Developing, Marketing and Branding Mobile Apps for the Horse Industry

Abstract Text: An app is software that runs on the internet, a computer or phone.  There are millions of apps available with about one billion downloads annually.  However, relatively few apps have been developed for use in the horse industry.  The objective of this abstract is to outline developing, marketing and branding of two mobile apps for use in the horse industry.  In 2012, researchers developed a more accurate method for estimating horse body weight, a new equation for estimating ideal horse body weight, and a percentile that resulted in a body weight score to help assess over- and under-weight horses.  Since the equations were complex, researchers decided to develop an app, named “Healthy Horse”, to encourage use and adoption of the equations.  During the same time period, hay prices around the U.S. were at all-time highs.  Horse owners normally purchase hay by the bale, which can result in further exaggeration of prices.  To help horse owners convert price per bale to price per ton, representing a more economical hay purchasing strategy, the “Hay Price Calculator” app was also developed. In January 2013, a computer science graduate student was hired to develop both apps in collaboration with the research team.  App development took about four months and cost approximately $8,000.  Because grant funds were used to pay for the development of the apps, the University of Minnesota Office of Technology and Commercialization was consulted, and decided to brand and market the apps under the University of Minnesota Board of Regents.  In May 2013, both apps were released for use with Apple operating systems at a cost of $1.99 and $0.99 for the Healthy Horse and Hay Price Calculator apps, respectively.  In November 2013 and March 2014, the Android version of Hay Price Calculator and Healthy Horse, respectively, were released.  During the summer of 2013, the research team was approached by a nutrition company to co-brand the Healthy Horse app.  After consulting with University Relations and the Office of the General Council, a contract was finalized to co-brand the app with the company logo and website address in exchange for a monetary contribution and marketing efforts.  Since May 2013, over 1,100 apps have been sold.  Funds from the sale of the apps will help support future equine research at the University of Minnesota. 

Keywords: mobile app, horse, body weight