gustavoaroxa

[gustavoaroxa]

Just because you have an idea, does not mean it's a good one 🤷‍♂️

One of the mantras I learned in New Enterprises this semester is that the necessary and sufficient condition for a business to exist was a willing and paying customer. This basically means that it does not matter how great your idea is to you, if you cannot find a market for it, you have nothing. Some of the entrepreneurs in the reading were not presented with this mantra, I believe. That being said, let's evaluate their possible chances of (future) success.

My ranking is as goes:

Polytrack

Stave Jigsaws

Foldable wheel

Sliced Peanut Butter

1) Politrack

Though extremely niched, this product has not only proof of concept, but it already 'took over' a market (in this case, England). As far as positioning I would recommend focusing on the value added and appealing nature of extending the LTV of each horse.

2) Stave

Clearly I am not the target customer because I would NEVER spend this much money on a jigsaw puzzle. Luckily for them, there is plenty who will. I would double down on the phrase "this is a gift for people that already have everything". My only concern is that the market is extremely limited and there is not necessarily a lot of room for innovation.

3) Foldable Wheel

I can see this product being used in the next ten years but the main constraints are that not only the bike industry (as per the text) seems interested in the innovation, but also the eventual target price may be off-putting for most customers. The entrepreneur is doing a good strategy by focusing on a more niche market with car manufactorers, but he also should focus on cheaper and lighter technology.

4) Sliced Peanut Butter

No. Just no. There any so many flaws with this plan, it is hard to pick one.

the main argument as to why people would love this is: "they already do it for cheese, no?" (keep in mind that cheese that comes in these singles slices is completely abhorent and no self-respecting person should buy it. Yes, I said it.)

The main combination for PB is Jelly. If you cannot make it as seamless for the user to eat a PB&J as you would with the single slice of PB, you ruined your chances (think customer journey, usability, and having stairs rather than slides).

[gustavoaroxa]

What do wine and digital marketing have in common?

(this was supposed to be a cool gif about illusions, but I could not find a better match, apologies)

One of the promises I made myself upon joining the MBA was to become a more 'elevated' person. Thus, the obvious choice of joining the Wine Club at Sloan. First impression? No one really knows what they are talking about and just pretend to let it 'aerate' because it looks chic. Wines from Bulgaria and Italy taste almost the same (given the speicifc group palate, e.g. cabernets) and it is all about the impression and perception the brand/winery has. Fancy wines will 'taste' better, just like the reading suggested.

In the world of digital marketing, where my interest for our Lab Proposal lays, it is no different. Since the pandemic, at least in Brazil, it has become increasingly more common to sell e-courses online, using Instagram as the main sales channel. The recipe is repeated over and over: look successful, pretend to give tips on how to replicate said success, sell courses that don't actually help anyone (and are honestly just full of obvious statements), repeat, earn loads and loads of money. The banalization of the process has been prejudicial for those with a legitimate message to share. This is one of the issues with our blog, @carreirasemfrescuras. Carreira sem Frescuras (loosely translated to Career in the Raw) was born during the pandemic, with the intent of talking about professional development with a hint of humor.

Perception shapes everything in our digital world. In the online jungle of information, those first impressions are like a handshake: they better be good. So, if we want to dish out career advice that people actually care about, we've got to make sure our online presence is top-notch. We have to establish ourselves as successful in our own careers, but without necessarily bragging (which is a very fine line).

And when it comes to digital marketing, it's not just about shouting into the void and hoping someone listens. Success in this game means having real conversations that hit home with your audience. Think personalized content, genuine vibes, and stuff that actually matters to the people you're talking to. The perception may really open the door, but what will keep it really open is how the message/product delivers. If a Bourdeaux tastes awful compared to a Chillean wine, it would not hold it's fame, would it?

[gustavoaroxa]

Customer is king, pero no mucho

After reading the case about customer journey and the example it brought up about the difficulty in buying home theaters I almost had a déjà vu. SO many times the process of purchase was interrupted because the company/store simply did not think of the customer journey and how to make it as seamless as possibile.

Prime example: Amtrack's website. As an international student and, obviously, alien to the complicated rail network of the Northeast, I usually have an awful experience when buying tickets to visit New York.

contrary to a Google Flight search, where you just need to input the city name (regardless of how many airports there are in the city), on Amtrack's you need to select the specific station within the cities. That would not be an issue except for the fact that there are station combinations that do not work. For example:

In other words, Amtrak's expects all customers, regardless of how acquainted they are with rail system and overall maps of said cities (since you do not necessarily know which station would be the most convenient), to understand the right combination of stations. Complicated, no?

Thinking back to the case, they are not considering my actions and motivations as a customer. Many times I had to open a side search to understand the right station and possible right combination. This added unnecessary noise to the transaction, and refrained me from making the purchase. In the future, they need to think about these barriers and how they can remove them in order to make the process as seemingless as possible.

[gustavoaroxa]

Reflection - Corona

Corona had been extremelly successful focusing on its 'fun' and 'beach' messages through it's product in the past and it should continue to do so.

Funny enough, a similar debacle with Heineken happened in Brazil (my home country) around 10 years ago. The standard 'taste-palate' for beers in Brazil was on the lighter end, much like the american-standard beers and Corona itself. When Heineken was introduced in the market, it positioned itself as a "real-tasting beer," since it had a bitter taste. Since then, most companies (AB-Inbev included) had to adapt their production to replicate in some manner this taste, bringing to surface more bitter beer types, like IPAs.

In order to beat Heineken in its own game, Corona would have to take a page from their competitor's strategy in Brazil. By positioning itself with the “Fun, Sun, Beach” theme, it can capitalize on being different from its competitors: neither a "bitter" beer like Heineken, nor a extremely light beer like BudWeiser. Empirically, I have personally seen Corona be used as a 'starter' beer for its lighter yet refreshing taste; this could be key in targeting other subgroups, as well as helping establish its current positioning.