1) Pick a segment. The segment I chose is college students at the University of Florida.
2) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them. I chose to interview three students at the University of Florida, that all live on different spots on campus. All three of these students have expressed a need for a product like the deodorant strips because they dislike sweating when they arrive to class, or they are uncomfortable walking across campus for events and showing up smelling poorly.
3) Begin with need awareness. All three of the people I interviewed said that their need occurred once they arrive at their destination. The first person I interviewed was walking to an interview, and showed up with huge sweat stains on his shirt. Not only does this look bad, but it also lowered his confidence right before the interview. The next person I interviewed walked to class from Jennings Hall and became very insecure and uncomfortable once she realized how sweaty she was. Lastly, the final person I interviewed was on her way to an exam when she realized her need. She showed up smelling poorly and sweating profusely, and it made it hard for her to concentrate on her exam. Once I asked why they don’t bring deodorant with them, they tell me that they don’t want to carry a bag with them all the time, and it’s not realistic to bring deodorant everywhere you go.
4) Move to information search. Overall, the first thing they did once becoming aware of the need was to find a travel sized perfume or deodorant. They look for bags or easy ways to carry them but they aren’t reliable. They talk to friends and family about the problem, because going to a school like UF, a lot of people have the same issue.
5) Report the findings of your research. I knew that the boundaries of this product included students at college campuses in warm climates, and Gainesville is a perfect example of this. That being said, I was not surprised to find that all 3 interviewees expressed the need for portable, dissolvable, deodorant strips.
6) Draw conclusions. Based on this assignment and the data I’ve gathered from interviews, I found that the need is greater on campuses like UF and other colleges in warm weather. This need would be easily spread through marketing because of the portability of the product. Additionally, even adults living in warm weather, or active people in cold weather, would also enjoy the product, although it may not be a bigger need. Overall, the potential for success for this product is expected to be very high.
Taylor,
ReplyDeleteBoth the need awareness and the information search are extremely high for your product idea based off your interviews. I can attest to this as I have had the need before and found ways to fix the problems. When I first moved to Florida, I would walk outside and begin to sweat profusely. In order to solve this predicament, I googled ways to fix the problem. I ever bought anti sweat spray and ended up switching to a different deodorant in the end. Had I seen your product, I probably would have given it a shot
Hey Taylor,
ReplyDeleteI feel that the awareness to this need is not as high as it should be. This idea is so innovative, that people don't realize how easily their problem of showing up sweaty everywhere could be solved. Also, the benefit of being able to keep these strips in a wallet or in a phone case as opposed to carrying around a bag all day is definitely going to catch some attention.