Gent Busy Days

As part of the requirements for IBM, students are required either to take part in study trips abroad,
create their own study trips or partake in the Busydays Ghent. I choose the Buzidays Ghent because I
heard of some interesting activities in the past editions. The program organized by Arteveldehs
University College with students from other universities across Europe. It started on the 12th of March
and ended on the 14th of March. We were grouped in teams of 4 with students from different
universities. The main activity for this project was to carry out research for a company BAHAMONTES
to find out different ways they could boost their sales. Three major topics were;

My group was assigned to conduct a research on how to reach a larger target audience. We did our
research, presented and we took the third place out of seven teams. This event wwas the best I have
had in Arteveldehs so far. The exercises were very interesting, the dinner in the city was the best and
the organization in general a classy one.

Our Report

Bahamontes
By:

- Martin Alberts
- Jerome Ayuk
- Honore Tabe
- Semih Hazar
- Valentina Kuzneczova
Content

Page 1: Introduction and members

Page 2: Expected output and methodology
Page 3: Field research
Page 4: Target audience and required actions
Page 5: Timing and budget
Introduction
This is the report about the Bahamontes case 2 where there is a need for a younger audience. The
aim is to offer a perspective to gain market leverage in the younger generations in Gent.

Members
Semih Hazar - 24 International Business Management Studies ION
semih.hazar@student.arteveldehs.be

Jerome Ayuk - 27 International Business Management Studies

jeroayuk@student.arteveldehs.be

Valentina Kuzneczova - 22 Plekhanov Russian University of Economics

v.kuzneczova.fdo@mail.ru

Honoré Tabe - 29 International Business Management Studies

honore.tabe@student.arteveldehs.be

Martin Alberts- 21 International Business & Languages

martin.alberts@student.stenden.com
Expected output
It is expected that a new edition meant for the younger audiences attracts 1000 new readers in the
first 6 months and 1500 in the second 6 months. The followers and likes of the social media pages to
be increased by 10%. A new YouTube channel needs to be set up which showcases guides to repair
bikes, popular cycle tracks, holidays around those tracks. Popular cyclists and readers will be the
hosts of several of the shows on YouTube.

Methodology
For this report the combination of field and desk research is used. From the field research it is
concluded that majority of students are not aware of the company even existing.
Field research
Questionnaires for field Research

1. Have you ever heard of Bahamontes magazine?

2. Would you buy this product?

3. What do you think about the size of the magazines?

4. Would you go to the store to buy this magazine or prefer a digital version?

5. What kind of changes would you implement to attract younger audience?

6. When you hear of cycling what comes to your mind, is it an activity you can recommend to

others?

7. How do you find the layout of the magazine, text, pictures and overall content?
 Responds to field research
Roel Leys

No awareness of the magazine. “It’s a lot of text for a magazine, I think if the volume of this magazine
I reduced with very little text then it is going to be appealing for the younger generation. I also think
the pictures look old, it would be better to have a better look. Bringing out the positive ideas of
cycling in the magazine is not a bad idea. Include motivational and instructional ideas in the
magazine.”

Nicolas

‘’No never heard of Bahamontes. I think making a preview on Instagram about the book can give
younger people a push to buy the magazines. The volume of the magazine is large for younger
people because we really don’t like reading a lot.
Luckas Van Nuffe

No, it’s my first-time hearing of the magazine. I pretty much like the design of the magazine, they
made use of a lot of pictures and the design looks authentic. If Bahamontes was to focus more on the
positive ideas behind cycling and bring the advantage behind this, then I think they can reach a lot of
younger audience. A PDF version of the book can also be a good idea, then it makes it easy for people
to carry it around in their laptops. But however, a physical copy is however important especially for
people who want to have a moment when reading. They could also offer some solutions in the
magazine that’s appealing to young people such as bike repair. They can also make use of social
media channels such as Facebook and Instagram to target the young.

Sophida

Never heard of them. The magazine has a lot of texts, it is however appealing with good colors. The
number pages can be reduced because I think it’s a lot. A PDF version is a good idea because many
people prepare reading from their laptops. The book has a good smell and yes if tips on how to repair
a bike is included, it will be a good idea.

Shayma Hatimi

No don’t know Bahamontes. The book has a good quality and smells good, it doesn’t focus on things
people like, it will be better to focus on what the young people prepare. The idea seems authentic
and over focused on the cycling community rather than bikers in general. The pictures in the
magazine are dark and gives the impression of the 80s with a lot of black and white photos. Maybe a
good idea to target the young is to portray that the paper and ink can be recycled. Younger people
could also be the center of attraction rather than older people.

Nicolas Cloet

No don’t know this magazine. I can buy such a magazine for my dad. It looks good for the old than
the young. For me I wouldn’t buy it. The images are old and look outdated. The volume of the
magazine also looks too large for the younger population.
Jose Tutcq

I don’t know Bahamontes. “I think the volume is large, it will be better to reduce the volume because
it makes it appealing to read. I think the images in the magazine is good because it makes you see the
moments. These days younger people are more attached to their laptops and phones, so a digital
version of the book isn’t a bad idea.

Sara Sanders

Never heard of them. The quality of the magazine is good, good idea of blending both color and black
and white pictures. If the magazine is made a little thinner, it would be better. A tip for reaching the
younger audience is trying to promote the idea in gyms also give out Bahamontes t-shirts.

Lana Goshadze

It’s the first time am hearing of Bahamontes. I prefer an online version, because the volume of the
magazine is large and can fall off from my hands while reading. The only magazine I buy is Vogue and
I always buy it online. The color are not catchy, more brighter colors would be a plus. The idea is go
but the magazine seems too focus on professional cycling rather than cycling in general. It will be a
good idea to include diversify a little.

Elvine Yunyu

No, never heard of them. The idea behind the magazine is good but I will rather prefer a digital
version.
Target audience
The target audience is youngsters between ages 20-30. We target the groups that are into the
healthy lifestyle so the people that go to gyms.

Required actions
The online presence of the company needs to be enhanced. Currently all social media platforms fail
to reach the appropriate target group. The website needs structuring and perhaps there needs to be
an additional magazine. This magazine would be dedicated towards students and younger people in
general, including tips and tricks with bicycles (students in Belgium and Holland take bikes to school a
lot), where to go for recreational cycling in the area i.e. forests, hills, obstacle courses.

The main publisher of the Bahamontes team needs to be presented with a plan to include the
younger generation. This means that there will be a new edition of the magazine that arrives to the
subscribers once every 6 months. In this edition there will be code for the students which is used to
download information about a quest. This quest will have several tasks to pass a certain hill, reach a
top speed, cycle in a specific map pattern to spell the words of Bahamontes.

To increase the brand awareness, social media needs to be used as a way to reach new customers.
We plan to do this by having advertisements, not only in sports clubs and gyms but also on
Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. However, this will require a larger budget than anticipated. These
advertisements are key because what is posted seems like a blog and/or lifestyle platform as
opposed to a professional platform to promote products or cycling events.

The new edition for the students is smaller in size and includes more tips and tricks on how to fix
bikes. Less content about the professional side of the cycling community and less content about the
histories of certain cycler’s achievements. Biographies are fine to have but some race that was won
in 1970 is not interesting.

When the CEOs of Bahamontes go on a cycling trip, it should be done with younger people because
they are interested and excited about travelling. Bahamontes needs to add an online capability to
read it digitally. Lesser in size, like a summary of the entire magazine, the version for younger people
has to be there as a download link on the website. To include it as a pdf file so students can read it at
the bus stop or train station.

The website has a webpage called ‘where to buy’ and it is a useless page, because the only thing it
has is an image saying to go to another page to get what you want. The website looks more like a
personal blog then a professional website. It seems unstructured and with too many visuals cramped
up together.
Timing
As soon as possible to improve attributes of the website, it needs to be more flashy and trendy.
Certain webpages are redundant and can be deleted. There is no homepage with recent news about
Bahamontes.

During the first month local gyms need to be contacted and collaborations have to be set in place.
Then upon realizing the gyms are open to work together, start month by month to enhance the social
medias.

When the partnerships are in place, a group of 5 writers, 1 illustrator and 2 photographers should
come together to discuss about releasing a younger styled edition every 6 months. The publisher
needs to be kept in the loop and the content of the edition will have to be altered. These writers will
be the younger ones of the entire organization who understand that the professional industry is not
appealing to the younger generation.

Budget
Combining all forms of advertisements it will cost a total of 57.000$ a year and selling 1000 units of
the new edition in the first 6 months will be a cost of 1200 euros. Second edition will be 1500 units at
a cost of 1800 euros.

Though upon entering the new niche, it is unsure how the growth rate will be. This is why
advertisements are released in just the months of releasing the new edition, so in total the costs per
year would be 9500 euros. Selling a 1000 items for the first edition at 10 euros will result in a loss of
euros. After the first edition the sales will be increased to 1500 which results in a total annual profit
of 15500 euros. Subtracting the cost price of 3000 for both editions will be a net profit of 12500
euros.