Planning a night on the town in Portsmouth? Yep, there's an app for that, thanks to the efforts of Portsmouth-based OnPlane Inc. and its partnership with the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce.
OnPlane developed P.A.L., now in beta testing mode, as a free social application that aggregates a user's interests-news, information (such as weather or ski reports), local happenings and social interactions (Facebook, Twitter)-in one place. Businesses participating on P.A.L. not only are able to promote themselves to a broad audience, but also can gain insight into who their customers are. OnPlane launched a P.A.L. site for Portsmouth in late November and has more than 75 participating businesses. Portsmouth P.A.L. is an interactive way for local retailers, restaurants, bars, theaters and other Portsmouth-based companies to communicate specials, events, new products and other information to consumers.
Anyone can download the free application onto their PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry (Webkit enabled) devices. (OnPlane partnered with The Atom Group in Portsmouth to offer P.A.L. to mobile users.) Members of the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce can promote their business on P.A.L. for free (the chamber pays for the service). Consumers can customize Portsmouth P.A.L. with a variety of information. Norman Rice, CEO and co-founder of OnPlane, says while local businesses may use Twitter or Facebook to reach existing customers, their messages are only reaching the audience that is a fan of that business. Through Portsmouth P.A.L., they can reach a wider audience.
"Many individual businesses in town, including restaurants and retailers, are trying to build fan bases through social marketing tools like Facebook and Twitter to stay connected to their customers. ... There's a disconnect in reaching beyond your immediate fan base-that core audience-and communicating with people in the right place at the right time," Rice says. "Instead of focusing on one bar or restaurant, we are focused on one community."
While participating businesses are able to learn more about their customers through the P.A.L., Rice clarifies that "We do not collect any personally identifiable information from users, such as names or addresses or e-mail addresses." If a business wants to communicate with a user with certain characteristics, they can. In Portsmouth, P.A.L. also has a unique QR code that has been added to coasters, signage and other promotional items around the city, so people can scan the code to access the service. The Portsmouth P.A.L. is available through www.portsmouthpal.com, the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce (www.portsmouthchamber.org) or from participating businesses. For more information, visit www.onplaneinc.com.
Current Issue - April 2024