 2014. Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2016. Digital marketing. Prentice Hall.
Grant, R.M., 2016. Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons.
Kotler, P., 2015. Framework for marketing management. Pearson Education India.
Mohapatra, S., 2017. Case Studies in Strategic Management: A Practical Approach. Pearson
Education India.