Over the last week, Heart of the City has been promoting its ‘Where Next?’ app, which was first announced in May.
Designed in collaboration between VMob and Colenso, Where Next? puts VMob’s platform to work with a free iPhone and Android app designed to personalise the information visitors get about events, attractions, retail and hospitality, venues, deals and places to find out what’s on.
“The intention is to encourage people in the city to do one more thing,” says VMob’s chief technical officer David Inggs. “It’s about encouraging people to explore the Heart of the City beyond one activity, like the Opera … This gets people out after their first activity.”
Users can register using Facebook or use the app anonymously, with Heart of the City curating content featured on the app.
They use the app’s preferences function to choose the precincts they want suggestions for, such as Wynyard Quarter, the viaduct, Britomart, Victoria Park, Federal St, Elliott St, the City Works Depot, Lower and Upper Queen St and High St.
“The app is like a best friend that knows you and the city well and makes five recommendations on where you can go next from your current location,” says Inggs. “It does this by using data such as the time of day, the weather, distance from specific venues, when events are happening and combines this with information like what you have previously liked in the app and your Facebook interests to make a recommendation. It can also throw in some surprises of exciting things to do in the city that very few people know about.”
Users can also choose experiences they’d like to get information about, like dining and bars, events and attractions, or use the ‘in the mood for’ selection function or a time of day and week option for events.
In addition to this, the app also gives ‘quick clues’ about price, time of day, life stage, event type and interest for the information the app serves. The platform is always on and collects information to target specific users, say VMob chief executive Scott Bradley and Heart of the City marketing manager Kate Cleaver.
The app follows on from Colenso’s ‘The Show Never Stops‘ campaign, which presented Auckland as a cosmopolitan city that offers city dwellers countless activities to participate in.
