Reflections

I learned more about the overall process of finding an untapped need and making it into a product. In the majority of my marketing classes, the focus was placed on making a product and then marketing it to the consumer. I always sort of looked at this as manipulating the consumer into thinking that they need your product. This method seems like product pushing. The method we discussed in class while doing the project seems a lot more moral. It seems more like product pulling. If an item was invented around my personality that would make my life easier around the house, I would for sure purchase it. This method is more human centered than the method of marketing I am used to. I am glad marketing is moving in this direction. I do not want advertisements telling me that I need something. I do not like labels. Besides t-shirts, none of my clothes have writing on them. I do not want someone to know where I shop; I just want something that looks nice. Taking the time to develop a persona and find an untapped desire makes the labels less necessary. If this is done correctly, you are essentially developing an item that will sell itself without a big need for constant advertisement. The product would only need advertisement to get the word out, not to manipulate someone into making a purchase. The project gave me a much better insight into finding a need and building a product around it. Our group initially came up with an idea the first meeting because that is what we were conditioned to do. Of course, Professor Walls reprimanded us because that is not the point of this project. The project updates and feedback practically handed us the idea we used. Instead of creating something arbitrary, we developed something useful that I truly believe every bathroom of an elderly person should buy. The process made me understand that we have to fit a product to a need, not try to create a need around a product.
I really liked the expanded research methods that we used. I am a marketing minor, so I have not taken the Marketing Research class. This was the first time I had been exposed to certain research methods and how hard it is to find needs. I really liked the idea of looking to someone who does not use the product to find information. When the speaker came in and told us that she interviewed a toothless man when trying to market toothbrushes, I found the idea novel. We tried to incorporate this idea in our project by interviewing someone who has cared for the elderly and got some great feedback. I had also never realized the importance of catching someone off guard to find their true needs. In class, we discussed the perils of doing in-home interviews because everyone cleans up their space. If I were interviewed by a company, I feel like I would be honest about my shortcomings in eating habits, cleanliness, etc because I would never see the interviewer again. I do not inherently have a need to impress people about these things. When I thought about it more, I suppose I would cover-up really embarrassing habits that I have or just blatantly lie about them, especially if I was being interviewed with someone that I know in the room. I liked the tactics of separating a husband and a wife when interviewing. The discussion leading into the research portion of the project made me realize how rare these insightful nuggets of information truly are. The interviewer has to provide the right settings and set the right tone to get the right information. The portion on research was one my favorite parts of the class because it gave me a much better understanding of the marketing process. I think actually taking the time to do good research had a very positive influence on our project outcome.
When we were first presented the project I was not optimistic. I decided to minor in marketing because I thought it was interesting, like a live version of Freakonomics. To date all of my marketing projects have run together. I would rather read the material and listen to lectures with lots of examples. I was surprised that I did enjoy this project. I saw the necessity of making a project to expand on the ideas we learned because the process was so different from what I have been exposed to. The new process yielded a product that I was proud of. I usually think that I would never buy a majority of the products presented. These products seemed legitimate for their persona. Although our product was boring, it is perfect for our market. If we had not done the process of developing a persona, designing the research, developing a prototype, and getting feedback for the prototype, our group presentation would have been vastly different. We would not have taken the time to develop and cultivate an idea. We would have gone straight to a product that I would not have been as proud of. I thought the spacing of the product updates was good; it never seemed like too much all at once. I think a lot of college projects I have done would have benefited from more feedback. I appreciate that Professor Walls took the time to give us helpful feedback, especially on a project that was pretty open-ended. The groups were a nice size, enough for diversity of ideas, but not so many members that scheduling and social loafing would become a problem. My teammates were great. We worked together well and had no major disagreements. Everyone had constructive input and diverse ideas. I think the project was a valuable experience. We learned the material better by actually doing it instead of being tested over it.