hflorencesblog

[hflorencesblog]

Adoption and Diffusion

The new MIT Sloan Fitness and Wellness Industry Club faces the dual problem of adoption as well as limited workforce/resources. Judging Sloanies adoption and membership of the new club is task #1 for our branding project team. However, I believe one way to attain greater levels of adoption and obtain more resources for the club is to partner with a fitness industry adjacent club, the Entertainment, Media, and Sports Club (EMS). Similar to Westaim Biomedical's decision to find a partner company with greater resources to bear, Fitness and Wellness Industry Club in its nascence can partner with EMS to grow community awareness, increase membership, and build relationships with major business brands in fitness and wellness. EMS is established and has relationships with the companies the Fitness and Wellness Industry Club hopes to partner with. Why not capitalize on the "Sloanies helping Sloanies" motto? I believe this to be an easier path toward growth and club prominence than trudging alone through the Sloan ecosystem to enhance student involvement and adoption.

[hflorencesblog]

AI in CX

From my small sample size of observing my peers' perspective on AI, I believe there's a large skepticism and mistrust. People associate AI with algorithms which has become politicized in the last few election cycles, seen as preying on customer's using their own data, and biased based on the initial inputs into the algorithm. Might as well mention that Baby Boomers view AI as Skynet from the Terminator movies. Therefore, AI is experiencing an uphill climb toward gaining consumer's trust. However, using friction in the customer experience can shift perspective and garner trust. Including experience feedback pages, data tracking approval/notice pop-ups, or including "by continuing to next page you agree to [insert AI, data, algorithm, etc. data collection]." These additions provide minute increases in friction but represent an ethical design to customer relations. And, with current AI skepticism, more friction in the short-term will increase customer trust with companies and AI.

[hflorencesblog]

Prescribe & Experiment

When implementing new strategies, goods, or sales methods, I resonate with those in the HBR article who are biased to their initiative or are prone to conclude causation. It's important to analyze all factors directly impacting and adjacent to performance during the trial period to make a proper conclusion and decision. An important example that taught me this lesson was when I conducted an econometric study in undergrad on PGA Tour golfer's performance based on driving accuracy, iron accuracy, chipping, and putting. While I found that putts per round was the greatest factor in a professional golfer's success or failure, I was blind to important factors such as weather during play, off-course personal affairs, and sponsorship deals/wealth. Going back and including those in my model to some degree, I found that golfer's with the most success mostly played in big money tournaments in favorable climates, had no off-course publicized personal trauma during the period of their success, and were financially secure regardless of on-course performance. Therefore, I learned when judging outcomes it is vital to arduously study the totality of circumstances, events, and occurrences during the period being studied to ensure one has a holistic understanding in order to make the best judgement moving forward.

[hflorencesblog]

Corona

Corona is in a great position to overtake Heineken as the #1 beer importer in the United States. In border states and with younger beer drinkers, Corona is excelling largely from a rise in the areas' Hispanic population as well as the affinity of Americans for the "Made in Mexico" brand. However, to overtake Heineken in the U.S. market, Corona needs to implement a new regionally focused marketing strategy to capture significant market share in the midwest region. Instead of catering to affluent or high-end customers, Corona should focus more on blue collar workers in the midwest. Therefore, a shift from "Fun, Sun, and Beach" toward a more gritty, working man's beer campaign would attract clientele.

Additionally, Corona should place greater focus on partnering with sports stadiums, concert venues, and festivals. Not only does this increase Corona imports for each event, it's branding itself as aligned with the interest of the audience which increases consumers affinity to Corona post-event.

Corona is in an advantageous position. They have a strong brand amongst existing customers and are increasing their U.S. imports. Comparatively, Heineken, although still #1, is lagging. Their marketing strategy has hurt their brand and people's preferences are shifting toward other beers. Corona will likely eventually overtake Heineken if they remain on the same course. However, to ensure they overtake and do so more expeditiously, they must implement regional marketing strategies and focus on event/corporate sales.