This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.
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1. THE BEGINNING
This innovation initially came to life when…
My business partner, Joel Anderson, and I were discussing the fact that it’s difficult to meet new people nearby who actually share your interests and meet them in person and not just online. We looked for a platform that was quick and easy to make new like-minded friends that didn’t involve searching through forums or doing roll calls on Facebook groups. When we couldn’t find one we decided to make an app ourselves to use and to share with other people who want to meet other local fans.
2. WHAT & HOW
The purpose of this innovation is to…
Fan is designed to help millions of people connect and to meet new people who share their interests in a quick, non threatening and user friendly way. Fan spans across every kind of interest therefore anyone can use the app.
It does this by…
Fan connects people in a way that no other platform currently does. It imports people’s liked pages on Facebook, they select their top 5 interests, and Fan matches them up with other users starting with matching top 5 interests, and then the most common interests combined with their location. Users can also search for people with a specific interest.
3. PURPOSE & BENEFITS
This innovation improves on what came before because…
There are other apps that are location based networking, even some that are tailored towards users interests. The difference with Fan is, seeing that it uses a person’s Facebook liked pages, rather than a pre-determined list, it enables the results to be very specific and relevant to a user. Not just sport, but the team they are a fan of.
Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…
A free service that will allow them to network and meet new people they would actually want to meet. New features including a news-feed of relevant articles of users interests, and live chat feeds of their interests will be implemented.
4. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
In the past, this problem was solved by…
Previous to Fan, there is Facebook, which isn’t location based networking or people you don’t know. There are conventions for people to attend, but Fan is 365 days a year. There is an app called Meet-Up, which is meeting a group of strangers in a foreign location, Fan is the reversal, meet new like-minded people online, chat and then meet.
Its predecessors/competitors include…
Meet-Up, Meet Me, Highlight, InCommon are all apps that serve a similar purpose. However, none of them use the method Fan does to connect people. Importing users liked Facebook pages to connect them with similar people is a unique concept.
5. TARGET MARKET
It is made for…
Guys and girls aged 15-24, especially into specific interests such as video games, tv shows, comic books, and any interest that it is difficult to find other fans of locally day to day. Fan has limitless possibilities for new features, many of which are in development as we speak, to be able to cater to all kinds of people for them to tailor their user experience to what they would want to utilize Fan for in their social lives. Facebook is for your inner sanctum of family and friends, Fan is for everyone else outside of that network.
It is available for sale through…
Free to download on the App Store and Google Play. There are links to download it on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/thefanapp and our website: www.thefanapponline.com We are continually doing updates to fix bugs, improve the UX and add new features.
Our marketing strategy is to…
Utilizing the existing social networks. Especially our Facebook and Instagram pages, Facebook Ads, and eventually Google Adwords. Using Facebook Ads for businesses we can target our advertising very specific targeting, using ages, location, and key words. We have a social network expert and web designer working with us to maximize the impact of our marketing.
FINE PRINT: This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.
