Executive Summary:

Over the course of the last few months four of us set out to conduct a research report for

Ride With GPS, a software cycling program based in Eugene, Oregon. We were asked to

focus our efforts in one of three areas: existing markets, expansion into new markets or

business-to-business licensing. Ride With GPS was founded with the cyclist in mind so

we chose to focus on the existing market. The Eugene community is cycling friendly and

provided a solid market to sample from. Our team was determined to find ways to grow

the Ride With GPS brand within the cycling community before expanding into new

markets.

We conducted secondary research that focused on the company and its competitors, the

cycling industry and growth within the market and the consumer with regards to social

media and mobile device usage. After establishing a better sense of the market we were

able to design and implement primary research to best answer our own research questions

about the target audience, the Ride With GPS service and the creation of a mobile

application to complement the web-based platform.

After collecting, analyzing and interpreting the data we were able to uncover insight

rooted in extensive research that can help guide our client and the growth of the business.

We were able to answer our initial research questions and accept our hypothesis about a

shift toward a mobile application.

1

Our results have been compiled into the report below and were presented to Ride With

GPS executives on Monday June 11, 2012.

Introduction:

For the past few weeks our team has been conducting research on behalf of a local

company headquartered in Eugene, Oregon. Ride With GPS is a software service

designed for cyclists and runners to map and plan routes, measure performance and share

with friends. It began initially for the cyclist only but has since evolved into further

markets like running. It is an easy to use platform geared at riders of all skill levels and

riding purposes; however, competitive and sport riders benefit the most from the service.

The company’s Founder and CEO, Zack Ham, is at a crossroads about where to take the

company. He has begun expansion into new markets including business-to-business

licensing (b2b). We decided to focus our research efforts on the existing cyclist target

market, both potential users and current customers. Our goal is to explore the

development of the existing target market, first to better understand the consumer and

narrow down the target, and secondly to provide strategic suggestions to develop and

grow the existing consumer base. By investigating these points we can discover what

features are most successful and desired and what areas can be improved to remain

relevant to the user.

2

Secondary Research:

To gain a better understanding of the cycling industry and the consumers within it,

we first began by examining secondary research. Exploring secondary data allowed us to

produce more precise, insightful questions to base our primary research around. We

began by getting better acquainted with Ride With GPS. Our team created a free account

to explore the options and features of the program. We mapped rides, evaluated the price

structure, toyed with the profile and studied the user interface of the site. By doing so our

team as a whole was much more informed about the service and more confident to

execute a research plan geared toward it.

Competitive Analysis

With a clearer picture about Ride With GPS, we conducted a competitive analysis of

Ride With GPS’s biggest competitors: Strava and MapMyRide. Both Strava and

MapMyRide are comparable to Ride With GPS in terms of general use. All three offer

services for cyclists and runners both. They all boast features that allow the user to

maintain training logs of performance metrics, social sharing and route planning.

Company Performance

Analysis

Route Mapping Social Sharing Free Premium

Strava x x x x x

MapMyRide x x x x

Ride With GPS x x x x x

3

The pricing structures are comparable between Ride With GPS and Strava. They both

offer free services and their basic upgraded package can both be purchased for $6/month

or $50/year for Ride With GPS, and $59/year for Strava. Ride With GPS has another

Premium level that runs $10/month or $80/year. MapMyRide is a free service. Ride With

GPS, Strava and MapMyRide are all compatible with Garmin GPS devices.

Company Basic Premium Mobile App

Strava N/A $6/month -- $59/year Free

MapMyRide Free N/A $2.99

Ride With GPS $6/month -- $50/year $10/month -- $80/year N/A

Strava and MapMyRide differ from Ride With GPS by offering their users a mobile

phone application. Strava is mobile optimized for both iPhone and Android while

MapMyRide offers an application on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry platforms. The

Strava Cycling Android app has an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 3,411

consumer reviews while MapMyRide’s Android app is rated 4.5 out 5 stars based on

8,150 consumer reviews. The Strava Cycling app for iPhone has a rating of 5 stars out of

5 based on 284 ratings while MapMyRide’s iPhone app is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars based

on 532 ratings. The Strava app is free while MapMyRide offers both a free app and a

premium app that costs $2.99.

4

Company Web iPhone Android Other

Strava x x x

MapMyRide x x x x

Ride With GPS x

With the rapid increase in social media usage, we felt it necessary to evaluate the social

media presence of the three aforementioned brands. All three are active on Facebook and

Twitter but Strava and MapMyRide took it further by integrating their service into a

Facebook application. The social media numbers are reflected in the table below.

Company Facebook Likes Twitter Followers Integrated Application

Strava 9,603 9,635 Yes

MapMyRide 13,399 7,047 Yes

Ride With GPS 1,826 597 No

Using secondary research to conduct a competitive analysis is vital for Ride With GPS.

Understanding the competition and what it offers is important for any company in any

industry. By studying the competition the researcher can discover trends, patterns and

consumer insight that provide a leg up in terms of strategic execution and growth of the

product or service. By looking at Strava and MapMyRide, Ride With GPS can learn a lot

5

with little risk. The consumer that uses Strava is the same consumer that would

potentially use Ride With GPS, MapMyRide or any of the other cycling software

programs. By paying attention to the user experience, engagement and reviews of the

competition, Ride With GPS can better understand the consumer and purchasing

behavior.

Cycling Industry

A quick look into the National Bicycle Dealers Association 2010 report shows that the

cycling industry boasted $6 billion in sales that year – a number that has remained steady

since 2003. People involved in cycling do have to spend money and, as our primary

research will support later on, price is not always the main concern.

Social Media and Mobile Usage

After uncovering the mobile presence behind the biggest competitors we felt it important

to research consumer trends in terms of mobile usage and social networking. According

to Pew Research Center, as of February 2012 over 46 percent of American adults are

smartphone owners. This is an 11 percent increase from May 2011 where it stood at 35

percent. This number soars to 60 percent in smaller subgroups such as recent graduates

and people with an average household income above $75,000. More and more adults

everyday are adapting to the shift in the social media landscape and along with that

comes the use of mobile applications. Over 75 percent of these smartphone owners access

real-time location based information using GPS and other applications. The use of mobile

for social media is also growing rapidly. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all reported at

6

least a 50 percent increase of mobile users, according to a 2011 report from comScore.

Over 72 million Americans accessed a social networking site from their mobile device

when the report was conducted. An estimated 14 percent of social media users connect

around a shared hobby or interest. This is very important for Ride With GPS to

acknowledge because their service is based around an interest shared by millions around

the world and social networking can be a great way to find them. It is crucial to

understand the media landscape when exploring new directions to engage consumers.

The numbers reflect a growth in both social media and access from mobile devices. Ride

With GPS’ competitors are actively engaged in social media and have converted their

services to a mobile application for ease of use and convenience. The reviews and ratings

of these applications show a high level of activity and adoption of the platform.

Conducting the secondary research explained above is vital to Ride With GPS. Secondary

research provides a wealth of information about the consumer, the competition and the

market for at a relatively low cost. Ride With GPS can use the secondary data to see what

is working within the industry and what is not. It can prevent them from making strategic

decisions that have already proven unsuccessful while also exposing new windows of

opportunity. Secondary data is valuable because it has already been conducted by

trustworthy sources; however, it can only do so much. Secondary data does not allow us

to explore any questions of our own nor does it give us any control over the research

methods. To explore Ride With GPS, its relationship with the consumers and potential

growth within the market, we had to conduct primary research.

7

Secondary Sources

comScore. “Social Networking On-The-Go: U.S. Mobile Social Media Audience Grows 37 Percent in the Past Year.” comScore. 20 Oct. 2011. Web. 5 June 2012. <http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/10/Social_Networking_On-The Go_U.S._Mobile_Social_Media_Audience_Grows_37_Percent_in_the_Past_Year>

National Bicycle Dealers Association. “Industry Overview 2010: A Look at the Bicycle Industry’s Vital Statistics.” National Bicycle Dealers Association. n.d. Web. 5 June 2012. <http://nbda.com/articles/industry-overview-2010-pg34.htm>

MapMyRide. “MapMyRide GPS Cycling.” iTunes. n.d. Web. 6 June 2012. <http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mapmyride-gps-cycling/id292223170?mt=8>

MapMyRide. “MapMyRide GPS Cycling Riding.” Google. n.d. Web. 6 June 2012. <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mapmyride.android2&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5tYXBteXJpZGUuYW5kcm9pZDIiXQ..>

Pew Research Center. “Nearly Half of American Adults Are Smartphone Owners.” Pew Research Center. 1 March 2012. Web. 5 June 2012. <http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2206/smartphones-cell-phones-blackberry-android-iphone>

Pew Research Center. “Three-Quarters of Smartphone Owners Use Location-Based Services.” Pew Research Center. 11 May 2012. Web. 5 June 2012. <http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2256/location-based-services-smartphones-foursquare-geosocial-gowalla>

Strava, Inc. “Strava Cycling.” iTunes. n.d. Web. 6 June 2012. <http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/strava-cycling/id426826309?mt=8>

Strava, Inc. “Strava Cycling.” Google. n.d. Web. 6 June, 2012. <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.strava&hl=en>

8

Primary Research:

Our main goals of collecting primary research are to better understand the target market

and potential new users, the relationship between current users and the Ride With GPS

service, and ways to grow within the existing target market of cyclists. Our team mission

was to give the consumers a voice and connect them with the client. By doing so, Ride

With GPS can truly focus their brand on remaining relevant to the user it was made for

while exploring new opportunities for growth. By engaging with the market, we planned

to discover what would lead a cyclist to use a software program like Ride With GPS. We

wanted to understand the benefits of using the service as well as what can be done to

improve it. What are people saying about Ride With GPS? Do they find the program

useful, or even motivational? How do they compare with the competition? What can be

done to separate them and create brand differentiation? We believe Ride With GPS

would benefit from a mobile application and conducted research to support or reject the

hypothesis. All of these questions can help Ride With GPS grow as a business and

connect with their audience.

Prior to conducting primary research it was crucial to determine the methods of how to

do so. Our team decided to utilize surveys for quantitative research, and personal

interviews for qualitative research.

9

Operationalization and Details

With access to the Qualtrics program, creating a survey provided us an inexpensive way

to connect with the cycling community. A survey isn’t restricted to geographic

boundaries or time limitations and online distribution allows for a quick turnaround time

with little overhead costs. We wrote an initial survey designed for cyclists of all types

that was unspecific to Ride With GPS. It touched on demographics, relationship to

cycling, mobile application usage and technology incorporation into fitness routines. The

survey included 15 questions and the average response time was approximately 3

minutes. We distributed it across numerous channels including Facebook, Twitter and

class list serves. Our team also took to the streets with paper copies and approached

cyclists, encouraging them to take our survey. The survey garnered 67 responses. The

various respondents replied at random and were not targeted individually. This helped to

better ensure a more representative sample of the population.

After reviewing responses and gathering data we realized there was another group of

people we hadn’t yet reached out to: existing Ride With GPS users. The current users are

closest to the program and can give us the best, most actionable insight. If we didn’t talk

to them, we didn’t do our job. We designed another survey specifically for current users

and distributed it among the Ride With GPS social media outlets. This survey included

17 questions with an average response time of 4.5 minutes. It garnered 38 responses and

provided meaningful insight into the feelings about Ride With GPS and the target

audience.

10

With the quantitative aspect of our research charging ahead, we were able to focus our

attention on probing deeper into the thoughts and emotions of cyclists by conducting

personal interviews. Speaking to cyclists in general would have been too broad so we

outlined 4 groups of people to target for interviews: Casual Riders, Competitive/Sport

Riders, Cycling Organizations/Clubs and Current Ride With GPS users. As a team we

didn’t have a formal interview guide but discussed the goals of the interview before

conducting them. The individuals on our team took the responsibility to locate, secure

and interview two or more people from each of the outlined categories mentioned above.

To accommodate the interview subjects, we used a variety of methods to complete the

process. We interviewed our participants face-to-face, over the telephone and through

email. Email interviews were sent to the participants with an agreement of at least 3

exchanges to complete the interview.  Attached are copies of both surveys as well as

transcribed interviews.

Results: General Cycling Survey

Our main goal of the general cyclist survey was to gauge the desire to use a product like

Ride With GPS among different levels of riders: casual, commuter and competitive. Our

results showed that competitive sport riders are most likely to use a service like Ride

With GPS, compared to commuters and recreational riders. The following charts will

better explain these figures.

11

Likelihood to Integrate Technology to Measure Workout Performance by Rider

Level

Very Un-likely

Unlikely Unde-cided

Likely Very Likely

Ca-sual/Recre-ational

8 11 4 8 0

Com-muter/Every-day

6 10 6 7 1

Com-peti-tive/Sport

0 0 0 4 1

13579

11

8

11

4

8

0

6

10

67

10 0 0

4

1

Casual/RecreationalCommuter/EverydayCompetitive/Sport

We have also been exploring the idea of Ride With GPS shifting toward a mobile

application and integrated this thought into our research plans. We cross-tabulated the

survey questions to discover if those who are likely to use the service are likely to use a

mobile application of it. Out of the 21 participants that are likely to use a cycling utility

program like Ride With GPS, 18 of them would be willing to use a mobile application

(85 percent).

12

Willingness to Use a Mobile Application among Smartphone Owners

85%

15%

YesNo

Results: Current User Survey

The goals of the current user survey were to better understand the target consumer and

what drives him or her to use the service. We wanted to discover their favorite features,

their thoughts about the program and their pain points or areas of suggested

improvement. Again, we focused a portion of our research on determining whether or not

Ride With GPS should go mobile and again, included it in our current user survey.

Ninety-seven percent of our subjects were male and 66 percent of them were between the

ages of 31 and 50 years old. The majority of current users in our research have an average

household income over $100,000.

Fifty-three percent of the respondents have been using Ride With GPS for over one year.

Twenty-four percent have been using it between six months and one year while another

24 percent have had it for less than six months. Forty-four percent of respondents pay for

13

the service, 15 percent basic and 29 percent premium, while the remaining 56 percent are

currently using the free version. The participant rider types are broken down in the figure

below.

38%

9%

50%

3%

Type of Riders

Casual/RecreationalCommuter/EverydayCompetitive/SportOther

We wanted to understand the users feelings about the service itself. When asked to rate

the most useful features, the mapping portion reigned supreme, followed closely by route

planning, performance tracking and competition respectively. Other favorite features

included the OSM map, GPX export and the social sharing capabilities through

Facebook.

Those who have the service already can best help us determine if a mobile application

would be useful for Ride With GPS. Of the 38 surveyed, 68 percent owned a smartphone.

14

iPhoneAndroid

BlackBerryOther

0

10

20

30

40

50

60 53

33

6 8

Smartphone Platform (% used)

Of these smartphone owners, 59 percent use an iPhone, 32 percent use an Android, 5

percent use a BlackBerry and the remaining 5 percent use another smartphone platform.

Our goal was to gauge the likelihood and willingness of using a mobile application of

Ride With GPS among smartphone owners. We cross-tabulated those who own a

smartphone with their willingness to use a mobile application. Out of the smartphone

owners, 91 percent are willing or enthused about the creation of a mobile application.

Those who do not own a smartphone were less likely to use a Ride With GPS mobile

application.

The last part of our primary research was designed to capture the thoughts and opinions

about the service. Out of 32 current user responses, 25 of them (78 percent) rated Ride

With GPS’ Customer Support above average or excellent. Fifty percent of the paying

users surveyed felt the pricing structure was on par while 43 percent found it above

average. Eighty-eight percent of current users researched found the user experience of the

15

site to be above average or excellent while 94 percent regarded it as useful.

By conducting these surveys as primary research we were better able to answer the

majority of our research questions. These results, coupled with the answers from the

personal interviews, helped us uncover insights from the data to better direct our client in

the right direction.

Insight and Discussion:

After collecting and analyzing the data from both surveys and our personal interviews,

we were able to answer our initial research questions and uncover insights to better serve

Ride With GPS.

Target Market:

After detailing the surveys and interviews we were better able to understand the

consumer and narrow down the target market. Our research led us to the conclusion that

the typical user is between 31 and 50 years of age, makes somewhere between $50,000 -

$100,000 annually and doesn’t put price at the forefront of their purchasing decisions. To

best reflect this we created a two person representative of the ideal Ride With GPS user:

Kathy and John.

16

Kathy:

Kathy is a 32-year-old single white female who recently moved into the city from the

suburbs. She just accepted a new job and moved into an apartment less than 2 miles away

from her office. Parking is costly and extremely difficult to find so she looked to

alternative transportation as a means of commuting to work. Kathy invested in a modest

bike set-up and now uses it has her primary means of transportation. Being unfamiliar

with the new surroundings, Kathy uses her commute to and from work as a chance to

explore. She recently found Ride With GPS and is constantly exploring new routes to

travel. She uses the Facebook feature to keep her friends and family updated on how she

is settling in. Kathy doesn’t utilize all the features of Ride With GPS so she is content

using the Basic program for Custom Routes and Cue Printing. The service has been an

enormous help in her new adjustment.

John:

John is a 44-year-old white male living on the outskirts of a major metropolitan city. He

has worked extremely hard over the last 15 years to provide a comfortable setting for his

wife and two kids. John found success in the financial sector and makes over $100,000 a

year. John considers himself an early adopter of new technology and his iPhone is hardly

ever out of reach. In his early years he was a gifted athlete but gave up sports to focus on

a career to support his family. Although he maintains his fitness by working out at the

local health club, John recently found cycling as a workout routine after a neighbor

introduced him to the sport aspect of it. He found it to be an exhilarating new method that

provides new opportunities around every corner. Right away John invested heavily into

his cycling set-up to ensure he has the best gear possible. John can now ride comfortably

17

with his neighbor and their weekend warrior cycling bunch. This reinvigorated his

competitive side that is usually reserved for the office. If he thinks it will improve his

performance or best his times, John will invest in it – including services like Ride With

GPS Premium service. The performance tracking motivates him to work harder each time

and the competition section drives him to best his friends for bragging rights.

Social Presence

After completing a competitive analysis through secondary research it has become quite

clear that Ride With GPS needs to keep growing their social media presence. The more

engaged with consumers they become, the more Ride With GPS is shared among social

circles. The “About Ride With GPS” user-generated video has garnered over 1,000 views

– more so than any of the other tutorial type videos. Ride With GPS should create more

user-generated content to balance out the instructional feel of their YouTube channel.

User-generated content puts a voice to the brand and is much more likely to be shared.

Another area of focus on the social aspect lies within the service itself. Ride With GPS

should stay focused on expanding the integration of Facebook and Twitter with the

service to boost sharing and social presence. One research participant stated that the area

that can be most improved upon is the “social component” where he or she “would like to

have a forum or chat built in.” Another person involved in the study suggested adding a

“more innovative interfacing with Facebook.” Other companies like Strava and

MapMyRide have seen high levels of activity and peer review just through social media

outlets alone. The more avenues given to the consumer to interact with the brand, the

more activity and increased visits it will receive.

18

Mobile Application:

Prior to starting any research for Ride With GPS, our team hypothesized that in order to

remain relevant in the shifting digital landscape, a mobile application would be

necessary. We encompassed this thought into our research without bias to get true

feelings on the subject. Our results were in our favor and allowed us to accept our

hypothesis: Ride With GPS should explore integrating a mobile application to the service

as well. Of the 34 current users asked about using a mobile application, 18 said yes (32

percent) while another 7 said maybe (21 percent). Based on our research, 91 percent of

current users who own a smartphone either own an iPhone or an Android. Developing an

application to integrate with those two platforms would be ideal. An application could

also be used to ease consumers into the use of GPS and potentially invest in a full GPS

set-up.

General Feelings about the Product

After analyzing and interviewing those who use Ride With GPS it was clear to see that

this is a useful service that is in demand within the cycling community, especially those

who ride for sport or competition. Consumers find the program not only useful and

valuable but also motivational. The user experience of the site is praised as is the support

provided to customers. Users feel that Ride With GPS stands among the best in the

market at route mapping and exportation for GPS.

19

Limitations:

As with any research project, our team faced challenges and limitations that affected the

accuracy of our findings.

Time was not on our side; we were briefed once in the beginning of the term about the

project and came back to it weeks later. Being short on time affected the depths of the

survey and interview. Time also affected our research participants, as we had to

accommodate our schedules with the participants and the client. More time would have

allowed a deeper research approach, but we feel confident in our results based on the time

we had.

Having little to no budget to conduct research greatly affected the overall effort of the

project. Without having an incentive to offer research participants we had to rely on

goodwill and willingness among participants to join us. A budget would have allowed us

to distribute the survey in masses and gain a more representative population of the

cycling sample. It also would have made it possible to conduct in-depth focus groups in

the proper setting however we chose interviews to avoid the obstacle.

Participation was also a limiting factor while conducting research. While we had a 100

percent completion rate on the general cyclist survey, only 86 percent of those who

started the current user survey completed it. The general cyclist survey majority were

university students outside of our target market. While they helped us better understand

20

who isn’t suited for this product it used up a lot of our time that could have been focused

elsewhere.

Conclusion:

Our team was tasked with creating a research report for a local cycling software company

located in Eugene, Oregon. Our goals were to narrow down a target market, better

understand the consumer, find ways to develop and grow the brand within the current

cyclist audience and connect the voice of the users to the Ride With GPS team. We began

with secondary research about the company, the competitors, trends and figures within

the industry and market growth.

We designed two separate surveys to conduct primary research: one geared at cyclists in

general and another specifically for current users of Ride With GPS. We distributed it

among social media outlets, email list serves and face-to-face interaction. We collected

our data through Qualtrics survey software and analyzed it through Qualtrics Data Center

and SPSS statistical software.

Our team used these findings to create relevant interview questions to probe further into

topics of discussion. We targeted four groups within the cycling community to interview:

casual riders, competitive riders, cycling organizations and current Ride With GPS users.

We conducted interviews with two or more people from each of the four areas to get a

balanced understanding of how we can grow the product within the cycling community

before expanding into new markets.

21

After collecting and interpreting the data from both the secondary and primary research

methods we were able to answer our initial research goals. We narrowed down the target

market and found ways for the brand to engage with them. One of our research goals was

to find out whether or not a mobile application would suit Ride With GPS and its

consumers. Our hypothesis suggested that Ride With GPS should indeed create a mobile

application to better serve users and our results confirmed this. Through research we

discovered a trend in the increase of mobile usage and social networking and used this

provide insight about how to grow the social media presence of the company and ways to

use it as an engagement tool. Overall we got to the heart of the consumer and gave him or

her a voice to be heard by Ride With GPS.

22