Short Parking Stories
December, 2016
Parkopedia Announces New Expansion of its Global Coverage in Asia
Parkopedia, the world’s largest parking service provider, has announced a further expansion of its global premium parking content coverage. Recognizing the importance of the Asian markets, the company has added Japan and Korea to its automotive service; giving clients an even more comprehensive coverage.
The addition of these new areas takes Parkopedia’s coverage to 75 countries with more than 100,000 off-street parking facilities in Asia alone. Collectively, it represents the world’s largest automotive grade parking information database, currently used by 14 automotive brands across Europe, the Americas and APAC.
James Wang, Managing Director China, added: “Since the opening of our Shanghai office in 2014, Parkopedia has firmly established itself as the parking services leader in China. We look forward to replicating this success across Japan and Korea; with first customers already signed up.”
Founded in 2007, Parkopedia now provides detailed information on 50 million parking spaces in 6,000 cities in 75 countries; including real-time parking space availability information in more than 1,000 cities in 30 countries.
[Source: Parkopedia]
Constructive Communication Reports on 2017 Marketing Trends Survey
Constructive Communication Inc. — a specialist in public relations and marketing communications for professional service firms and members of a variety of technical industries – has released results of its 2017 Marketing Trends Survey.
Participants in the online survey include professionals in the architecture, engineering, construction and other technical industries from across the U.S.
President Kimberly Kayler said the purpose of the survey was to identify challenges in the technical industries the firm serves – to include chemical, architecture, engineering, construction and electronics — and how the marketing sector is responding.
Its marketing survey has “identified several trends for 2017, including an emphasis on website development or updates and e-mail marketing,” Kayler said. “The results align with current studies indicating an increased need for mobile responsiveness.”
Businesses are realizing a need for more mobile-friendly websites, because half or more of web traffic is coming from mobile devices, SimilarWeb’s “State of Mobile Web U.S. 2015” reported. Likewise, Litmus software’s “Email Analytics” found that about 55% of all e-mails are now read on mobile devices.
“Marketers are responding to these changing needs with more mobile-friendly websites and e-mail communication,” Kayler said.
Findings from the survey include:
• Respondents identified shrinking profit margins (28%) and finding qualified employees (24%) as the two biggest challenges facing their companies in 2017. Other challenges include healthcare and securing business opportunities.
• About 50% of respondents named e-mail newsletters or newsletters as the most effective marketing tactic for their company in 2016. Other effective strategies are trade shows, public relations and white papers.
• 88% plan to maintain or increase marketing spending in 2017.
• In 2017, 44% plan to invest in new marketing strategies or technology such as website updates, video or marketing automation.
• The social media platforms that businesses most expect to utilize in 2017 include LinkedIn (about 90%); Twitter (about 70%); Facebook (about 60%); and YouTube (about 55%).
[Source: Constructive Communication Inc.]
TIBA Selected to Provide Systems for Houston First Project
TIBA Parking will provide parking solutions for the Houston First convention district, helping the city prepare to host the 2017 Super Bowl in February at NRG Stadium. Tens of thousands of football fans are expected for the Super Bowl, with ancillary events at Discovery Green and the GRB Convention Center.
The project was awarded to Parking Guidance Systems to install 61 lanes of TIBA PARCS equipment for the extensive properties of the convention district. TIBA was chosen for its exceptional customer experience, seamless installation and minimal maintenance requirements, the company said.
Houston First, the sister company that works hand-in-hand with the city of Houston, manages more than 10 city-owned buildings, properties, and underground and surface parking facilities.
The district encompasses the George R. Brown Convention Center, the 1,200-room Hilton Americas-Houston, the 12-acre Discovery Green park, and the Marriott Marquis Houston. The district comprises four parking garages: AVN Garage (Marriott), 1,846 spaces; AVS Garage (Hilton), 1,450 spaces; AVC Garage (Discovery Green), 667 spaces; and Toyota Tundra Garage (Toyota Center) spaces 2,478.
[Source: TIBA Parking]
Xerox Unveils Conduent’s New Global Brand Identity
Xerox announced the latest milestone in its plan to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies – unveiling the global brand identity of Conduent Inc., a new business process services company that will launch in early 2017.
“Our brand identity signifies core ideas behind our company and the value we create for our clients,” said Ashok Vemuri, CEO of Conduent following the company’s separation. “Both enterprises and governments are seeking ways to improve and modernize the way they interact with their constituents and clients.
“We are forming a company built around an unwavering focus on our clients’ needs, delivery excellence and a set of core values – all in service of creating more consistent experiences and returns for our stakeholders,” Vemuri said.
The name Conduent, he noted, is inspired by the company’s expertise in managing transactional relationships between their clients and constituents in areas such as customer care, transportation solutions, healthcare and digital payments. Like the name itself, the brand identity reflects the way Conduent will work as an extension of its clients, helping them drive loyalty, retention and customer satisfaction.
A bold typeface conveys stability and complements the symbol, while acknowledging a 30-year history supporting the crucial operations of businesses and governments. A connection between the “N” and the “T” in the typeface of “Conduent” reinforces that the constituent is at the core of the company’s business model.
The three parallelograms that make up the symbol embody several ideas about the new company.
• Collectively, they represent movement and agility, and the relationship between Conduent, its clients and their end-users.
• Individually, they represent three of its major stakeholders: clients, employees and investors.
• The arrow in the center of the design signals that Conduent helps organizations advance, transform and improve their end-constituent relationships.
The orange color scheme is unique in the global services sector and naturally conveys energy and frames the enclosed arrow.
[Sources: Xerox, Conduent]
Mercedes-Benz Extends Inrix Off-Street Parking Service in Europe and U.S.
Inrix Inc., the global leader in “connected” car services and intelligent movement, has announced that its off-street parking service is now available in the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and S-Classes in Europe and the U.S.
The company said it offers “the most accurate real-time and dynamic parking information for garage location, number of spaces, detailed rates and current occupancy levels.”
In June, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class became the first subsidiary of Daimler AG to integrate Inrix off-street parking into vehicles.
“Inrix continues to be the preferred supplier of connected car services to leading automakers,” said Andreas Hecht, its EVP and General Manager of Automotive. “The addition of Inrix off-street parking in Mercedes-Benz sedans is a testament to the caliber of our technology and data, and has cemented [the company] as the largest provider of embedded in-car parking information globally.”
[Source: Inrix Inc.]
Q Park UK Receives People’s Parking Program Accreditation
Parking provider Q-Park UK has received the People’s Parking program accreditation in 67 of its carparks. The program is specifically aimed at parking facilities that provide customers with a range of facilities and services. This will allow parkers across the UK to easily find suitable convenient parking.
People’s Parking, designed by Helen Dolphin (a Parking Today contributor), was launched earlier this year. An independent mobility consultant and a disability rights campaigner, Dolphin felt it was time for a change within the parking industry.
The key importance of the program is to drive up parking standards for customers by helping people find a carpark that meets their specific needs.
It has a number of criteria requirements — such as location and suitability for disabled people and parents with children — and additional amenities, including EV charging points. Under the program, a quality carpark also should have good signage and clear pedestrian routes that are well-lighted, clean and actively managed.
Q-Park UK says it strives for high quality that is recognized by 12 million customers. The company has developed carparks into a multi-functional areas, which include extra-wide bays, where possible, to accommodate disabled drivers to installation of EV charging points partnering with Tesla Motors.
The company also has installed “Tap & Go” parking systems, allowing customers to enter and exit the carpark by simply using their contactless payment card.
[Source: Q-Park UK]
Eaton, Cimcon Lighting Team to Bring ‘Smart City’ Solutions to Market
Power management company Eaton is collaborating with Cimcon Lighting, a global leader in intelligent, web-based wireless outdoor lighting management systems. This combines Eaton’s broad range of outdoor LED luminaires with Cimcon’s intelligent, wireless controls, sensors and software to bring powerful connected lighting solutions for “smart cities,” the company said.
“Our collaboration with Cimcon provides cities, utilities, departments of transportation, and universities with simple, easy-to-manage, interactive solutions for street lighting applications,” said Patrick Walker, VP and GM of Eaton’s Lighting Division.
“With [the companies] working together, cities gain the real-time ability to monitor and control outdoor lighting — one of the largest, most energy intensive infrastructure areas — while intelligently leveraging in-place lighting infrastructure to create a scalable wireless ecosystem that integrates with ‘smart’ grid platforms and key city services, such as public safety,” Walker said.
Eaton says it delivers a range of innovative and reliable indoor and outdoor lighting solutions, as well as controls products specifically designed to maximize performance, energy efficiency and cost savings. Its lighting solutions serve customers in the commercial, industrial, retail, institutional, residential, utility and other markets.
[Source: Eaton]
