RUNNING HEAD: HollarHype Marketing

HollarHype Marketing

Abby Koss, Missie Maiewski, Madeleine Mulroney

Simmons University

11 October 2018
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Statement of Purpose

As part of a required class project for a Marketing Research course, we will conduct a

survey to determine the best ways to market HollarHype (HH) to college students ages 18-22.

Background

HollarHype(HH) is an app that acts as a platform for endurance athletes to send and

receive motivational voice memos. It is currently on track to launch in February, 2019. The co-

founders, Emily Zaccardi and James Quirk met each other while working for Gibson Sotheby’s

International Realty. James is a graphic designer who graduated from Boston University with a

degree in Advertising in 2016. Emily is an avid runner and passionate marketer. She graduated

from the University of Rhode Island (URI) in 2013 with a degree in Rhetoric. At URI, Emily

was on the track and cross country teams. Emily’s father was always her biggest fan. He never

missed a race until one day he was stuck in traffic in the parking garage next to the track. Once

he realized that he was going to miss the race, he climbed on top of his car to watch Emily with

binoculars. Six years later, the Zaccardi family was on their way to Thanksgiving dinner when

they joked about that day. Emily thought they couldn’t be the only family that struggled to make

it on race day(Arrive to the finish line on time). The idea for HollarHype was born.

In an interview this year, Emily described HH as “a motivational communication

platform to help runners, coaches and supporters better connect in the times that matter most. In

an ever-optimized world where it seems automated coaching is the next ‘big thing’, we find it

important to hold onto the personal side of training, and not to lose sight of the power within an

authentic connection. Our [HH] end game? To improve the quality of team culture and create a

stronger impact on hard-training athletes” (E. Zaccardi, personal communication, September 13,

2018). Emily considers herself a running expert after many years of experience. She consulted
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many others in the running community before ultimately moving forward with her idea. In the

past year they’ve raised $2,000,000 worth of equity split between a personal loan for equity and

investment for equity.

The researchers in this study chose HollarHype due to their own interests in being active.

Missie, one of the researchers, is a two-sport athlete at Simmons University, who hopes to use

HH to motivate her teammates while they train on their own. The team is interested in how this

platform can “work” for them in their favorite activities. While the whole team is interested in

involving HollarHype(HH) into their favorite activities, they have done no previous research on

the topic.

Significance

Through various methods of market research, the researchers will attempt to to prove

their assumption that college aged students (18-22) have reasons to use HH for

exercising/training purposes. The market sample that the researchers will use within the Boston

area which is full of amateur college athletes as well as professional runners for the marathon.

The main research questions to be asked are as follows:

1. What will college students use HH for? (training, workout motivation etc.)

2. What new features could be added to HH to appeal to the college students aged

18-22 years old?

3. Could sports teams use HH as a medium to enhance their performances in real

time?

Description

In order to identify ways to market HH to the college students (18-22), the main types of

research used will be both secondary and primary. The secondary data will come from published
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data and computer databases such through the Simmons University Library. This data will be

used to help understand the relationship between motivation and exercise/training within the

target age group. The secondary data will also help to further identify consumer exercise trends

that will help the final recommendations to HollarHype(HH).

For the primary research, both qualitative and quantitative research will be conducted.

For qualitative, direct non-disguised interviews will be conducted and are essential data to

support the research questions of this study. This research will determine attitudes and opinions

as well as intentions and motivation during exercise in relation to the HollarHype app. Through

quantitative surveys, nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio results will be gathered.

Literature Review

The topic of motivation is very popular in the current day with motivational speakers,

books and social media being sought after by the public. An article by Adam Harkness relevant

to our topic mentions that motivation “gives you a reason to do something more”. Another paper

outlined the reasons for motivation during exercise (Kravitz, n.d) and how reinforcement and

social support play a huge role in a person’s self perception. Additionally, an article from

Canadian Psychology suggested that the reasons for motivation during exercise is based on the

Self Determination Theory. People are “more likely to foster adaptive motivational resources

than forestall the satisfaction of basic psychological needs or encourage controlling forms of

behavioural regulation” (Wilson, 2008). This article discusses how people need to motivate each

other. This article has a lot of resources as well that will be used for a deeper look into the

research. An additional resource will be referenced, Drive by Daniel Pink.

Methodology
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The three main ways research will be conducted are the following: surveys, focus groups,

and one-on-one interviews. Surveys will be sent out to Simmons students and athletes of all

sports through social media, mostly Facebook and potentially an e-mail survey. The goal of this

is to see if people other than runners would be interested in using this application to help attain

their own fitness goals with the help from friends. Conducting one-on-one interviews will show

personal thoughts on motivational speaking as a way to improve fitness and overall performance.

Conducting focus groups will help to hear people’s thoughts on the product and what features

they might want to have that don’t exist yet an any general feedback. Facilitating one on one

interviews with marathon runners will produce their views and thoughts on HH’s product. The

hope of using these three forms to conduct research will produce a vast amount of data to go

forward with how to best proceed with this application.

Timescale/Research Planning

In regards to Timescale and Research planning the following is a general outline of the

dates planned to be able to complete this project in a timely manner. Some of the due dates have

been made a few days earlier than the anticipated dates for class to be able to have space for

problems that may arise.

Questionnaire Submission: Complete by October 1st.

Preliminary Research and citations found: Complete by October 5th.

Questionnaire Critique: Complete by October 9th.

Final Questionnaire Approval: Complete by October 24th.

Submit Research Proposal to IRB: Complete by October 24th.

Data Collection: Begin by November 15th.

Presentation: Complete by December 1st.

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Final Written Paper: Have completed by December 10th to be able to go to Writing Center.

Problems

Technology could be a potential issue with the app not being launched in time to conduct

beta testing to receive feedback from the physical application. Not enough responses from the

surveys or focus groups could be another potential problem because all subjects must volunteer.

It could also be a challenge to get all of our responses from our target audience of college

students aged 18-22.

Bibliography

Harkness, A. (2016, August 24). What is motivation, and how do motivational speakers help?

Retrieved September 23, 2018, from 2016, www.jla.co.uk/motivation-motivational-

speakers-help/#.W6ppgf5KiYV.

Kravitz, L., Ph. D. (n.d.). Exercise Motivation: What Starts and Keeps People Exercising?

Retrieved September 24, 2018, from Exercise Motivation: What Starts and Keeps People

Exercising?

Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. New York, NY:
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Riverhead Books.

Tredgold, G. (2017, October 29). 5 Ways A Motivational Speaker Can Help You Engage Your

Teams. Retrieved September 25, 2018, from https://www.inc.com/gordon-tredgold/5-

reasons-to-hire-a-motivational-speaker-for-your-next-company-event.html

Wilson, P. M., Mack, D. E., & Grattan, K. P. (2008). Understanding Motivation for Exercise: A

Self-Determination Theory Perspective. Canadian Psychology, 49(3), 250-256. Retrieved

September 24, 2018, from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230676833_Understanding_Motivation_for_Ex

ercise_A_Self-Determination_Theory_Perspective.