Week Fifteen!!

Well everyone, it's the final week of the semester. As sad as it is to see it go, this semester has been one of learning, creating, and building friendships that we will not forget. Also, if I had to pick, this past week would have to be my favorite one by far.

On Tuesday, we summed up what we learned about the marketing mix. This included product, place, promotion, price, competition, consumer, performance, and the environment. The class was split into six groups and each was given one or two of the pieces of the marketing mix to focus on. We then had to get up and tell the class all about our section. Below is a picture of the worksheet we used in order to focus our thoughts.

My group was given the product section. Products can be summed up as follows:

1. There are four different types-convenience (candy bar), shopping (shampoo), specialty (car), and unsought (septic services).
2. They can be positioned in many different ways in order to change the way they are perceived by customers -emotion, competition, product user, attribute, price/quality, use, and product class.
3. There are four stages in the product life cycle-introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
4. The way in which consumers adopt products also works in phases-innovators (push boundaries), early adopters (like change), early majority (followers but appreciate product), late majority (influenced by others, feel like they have to), and laggards (hate change, don't want to adopt product but have no choice).
5. The product mix includes all of the products a company offers including different product lines.
6. There are many different branding techniques including co-branding (two products together), family branding (Jack Daniels), and individual branding (Proctor and Gamble).
7. Finally, there are three different parts to a product.
1. Core-this is the benefit the product provides (a water bottle quenches thirst)
2. Tangible-the physical product (the water bottle itself, the cap, the straw)
3. Augmented-any additional/extra things that come with it (warranty, satisfaction guarantee, etc)

Overall, this exercise really helped to reinforce my understanding of all of the different aspects of a product. In general, I was able to listen to what the other groups had to say and again reinforce all of the most important things that we have learned throughout the semester.

Also on Tuesday we did the 4 P's assessment. The idea behind this assessment was to test our knowledge about the 4 P's that make up the marketing mix-product, place, promotion, and price. Although I don't think we got enough time to do the assessment, I liked the idea behind it. Doing it helped me to put what I had learned to the test, and apply it to a seemingly real situation. In doing this, I was able to see just how much I actually knew in order to make suggestions to help the company in the case.

Thursday was by far my favorite day of the semester so far. This was the day we got to present our smart project at the engineering expo. This whole semester, I had not been looking forward to the expo. However, once I got there, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. These past couple of weeks I have talked about our elevator pitch. Being able to give that pitch to the judges at the expo felt incredible. It is something that we had all been working hard on to make it right, and I think it turned out really well in the end.

All of the judges seemed to like our product and the idea behind it. Most of them said how it was a product they could use or would have used when they were in school. Additionally, every other person who came to our booth told us how great of an idea it was. The picture to the above right is what our booth looked like at the expo. We were extremely happy with the way everything turned out. Although we didn't win, being able to talk about a product we had invested so much time into was a great experience for all of us. I'm extremely thankful for this process and being able to work with the engineers throughout this semester. I have made some great new friends because of it, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for all of us!!

-Kristen

Week Fourteen

This past week was again focused on our Smart Projects. As the Expo is this coming Thursday, we have been working on the finishing stages of our project. From getting together our materials for our table at the Expo to finalizing our poster and product design, we have had much to do!

On Tuesday we met with our professor in order to discuss the last parts of the project we had to work on. One thing we talked about was creating business cards and a fact sheet about our product to present to viewers at the Expo. Our fact sheet has our value proposition as well as our buyer persona and information that is on our poster such as our target market, product features, and the value we provide. This fact sheet along with the business cards will be a great way to set our group apart from most of the other teams that are participating in the Expo.  Below is a picture of our fact sheet.

One thing that we talked about a great deal was the final design file. Over the course of the semester we have had to write memos documenting different tasks we have completed. In our final design file, we must include updated memos in order to demonstrate what we have learned throughout this process. This includes information about our customers and target market, our brand strategy, our product design, and our product definition. In general, we are really looking forward to seeing our final product and presenting it at the Expo this week.

Additionally, we got back our mind maps and blog posts that we have done since the middle of the semester. Unfortunately, as we have been given more tasks to complete over the latter half of the semester, the quality of both mind maps and blog posts have decreased. Although this is the case, I have still enjoyed being able to reflect weekly on what I have learned, even if these assignments are not my favorite to do.

Thursday's class was our final joint class with the engineers. This class was focused on two things. The first was making sure that both the engineers and the business students knew critical information about the project from the others' point of view. The other was making sure that we had our elevator pitches prepared and ready to go.

As part of the first segment of class, I learned some valuable information about our product that I didn't realize I didn't know.

1. our product was designed using SolidWorks and is being created using a laser cutter
2. inside of our product is an aruino uno which is like a mini computer, a distance sensor, a servo, and RGB LED lights
3. It was programed using labview because it can interface with the arduino and the sensor sets off the servo and LEDs when the door opens.

Overall, during the first half of the class, I learned how to explain the picture above which consists of all of the internal components of our product.

The second half of the class was for us to work on our elevator pitch. Our group came up with the idea of using a song as our pitch in order to set ourselves apart from the other groups. In general, the elevator pitch is a great way for us to introduce our product to potential investors in a short amount of time. While working on our pitch, we identified some important information that we wanted to convey.

• Our market size along with target market
• What our product does-in simple terms
• What problem it is solving
• How it is different from other products

The best way to differentiate our product is by recognizing that while other organizational solutions exist, very few, if any, combine organization with technology in order to create the easiest process for the user. Therefore, we feel as though our product can be successful in the marketplace. What I learned from listening to everyone else's pitches was:

• Use a confident, professional, bur relaxed tone
• Use the full amount of time (approx. 90 seconds) in order to get your point across
• Don't rush
• Don't use notes
• Have three important points from each section picked out as the things you need to get across while giving your pitch

Overall, Thursday's class was a very productive day for us. After facing issues with our poster throughout the week, we were happy with the way the final design came out, and ready to move on with the rest of the process. As most of the work is now done, our group is now getting excited to be able to finally display what we have been working on all semester to our fellow students as well as the Western New England Community.

Until next week!

-Kristen