QUB and UU working to deliver a technology eco-system

About the Case - The Challenge

The founder of GetSociable, Peter, had lived and worked in many Cities and always had challenges finding objective - What’s On information and options in terms of Live Entertainment that resonated with him and his party. The current digital sources were predominantly one-size- fits-all and thus he set about understanding how this information could be personalised for each individual user based on their preferences and tastes. From here he embarked on a phase of research to understand how big a problem this was for others, and through support from the Universities and Colleges worked with a number of Students via Placements and Projects on early Proof of Concepts which validated that this was big enough to progress with a solution.

The Solution 

Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University offer several strategic projects comprising students across various disciplines to businesses who can avail of this vital support. GetSociable, has built strong relationships with both and through this support has now launched their platform in the City.  The support offered by both universities included:

• Ulster International Hospitality Management – the first project involved a period of Market Research to ensure that the design addressed the key pain points that both businesses and consumers were facing. This was critical in developing the roadmap of features and benefits, with the deliverables including a range of insights and recommendations.
• QUB Impact Project – the company worked with a Psychology student to understand how loyalty and advocacy can be secured from customers for a brand like GetSociable. The study included competitor analysis, and interviews to determine extrinsic and intrinsic motivations.
• Queen's Management School Business Clinic – GetSociable created a brief around the Marketing Strategy required for the launch and a team of 5 students were assigned. Following the initial kick-off, they took the objectives and developed an approach for ensuring the right channels were used to reach the right audiences.

The company has also hosted several students from both Universities on a number of placements through multiple programmes including participation in the QUB Employ Autism Internship Programme. These were funded by amongst others, Santander and the Department for the Economy, and has helped to bind the relationships further.

GetSociable has also been awarded Silver Level Innovator accreditation by Innovate NI on behalf of DfE, Northern Ireland.