AntiTour is an upheaval of traditional tourism, it seeks to redefine how we experience the cities we visit. Local guides curate fun activities for visitors and tell unexpected stories about the city’s history and culture in a comfortable environment (an “anti-tour bus” that is half city bus - half cozy RV). AntiTour expands the narrative and enables a real connection between tourists and the local community.
Role
I was invited to help the team conduct market research, make strategic product decisions, develop an engaging brand identity, prepare a business plan & investor pitch-deck, and build a functional & delightful website for booking tours.
Creating unconventional tours was a great idea, but the team needed help creating a valuable, sustainable business out of that idea.
Challenges
1. The company was in its early startup stage, so when I came on to help, there wasn’t even a name yet. Creating a strategy from scratch is fun but we barely had any data to go off.
2. Aside from its end-user appeal, AntiTour needed to be attractive for potential investors so the founders could get a serious meeting and some capital.
Solution
We named and branded the company to best reflect its playful, youthful motto. Designing without data isn’t a great idea, so we spent some time researching competitors, interviewing past customers, and projecting sales. We used this data to craft a winning product strategy. In meetings with the team, we created a presentation for potential investors highlighting the ideas, strategies, and numbers that would drive the AntiTour project forward. Now people need a way to book tours. We built a website that showcased the tours and let customers buy tickets directly.
What do you call something that both is and isn’t a tour?
You call it “AntiTour”. The name might be a bit on-the-nose, but “AntiTour” clearly signifies what the product is. No one would see this logo and think “we’ll probably be walking around with guidebooks.”
What are we doing?
Market analysis & Positioning
The tourism market is brimming with quirky, personal experiences. We wanted to know what we were working with, so we tracked down potential competitors and past clients to gather data and find our edge.
Who’s out there?
What are they doing?
Who aren’t they serving?
Market Size
3
Million Tourists Visited Kazan In the past year
20
They spent over Million rubles in the city
2X
local entertainment industry Growth in 3 years
13%
local hospitality industry Growth in 1 Year
Customer personas
Farida
23 / College Student
Legend
Farida is traveling to the city over the weekend with her girlfriend. They have been here before, so they’ve seen the main “touristy” attractions.
Goal
Farida is a classic “hipster” and loves “discovering” cities in unexpected ways. Wants to leave the city with memories, stories to tell, and good pics “for the ‘gram.”Likes feeling cultured, is budget conscious.
Walter
35 / Business Owner
Legend
Walter runs a mid-size tech company, they’re hosting this year’s corporate retreat. Lots of his international team members will be flying over.
Goal
Wants to out-do last year’s planning committee and give the team a great experience, but he doesn’t really want to shuttle coworkers around bars till 4 AM himself.Flexible budget, wants to impress.
Our Competition
Company A
Product: A seemingly endless supply of customizable walking tours to various locations in the city.
Pros: Wide assortment of tours. Host interesting events. Have been in the market for over 6 years.
Cons: Don’t do much marketing so tourists don’t know about them. Not the best website / booking experience.
Company B
Product: Bus tour (with a guide) around the city’s most famous structures, sites, and monuments.
Pros: Have a red double-decker bus, which the a universal sign for “city tour.” Good website UX.
Cons: Only available in the summer. Their tours are very “touristy” and predictable.
Company C
Product: Walking tours of the city lead by people of a specific (interesting) profession.
Pros: Local guides interested in what they’re talking about. Unique and casual.
Cons: A niche product; every potential client won’t be into the stuff they’re talking about.
Why we’re better
We have local guides who are VERY interested in whatever the subject of their tour is. Our tours are unique and varied. The “RV-esque” AntiTour bus is a more comfortable way to explore the city. We have a flexible booking structure - tickets for a group tour or the whole bus for individual tours. Our marketing is attention-grabbing, and our easy-to-use website enables hassle-free booking.
Positioning statement
we hate traditional tours so much we:
bought an rv instead of a bus
hired Local students instead of professional tour guides
will tell you about local drinks & conspiracies not about where that one battle was Fought
How are we going to do it?
product & marketing strategy
Great, we have a solid brand identity and some research. What are we selling and how will we sell it?
Our next steps were: defining our product line, preparing numbers, pitch-deck materials, and a go-to-market strategy.
Products
Partnerships
Public Relations
Tour Catalog
Street Art Review
Kazan is the hometown of Sly Dog, Rustam Qbic, Igou, and other renown street-artists and muralists. In this city tour we will…
Kazan 101 - Intro
Over 1000 years of war, peace, conflict, and culture have shaped our city and its history. This tour is meant for first-time visitors and…
Shop Local
If you like bringing souvenirs back from the cities you visit, but don’t need another t-shirt, magnet, or coffee cup with a city name on...
Soviet Architecture
As a center of culture and industrial production in the soviet union, Kazan has some of the former USSR’s most…
Gastro-Tour
The confluence of European and Asian cuisines, paired with traditional and modern takes on regional dishes make Kazan a…
Kazan Conspiracies
Aliens over the Kazan kremlin? Why is our circus building shaped like a UFO? Were there really American spies in Kazan’s…
Eco Kazan
We’ve been working hard to make our city greener. From bike rentals, tree planting activists, and vegan food production to…
Tatar Culture
Tatars are an ethnic group native to the Volga region. They mostly practice Islam, have their own language, culture, and…
Over 20 different anti-tours planned for the first 6 months
Tour Options
Group Tour Ticket
$10-40 / person
Visitors meet at a specific time, in a specific location
Pre-planned city tour that visitors chose when booking
Herbal tea, coffee, and snacks provided on the bus
Private Tour
$150-500+ / 10 people
The bus pulls up to whatever location the group requests at any time
Pre-planned city tour that visitors chose when booking (Optional: customization and/or additional tours)
Herbal tea, coffee, and snacks provided on the bus (Optional: stop for lunch or dinner)
Optional: Hire a professional photographer to capture the experience
Partnerships
Anti-Tour stops
Locations that are part of our tours. Museums, historical sites, cafes, restaurants, bars, stores.
Have a broad range of foot traffic from both locals and tourists.
Hotels & Hostels
Hotels typically provide visitors with recommendations. Luxury hotels have concierge services.
Targets tourists that don’t know anyone in the city (not staying at a friend’s house.
Tour Agencies
Create itineraries for tourists. Often serve as the first point of contact for visitors.
Are the place to find tourists who are interested in a guided experience of the city.
Go-to-market
4 weeks out
Website
Anti-Tour website and booking go live.
3 weeks out
Social Media
Start posting cool educational content about the city.
Tour Agencies
Allow partner agents’ clients to start booking Anti-Tours.
2 weeks out
Print materials
Awareness campaign via putting up posters at partner locations around the city.
1 week out
Influencer Tours
Invite local and out-of-town influencers on pre-planned tour.
Targeted Ads
Start social campaign for target audience (include booking CTA).
Lauch!
Inaugural Tour
First real Anti-Tour heads out!
How do you buy a ticket?
Branded booking website
Our targeted ad hit…right on target, we’ve got a lead! When that potential customer opens the AntiTour website they should see continuity in the branding, find all of the information they could possibly need, and be able to buy a ticket (or book a private tour) as easily as possible.
What information are customers looking for?
What is the quickest path to purchasing?
Customer (User) Journey Map
What is the user doing, seeing, feeling, and interacting with at every point in their experience with Anti-Tour?
User: Farida, 23, student, is visiting the city over the weekend with her girlfriend
Website Structure
How should information on the Anti-Tour website be structured? We want pages to have clear purposes and a logical connection to each other.
Page Structure (Initial wireframes)
A / B / C Tests
We tested a few versions of the tour layout on the landing (home) page to decide which one should be included in the final page design.
64% CTR (excluding bounced traffic)
20% more time spent looking at section 70.5% CTR (excluding bounced traffic)
61.8% CTR (excluding bounced traffic)
Thanks for anti-touring with us!
Results
The founder of Anti-Tour had a few other projects going on and decided to focus on them, so the company never launched the way we planned it. Creating a start-up case from scratch was still an enriching experience. The “bootstrapping” skills I learned from this case have helped me immensely when deciding on MVP releases, doing user research, and launching quickly.
