Week Two Reflection

This past week in HONB 200-02, the class was asked to pinpoint certain "bugs", or issues in today's society for which we would like to see products developed to solve, or in essence, make our lives easier. The class was combined with the honors engineers, so that multiple teams could be created comprising of two or three engineers and two or three business students. These teams will then work together for the remainder of the semester to develop and advertise for each of their individual "bug" products, also known as the "SMART Project". My team will be working to develop the Bed Bug, an alarm clock that is seamlessly built into one's bed and only turns off when the owner actually leaves their bed in the morning. This product was designed to help make getting up in the morning easier for people, and to significantly decrease the potential for oversleeping.

In order for our product to have any chance of success, we will need to market and advertise for it properly. According to chapter four of the text, one way in which businesses are effective in creating successful products is to understand their competition. In this way, once a company is aware of other companies' products that are similar to their own, they are able to effectively enhance their product so that it can be set apart in comparison to the others. Due to this, it would be crucial for my SMART team to examine other alarm clocks similar to ours that have already been created, and to then develop our clock in a way in which it is significantly differentiated from the said others. Additionally, it would most likely be in our best interests to use social media as an advertising platform for our product, due to its almost overwhelming presence in today's modern world. With the use of social media, as well as other forms of the internet, we would be able to reach out to far more possible consumers than otherwise. Additionally, we will want to focus on the amount of income that the audience to which we are advertising towards typically generates. This will allow us to then determine a feasible price range for which we can sell the Bed Bug, so that it is easily affordable, but yet we are still able to earn a profit.

On Thursday, the class was shown a Shark Tank episode, in which Diamond Dallas Page asked the sharks for their investment in his company, DDP Yoga. Throughout Page's pitch, he stated how his yoga methods were unique and life changing. He demonstrated the extreme strength and flexibility that his yoga program creates for its customers, and even brought in a recently rehabilitated customer who was able to go from being unable to walk alone to running upon completing the exercises. However, while this was undoubtedly an impressive pitch for DDP Yoga, none of the sharks were willing to invest in the business. Their reasoning for which, as stated by Barbara, was that Page's company is what is regarded as a "trend business", meaning that its' success is dependent on whether or not this product is popular at certain times, as trends come and go at all times. The risk that comes along with investing in such a business is one that cannot be denied for the sharks, despite how successful the company had been doing at the time of their appearance on the show. Yet while the sharks deem the rehabilitating yoga industry to be a trend, Page confidently believes that his line of business is only on a rising trend, soon to reach its peak. Whether or not the business is indeed a dying trend remains unknown, and can only be uncovered with time.