Reflection: Week 2

This week in HONB 200-02, we formed the teams we will be working in for the "SMART Project" throughout the semester. Each team is comprised on 2-3 engineers and 2-3 business students. Each team is working on a separate "SMART" invention. I am part of the team that will be developing a heated steering wheel cover. The teams were formed on Tuesday, and in Thursday's class we discussed material from Chapter 4 of the textbook. Chapter 4 talks of several topics that will be particularly relevant when developing our  "SMART project". Here are some of the ways Chapter 4 relates to my specific project:

 The 5 C's of Marketing: 

The 5 C's of marketing are: company, consumer, competitors, collaborators, and context. Each of these must be understood in order to create an effective marketing plan for any given product. For example, my team thinks that our consumers are drivers who own cars that do not have a heated steering wheel; however, we must do more analysis gather data in order to really understand our consumer. Additionally, it will be important for my team to determine who our competitors are, if any.

The Power of Social Media: 

The text offers a story of how DiGiorno tried to increase sales by making its tweets stand out from the crowd. DiGiorno tweeted at other Twitter users, replied to celebrities, and made comments about live events to get their name more exposure. This is a clear example of how DiGiorno knows its customers, and my team needs to figure out how best to reach our customers. Social media might be an important medium for my team to use in order to reach our customers since we are assuming that most of our customers will be young adults, and nearly all young adults have social media.

Economic Factors: 

The most prevalent economic factor that will affect whether or not a consumer buys a product is income. disposable income is the income a consumer is left with after taxes are paid, and discretionary income is the money a consumer has after expenses. When income is high relative to the cost of living, people have more discretionary income--or more money to spend on nonessential items.

When developing our heated steering wheel, my team will need to be cautious of the cost of the product to the consumer because we want to market the product as a necessity. If the heated steering wheel is priced too high, consumers might forego the product until they have more discretionary income because they will not view it as a necessity.

In addition to discussing Chapter 4 in class on Thursday, we watched a Shark Tank video. This week's video featured a duo that was seeking $200,000 from the Sharks to move their "DDP Yoga" business to a mobile app. DDP Yoga's proposal was turned down by all of the sharks. One even told the duo "I don't like to invest in companies that are based on trends". 

Why is investing in a company based on a trend a good thing?

A social trend is a trend that relates to society's cultural values. Often times, trends that last a long time impact a large group of people. One social trend that has lasted a long time is putting small children in car seats. When car seats were first invented, many investors might have been skeptical as to whether or not this trend would last, especially since most millennial grew up without car seats or seat belts. The trend, however, has only continued to grow as more research has been conducted on the subject.

While DDP Yoga seems like a trend right now, it has the potential to transform into a long-lasting lifestyle. DDP Yoga is trying to target those consumers who suffer from back pain. Therefore, their product has the potential to reach a large audience. DDP Yoga also seems to fit especially well with the social trend of leading a healthier life style- a trend that has only become more popular as people continue to be educated about what is really in their food.

Why is investing in a company based on a trend a bad thing?  

Historically, trends are short lived because they play off cultural values and cultural values are subject to change. For example, the fashion industry is ever changing. From this point of view, not investing in DDP Yoga seems like the right decision. As of late, yoga has become more and more popular, but whose to say that the yoga trend didn't already reach its peak and that its declining now? There are a lot of unknowns in this equation and I can see why the sharks did not want to invest in DDP Yoga.