Blog 5

First word: Pillow

A pillow is a soft, squishy, feathery object that one rests his or her head on and is on a bed. This helps people sleep better and more comfortably. It is also provides head and back support. A synonym for pillow is cushion. Cushions are used more for couches and other chairs in the living room and other places in a home.

Second Word: Light Bulb

A light bulb produces light through a lamp or ceiling fan. It allows people to study late into the night. The invention of the light bulb is one of the most important and useful inventions of all time. Without it, people would have to go to sleep as soon as it got dark (and would be using their pillows).

Product Ideas:

1) Pillow in the shape of a light bulb

2) Pillow that is glow-in-the-dark

3) Pillow that will light up when you press a button

4) Pillow that could be an alarm clock flashing light to wake you up

5) Light bulb that the softness of a pillow

6) Reading light attached to a pillow

7) Small pillow that is also a light on one end that can be used as a flashlight for hiking and camping trips

8) Front and back car lights are inside thick pillows (less force if there is a wreck)

9) For student driving safety school, the walls could be padded for safety as well as turn the colors (green, red, and yellow) to signal different street lights.

10) Pillow that has a built in LCD screen on back side if you want to watch a movie. You simply flip it over when you are ready to sleep!

11) Pillow that has a little light attached that flashes every few minutes so you never loose you’re pillow-especially on camping trips.

12) Cushion you sit on for the car the glows around the edge. This could be handy so you could see inside your car if it is nighttime and you drop something.

There are a few products there that seem as though they could be viable options. One of them is the most basic- a pillow that is in the shape of a light bulb. This most likely already exists since there are pillows in just about every shape possible.

Another product idea that seems possible is a pillow that glows in the dark. This could possibly already exist too. There are many things that are glow in the dark-mainly for kids. This product would go great in a play room for kids.

My personal favorite product on the list is the pillow that has a reading light attached. I think that a minor alteration would need to be made so that one can take the light on and off. There would be a small attachment that would stay on the pillow at all times, and the light could clip on and off depending on whether you want to read or sleep. This could be a great product for traveling and/or in the home.

Another favorite of mine is the pillow that has a light at the end. This could be great for a flashlight during camping and backpacking trips. When it is time for bed, just click the small button and one would go to bed.

Blog 4- Smartphones

The smartphone has been a world wonder for the past few years; everyone was in awe when it first came out. Now, if you look around, it seems like every one of your friends has some version of a smartphone. I recently went through the process of buying a Smartphone myself; during that time, I began to question why I truly needed one as well as noticed the dependency my generation now has on the smartphone. It is interesting for me to think about the way they have impacted the world and the effect they have on everything around us. I think it would be really fascinating to research and learn more about the insights used to make the first iPhone, the impact they have on society, the future expectations of the market and finally, my belief of the future trends.

I believe that analyzing the development of the iPhone will uncover key customer insights that Apple used when designing it. It is evident that Apple knows what they are doing. Their success is a declaration in itself. Somehow their products appeal to consumers in such a way that it becomes more of an obsession rather than simply a consumer good. It would be really interesting to discover the steps they took in order to develop such a product that is so appealing to their market. The insights that Apple uncovered are also key in the designing of their product. Although it is in a simplistic form, the most appealing aspect of the iPhone is the easy and user-friendly design. I believe that the simplicity instilled in the product is what has attracted an even wider target market than perhaps the normal cell phone market.

Not too long after the iPhone was released, the points of difference became points of parity as new competition entered the market. These competitors needed specific insights of the consumers in order to target those select few that did not want an iPhone. This could be either Apple-haters (the rare few that exist), those looking for a somewhat cheaper and/or unique option or the tech-savvy people who want the option to be more involved and be able to personalize their phone.

An important part the analysis is the trends for the smartphones, however, it is difficult to predict such a rapidly changing industry. I believe that in the future, everyone will own a smartphone and other phones will become almost non-existent. In one article, it even goes as far as to say that “mobile devices will increasingly be worn either like watches or glasses or even woven into fabrics as an integral part of clothing” (Article1). As the technology does make it possible for smartphones to appear in other forms, I’m sure it will be tested on the market. However, I am not entirely sure about the non-existence of hand-held devices altogether. On the other hand, I do believe that more improvements and additions will be made to make the phones even more powerful that ever before. In another article, it states that the smartphones will soon carry RFID and could be used as a person’s credit card (Article 2).

Although this paper topic is an important theme in the lives of consumers today, there are still many unanswered questions. I believe that the world has become obsessed with smartphones- is this valid or is it only true for my generation? I also believe that consumers are becoming more and more dependent on having information ready at hand. Does this affect the way we run our lives? The way society interacts? Will the world of communication look completely different in 50 years (virtual)? There is much investigation needed for this topic, but perhaps through further insights I will be able to make my thoughts more clearly defined.

Overall, my goal in this paper is to better understand how important customer insights truly are. By analyzing the development of the first iPhone, I can better lay out the impact they have had on the world today, more specifically my generation. Finally, I will examine the predicted trends of the smartphones and discuss where I believe they will take us in the future.

Article 1- http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.105.6184&rep=rep1&type=pdf.

Article 2- http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/smartphones-the-credit-cards-of-the-future-2100471.html

Blog 3

I agree with Dr. Walls when he stated that creating an experience is important for the brand value in that the consumer becomes more intimately tied to the brand. Not only there are many factors that go into creating an experience, but also there are several modes of providing it. The factors that create an experience are sense, feel, think, act, and relate; the modes of providing the experience are through people, web sites and electronic media, communications, visual/verbal identity and signage, product presence, co-branding, and spatial environments.

There were several good examples from class that I believe exemplify various factors of an experience. For instance, the apple store caters to the customer’s senses. Everything in the store is clean lines, white, very modern. It is a very unique experience and fun to go in and try out the products. Allowing the sense of touch in the store, by customers trying out the products provided on display, I believe people are more willing to buy something they can see first hand before purchasing. Starbucks also sets up their stores as an experience more so than a quick coffee to-go. They cater to the customer’s senses by creating a comfortable atmosphere for people to sit and chat. Also, through the Harley Davidson website, they try to relate to their target market by showing images of the kind of people who they wish to be, or like to be when they are using the product.

I also think Target does a really good job creating experiences, particularly through their advertisements on television. Their commercials are so colorful and vivid that they not only entertain the viewer but they always capture their attention, as well as senses, with the bright colors and the abstractness. However, I do agree with Dr. Walls that their latest advertising campaigns have lost some of the fun, happy-go-lucky and quirky attitude. I believe they attempted to be more edgy and sleek, but that is not their style. They achieved the point of having low price with high fashion; however, it was not the same attitude that captured consumer’s attention in the first place.  

A few examples that I personally believe create an experience are IKEA and the Animal Cruelty commercial. IKEA, like many other stores, caters to the customers’ senses through their unique store design. They do so by allowing the entire family to ‘experience’ and see first hand the furniture as they make their way through the ‘maze’ within the store. Also, the commercial for the Animal Cruelty, with Sarah McLachlan, inspires the feel experience, but in an extreme manner. For many people, primarily women, the commercial evokes tears of sadness and heart-felt concern for the poor animals. I personally hate the commercial because of the intensity of emotion that it brings. I believe that it is too sad and depressing to be allowed on public television.

There is one example of an experience that I connect with the most: the iPod commercial. The commercial simply shows various people listening to their iPod and dancing along with it. As soon as you watch the commercial, it invokes good feelings and automatically puts you in a good mood. Not only is the song catchy, but it reminds you of when you are listening to your favorite songs and want nothing more than to ‘jam out’, dance, and sing to them. In this aspect, Apple relates to the consumers who would want this product. The commercial is also very colorful with vivid images that appear to the consumers’ senses. It also inspires one to dance along with the video or perhaps re-enact the commercial at a later time.

After further thinking about this commercial, I realized why I love it so much. Along with millions of other people, I connect with this commercial because it provides such a strong personal experience. It does so by incorporating 4 out of the 5 types of experiences. It truly does create a holistic experience. The various effects from the commercial that I had mentioned above are the types of experiences: sense, feel, act, and relate. Not only does Apple apply these four in this commercial, but they are also synergetic and co-exist for one central theme- customer experience. They make the consumer feel good about themselves. They make the consumer want to get up and dance. They make the consumer feel as though they are a part of the actual commercial in the moment. They make the consumer feel like the commercial was designed specifically for them. So, as always, well done Apple for knowing how to cater and appeal to the consumers. They truly have outstanding insights on what consumers’ actual wants and needs.

Blog 2

When I begin to consider the different classifications of personas, I am in the category of the fit and stylish student (persona from the Cohorts Vignette); however, only in a general sense. There are many things that are different about me than the average female in this category. In other words, I would label myself in a distinct category: female students’ approaching the real world.

The demographics of this persona include an age range of 20-25 years old female college students. They are about to graduate and will be soon facing important decisions that could shape the rest of their life. The majority of the women are not married but could potentially be in a serious relationship that could affect the geographic decisions. There are no children involved as well. Income level is very minimal considering they maintain part-time jobs to get them through college.

For a woman in this category, this is the most pivotal time in which life decisions are being made. The females in this category are about to graduate from college and will soon decide what their next step is. They have many interests and are savvy in the latest technology. While they are considering which jobs may suite them best, they also have loved learning and being a student.

Their multitude of interests has allowed them many choices for the next phase of their life. Essentially, the questions being asked are: should she look into further schooling after graduation? Should she pursue a career, and if so, what career path would she like to go into? Should she take advantage of the opportunity of her youth and travel the world? Finally, should she consider settling down, building a foundation and potentially marrying?

A primary characteristic of her personality is planning. She likes to know her plans well in advance as well as make as many schedules and lists for them as possible. The inability to determine her life makes planning difficult. Likewise, the unrecognizable future makes her fearful of the day that any major distinct plans will end, in other words, graduation day.

There are many interests and concerns that she has in common with the fit and stylish student. This would include “Career-Oriented Activities, Self-Improvement,” and the new technology such as iPod, laptops, etc (Cohorts). She also enjoys the camping and hiking and snow skiing. The two sets of women are both going through stress of ending school and planning for the future.

However, an important difference between the two is fashion and working out. The new persona is not uptight about the latest fashions, nor does she enjoy shopping. Occasionally she will go shopping when she is in the mood, but that is rare. Likewise, she does not desire to have the latest and greatest article of clothing immediately. Also, the new persona does not enjoy working out. A huge trend in today’s college females is to run marathons and get in ‘perfect’ shape. As with fashion, the girl in the new persona does not worry herself with the latest trends. She does what she wants and what she enjoys-and she does not enjoy running. To obtain a decent amount of exercise, she dances at a studio and hikes through trails around town.

Within the new persona, female students approaching the real world, other interests include traveling, mission trips and religion, trying to live a good conservative life. She also enjoys all movies, music, concerts and musicals.

Depending on the data necessary for market research, there would probably be more personas along with mine to fit into the target market of a product (Persona Lifecycle pg 49). I will admit also that I am very different from a lot of girls my age and in my stage of life. I am one of the few women that do not worry obsessively about weight, fitness, fashion, etc. It is possible that my persona is an outlier in important data and could potentially skew a general perception of a target market. Nevertheless, it is still essential to gather and recognize all types of personas for market research in order to better understand the consumers as a whole.

Blog 1

I am really interested in the idea of integrating design philosophy into marketing. According to the guest lecture, Jeff Mulhausen, industrial design is the “service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit.” I believe the concept correlates immensely with the aspect of customer insights. The idea of customer insights is a “fresh and not-yet-obvious understanding of customers that can become the basis for competitive advantage” (from article- “Insights into Customer Insights”). It is the knowledge of consumer wants and needs, even if they are unaware of it. This idea is pivotal in the competitive world. To me, a key factor in good marketing is knowing your consumers and knowing what they want in order to build a relationship with them. To strengthen their relationship, however, companies need to better understand the feelings and needs of consumers. Therefore, the concept of integrating the insights of consumers into the design of the product is ingenious. Not only will the company understand the true needs of the consumer, but they will also be able to put those needs into action, thereby bringing about the perfect product for consumers.

Laptop for Third-World Countries

An interesting characteristic of design theory presented by Jeff Mulhausen is the five philosophies that drive today. 1) Design for the whole system, not just for the consumers. An example he gave is Car2Go. The smart car is not only a new car line, but it helps the city transportation problem. 2) Design for the majority. Jeff stated that we normally cater to “top 10% of the population.” The Life straw is a good example he gave that is beneficial for a different segment of people in less developed areas that need clean drinking water. 3) Design to empower; in other words, provide products that can help better people’s lives. I believe that the laptop that was invented for third world countries is a brilliant initiative. The research team designed a laptop as economical as possible in order to enhance children’s education in developing countries. 4) Universal Design- a design “usable and effective for everyone.” The iPod, for instance, is set up so that anyone can figure out how to use it. 5) Design for simplicity-the idea of focusing on perfecting one main thing. An example from Jeff is the Flip Camera. Instead adding a million features, the camera catered to the world’s needs. I believe that all the ideas about design could help marketing practices by providing more products that fit the consumers.

I really like the concept of making a product that can improve the life of the consumer and the world. Both Jeff and Dr. Walls noted that it is important to make products that are beneficial and do not merely add more unnecessary things to someone’s life. The world today, and particularly the U.S., is presented with so many choices in even the smallest of things, such as what soap to buy. I believe it is imperative that companies begin focusing on the effect a product can have on the world. Fortunately, the whole idea behind design philosophy is to improve a product and make it more beneficial for everyone. By placing more emphasis on the design aspect, companies can begin to narrow down their products to become more simplistic, less wasteful and more beneficial.

A somewhat conflicting idea is the design for the majority of the population. Nevertheless, the majority of the products made cater to only 10% of the world’s population, and that is where the most money is made and where the new technology takes us. I don’t believe that companies should completely abandon that market segment because I feel that it helps us grow more in product development. However, companies can easily get caught up in making the most money possible through the 10%. I agree with Jeff’s statement that a business’s success will soon be as equally important as the social benefit it provides. While business success and social benefit had been separate at one point in time, the two will soon become interchangeable. It is a growing trend as well a possible necessity in the future of the market. Likewise, the growing technology has the ability to produce products that can benefit the rest of the population. If the majority of the world’s population is in poverty, it would be unsustainable if companies didn’t use their abilities to the benefit of society.

Dieter Rams product-left,
Apple product-right

One thing I found interesting from both the reading and the lecture: Apple was mentioned to be one of the company’s most successful in design and customer insights. Apple has constantly held a competitive advantage by coming out with products that have ‘wowed’ consumers. As Dr. Walls stated, you know a product is brilliant when people ask themselves, ‘why have they not thought of this before?’ Apple is always one of the first companies to think of products and has taken leaping strides in technology advancement. They have studied the market carefully to discover the true wants and needs of consumers. It is evident in the creative design of their products that they cater to the consumers. Among the philosophies mentioned earlier, they are loyal to the universal design and the design for simplicity. Apple products do not contain an instruction manual because the product is designed in a user-friendly fashion that anyone should be able to figure out. Likewise, the design of the products is simplistic and basic-exactly what consumers want and need. The idea of simplicity is based off of the works from the designer Dieter Rams. One can even see the similarities between the products from the two.

First Blog

This is my first time to blog. We'll see how things go!