Creativity Objects

Let me first start out by saying that this was an interesting activity and one I have never encountered.  I'm not the most creative person ever, actually the least creative person you may know but I'll give it a shot. 


Highlighter 
Ever since I can remember I have been using highlighters for school, fun, and work.  Highlighters are fun because they make a unique color and look really cool in the dark.  I also remember that a lot of people (ravers) in High School used highlighters or glow sticks with highlighter color to "rave".  I have mainly used highlighters to well highlight.  I currently used highlighters to highlight readings and more specifically important facts in case studies, which I have had my share to read in college. People also use highlighters of different colors to differentiate importance within notes, for example pink highlighter could mean really important, while green could mean not as important. My younger sister uses highlighters to write notes to her friends and make them look extremely artsy.  People also use highlights to write on themselves weather it be a fake tattoo or a perhaps you passed out after a night out in the town and your friends decided to "shame" you with various drawings on your face or body. Personally I have also used highlighters top width to nail in a nail into my drywall, the highlighter actually worked pretty well because it has a fairly large top. So as you can see there are various uses for a highlighter but the majority of the uses to pertain to some sort of writing or highlighting writing. 


Water Bottle 

The water bottle is a very simple but unique product design that has many uses far and wide.  Lets start off with the most obvious use of a water bottle which is a plastic bottle that holds water.  Water bottles have also been used to store many items, such as the picture above illustrates.  I have seen water bottles used as piggy banks to collect coins, to store nails/bolts, and to also store wall tacs. A more interesting use that I have had with water bottles is making home made firecrackers.  What you do is take a small amount of bathroom acid pour it into the bottle and then take about 5-7 pieces of crumbled up balls of foil, you drop them into the bottle with the acid and close the lid.  I would suggest running away at this part, at least 20 feet.  The foil and the acid interact and the pressure within the bottle increases dramatically and finally explodes.  This is was a great source of entertainment when I was a younger, but don't worry I no longer do this.  Going back to using water bottles as storing, many people just store another type of liquid like alcohol. Throughout my college career putting liquor in water bottles has been the choice of underage students to sneak in alcohol at parties, football games, basketball games, and other social events.  I personally have been a innocent victim of the deceiving "clear water bottle."  One day after a boat party my friend was taking me home and he has a clear water bottle in the car and I assumed it was water, and I took a big gulp out of it and well it wasn't water but instead vodka and I almost threw up right there and then. Water bottles have also been used to hold or transport illegal drugs as seen on t.v. documentaries.  I have also seen water bottles used as pots for plants, all you have to do is cut the top portion of it off and you have a simple see through plant pot. Overall there is a wide and extensive use for the water bottle and I'm sure there are many more to ways to use it to come. 

Highlighter(s) and Water Bottles? 

I don't believe that there has been an actual market item that combines both highlighters and water bottles, but you never know.

-The first idea that came to mind was to make highlighter color water packaged within the bottle.  The water could come in all different colors pink, green, blue, orange, and purple. I think it would be very eye appealing to consumers and fun.  I'm not sure to the degree consumers would like the idea of water being a bright illuminating color versus the historical clear it is.  They might not view the water has healthy or beneficial.  On the bright side this could be a bigger winner with kids, they could view the product as new, fun, and at the same time good for them.  

-The next idea is a spin off of the first one but instead just have highlighted water bottles versus highlighting the water. This could be a bit more receptive then the first idea because you won't be affecting the water just the bottle. And again kids would like the colorful bottles as well as other age groups that find the new color bottles as cool and modern. 

-You could start selling highlighters within water bottles, but obviously there wouldn't be water in the bottle.  You could fit any amount of highlighters within the bottles as long as the bottle was big enough.  My main concern would be how would the highlighters come out of the water bottle, perhaps some alteration to the size of the cap? 

-You could make water bottles into a shape of a highlighter and marketing them like that.  Image having a 12oz highlighter in your hand with the same twist off cap (original version) and water coming out of it. There would be no alteration to the water just the bottle.  I think this idea would be pretty cool, a huge highlighter that is water. Or you could keep the same idea for the highlighter water bottle and actually have highlighted water come out of it.  Again you could have an array of colors to choose from to highlight the water.  

-Stemming from the same idea above you could make water bottles a bit smaller and just have one time use for it.  Lets say the highlighter water bottle only holds 3-5 oz. of water for a one time use.  In a sense this is like the small liquor bottles.  The only problem would be that I'm not sure how many people just want one sip of water, you would have to have multiple 3-5 oz. highlighter water bottles. 

-Vice versa why not make highlighters in the shape of a water bottle.  Obviously the water bottle size would be brought down to a substantial size. So in essence you would have a lot of water bottles that are highlighters but again without actual water.  This design would require some alteration within the bottle because it would have to hold the writing tip of the highlighter and ink inside it. 

-A more rational combination would not to actually create a new product but to bundle the products with a manufactures agreement.  Lets say every five water bottles in a 24 pack would contain a highlighter attached to it.  And for every 5 or 10 highlighters bought you get a free pack of water bottles. This is a lot more promotional based but could be a big hit during back to school for students. 

-You could make the color of the labels and caps of water bottles a highlighter color.   This would make your water bottle "pop" and stand out in the aisle. 

After a couple of days of trying to think of new ways to add, transform and create a new product with these two I have come to an end.  I think the ideas above are really unique for the most part and I really surprised myself of all the ideas I thought of.  It would be interesting to see one of these ideas in action to see if it would really work. 

Idea for Topic

In thinking about a current topic of interest in the world of Customer Experiences and Insights two topics caught my attention.  The first being CRM (Customer Relationship Management) which concentrates in building strong relationships with the consumer.  The second topic that intrigued me was Social Media and how businesses leverage this growing network of hundreds of millions of users world wide through the use of Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo! Answers, Yelp, etc.

Customer Relationship Management

  CRM in my opinion is a growing field with many implications and possibilities but how effective are CRM efforts, programs, and research?  CRM may produce unique strategies and programs in order to attract and retain customers but do they actually work and if so how is their success measured?  

            Looking at the more positive side of CRM, what are the greater opportunities that it can uncover and leverage for businesses?  For example, the intense rise of social media such as Facebook and Twitter have opened the door to many marketing opportunities and could there be a open door for CRM in this market?  I don’t see why not, you can easily inform customers of company changes, updates, and promotions and further more, gain insights about them through feedback and/or updates.  Data mining strategies and technology have been a strong anchor for the CRM process. 

Numerous of companies attempt to drive out as much data from customers as possible through tracking customers click streams on the internet, what they buy at the grocery store, and their hotel accommodation preferences at check in.  All of this information is gathered, stored, and further analyzed to attempt to better understand the customer.  But with endless amounts kilobytes of data, how exactly do you interrupt it and created a successful program to leverage what you have learn about the customer and again how are you going to measure it? 

An article by the Journal of Marketing Research Vol. 41, No.3 (Aug.,2004), pp. 293-305. Published by the American Marketing Association.  The Customer Relationship Management Process: Its Measurement and Impact on Performance, written by Werner Reinartz, Manfred Krafft, and Wayne D. Hoyer. This articles attempts to basically conceptualize and operationalize CRM processes, implementation and how effect the CRM process actual is.   The authors construct a research model to examine the effects of CRM and it’s activities with the economic performance of the business.  Their results indicate that there is an opportunity in the implementation of CRM processes, CRM doesn’t necessary work better in some industries versus others, in addition that many CRM technology deployments do not perform to expectations.  Other findings were also made about CRM in this article but not mentioned here. (Citation 1) 

Overall there is an obvious opportunity for CRM in the future and it will be interesting to see how this topic continues to grow and develop.

Social Media and Business

  Social media is arguably one of the biggest social and communication movements since the Internet.  With networking sites such as Facebook having more then 500 million users and Twitter with now over 75 million users, it is quite obvious that there are endless business and marketing opportunities.   You Tube, Blogs, and Yelp also have millions of users that share information, opinions, and various other information between each other such as videos. Not only can these colossal sites be a new stage with how businesses connect with customers but more importantly gain valuable insights from them as well.  Businesses can find out what customers likes’, dislikes, wants and needs are.  These sites also give businesses the opportunity to connect with new customers in a way they couldn’t before.

            An Article in Business Horizons Volume 53, Issue 1, January-February 2010, Pages 59-68, Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media by Andreas M. Kaplan and Michael Haenlein, give valuable insights into the world of Social Media. In the article they visit the history of social media and its grow, what social media is and what it isn’t and furthermore the opportunities and challenges of Social Media.  I included a table from the Article because it demonstrates a better understanding of the continuum of Social Media and our level of involvement and disclosure.

            

            The article continues by describing different Social Media outlets such as blogs, content communities (You Tube), networking sites (Facebook) and offers opportunities and challenges for each.  The article concludes with advice pieces for companies using Social Media and how to go about being social, basically your do’s and don’ts. (Citation 2)

            Overall companies have various opportunities in using Social Media to their advantage but there are also implications to doing so.  How exactly does a company leverage Social Media sites such as Facebook, without running into privacy barriers and possibility hurting their brand image?  Can virtual game worlds be a avenue for non gaming companies such as Wal-Mart or Target? In my opinion there is still a great deal to be uncovered in Social Media and how companies can leverage it. 

Citations: 

1. Reinartz, Werner, Manfred Krafft, and Wayne D. Hoyer. "The Customer Relationship 

     Management Process: Its Measurement and Impact on Performance ." Journal of 
     Marketing Research 41.3 (2004): 293-305. Google Scholar . Web. 10 Oct.
     2010. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/30162340?seq=10>.

2. "Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social 

     Media ." Business Horizons 53.1 (2010): 59-68. Google Scholar . Web. 10
     Oct. 2010. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/
     science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W45-4XFF2S0-1&_user=108429&_coverDate=02%2F28%2F201
     0&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=
     C000059713&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=108429&md5=ce76f1ef948821fc921ed2492e
     84fd96&searchtype=a>.

My Customer Experience

Everyone has encountered thousands of experiences with brands, retail stores, and a variety of other outlets but which experiences will actually create value for the company?  Easy, the experiences that stick with you in a positive manner and the experiences that bring you back to that company or brand. 

Before I go continue, if you have read previous blog it is true I work for H-E-B but in no way or manner is the following experience influenced by my employment there. 

About two years ago a brand new H-E-B opened in San Antonio, actually an H-E-B Plus location and I was curious about it, so I went for a visit.  As I pulled in to the parking lot I noticed that it was very clean with no trash or stray baskets all over the place, unlike Wal-Mart and this is where my experience began.  As I began walking towards the store I noticed that they had a Boars Head cart out in the front selling hot dogs and sausages, I thought to myself what  a great way to sample their product and at the same time get a quick snack in.  After the hot dog I walked into the courier, I remember thinking this place is huge and I haven’t even walked in yet.  The front lobby/courier was at least 25ft tall, a bit overwhelming and they had perfect produce items displayed on pallets.  The one thing that really caught my eye about these produce displays was that there was a cantaloupe display that had pre cut half cantaloupes available for purchase with no additional charge.  When I finally walked in there was a nice elderly woman waiting to greet me with a smile and an advertisement for the store, she made me feel very welcomed.  The first department I walked into was the produce department and the displays were eye candy, everything looked very colorful and presentational.  There were a variety of samples in the department which I fully took advantage of and I also got to try my first star fruit, it was delicious. As I continued to walk, the seafood employee got my attention with the microphone he had on and the live lobsters he was selling.  He grabbed one out of the lobster tank and held it up for me to see and hold if I wanted with a glove, it was pretty cool but I wasn’t about to pay 20 plus dollars for fish.  I had only walked about 20 feet when there was a employee in what they called a Cooking Connection area and she was actually cooking up recipes and showing customers how to cook a meal with all of the ingredients readily available for purchase, very clever idea. So again I had to help myself to some samples of what she was cooking, if I recall right it was some sort of chicken pasta.  After that I was feeling a bit full and needed to get what I came for which was a lot of cups, beer, soda, and ice.  You may have figured out that I was having a social gathering at my house that night.  But once I got to the soda isle they were all out of what I came for H-E-B 3lt. sodas, I guess one of the employees noticed me looking around for them in the isle and asked if I needed help.  I told him I was looking for 3lt HEB soda and not 5 minutes later he came back with five of them from the back receiving area and even brought a shopping basket with him so I wouldn’t have to carry them.  After picking up the rest of my shopping list I headed to the check out area, where of course they had a delicious smelling rack of Hot French bread, I couldn’t resist the smell and I stuck one in my cart.  Once at the check stand I was again greeted with a smile and a hello, in addition the cashier asked if I wanted to donate to the Food Bank in denominations of $1, $3, $5, I kindly declined. Once I checked out the cashier thanked me by my last name and I was like “how did you know…” and I remembered that I had paid with a check.  The same elderly women was at the door and wished me a good day.  I had never left any place so satisfied, surprised and appreciated.

Breaking the experience down using Strategic Experience Modules:

Sense: The first thing that appealed to my senses was sight, the cleanliness of the parking lot to how big the actual store was from the front lobby to the aisles. Second this experience did a great job in satisfying my taste buds, the store had a variety of samples and ready to eat food for purchase, and may I add every sample was delicious especially the Star fruit. Touch came into play when I got to hold the lobster, even though it didn’t smell all that great but I actually did touch everything I sampled and bought.  Smell played the biggest role when I passed by the Hot French bread, man it smelled like it was right out of the oven and probably the only reason I bought it.

Feel: The entire store atmosphere and the employees I engaged with truly made me feel appreciated and welcomed.  When the cashier thanked me by name I thought that was a great notion and not one you encounter every day, this made me feel cared for.  The elderly women at the door also made me feel appreciated and lightened up my day.

Think:  The only part of my experience that I believe touched on the think notion was when the cashier asked if I would like to donate to the Food Bank, which I thought was a nice gesture of the store to actively try to help area charities. But it didn’t make me actively appeal to my intellect.

Act: I would say the Cooking Connection did make me think about a healthy lifestyle because all of the recipes that the employee was cooking where healthy and organic.  I do believe they were attempting to promote good health and took it a step further by actually demonstrating how to cook these meals, and for the most part they didn’t seem complicated to make.

Relate: Overall this experience didn’t make me think about relating to a bigger context nor did it appeal to any kind of my personal desire for self-improvement

This overall experience in my opinion did a great job to create value for the company and more specifically the store itself. A variety of tools were used by this store to create value for themselves, and an overall total customer experience. All of one of the SEM’s were used, also including the strategic use of people (employees), product presence (produce displays), spatial environment (very spacious front lobby), and creating a strong visual/verbal identity (big colorful signage throughout the store).  This store provided an exciting environment through the use of samples, microphones for employees, and the Cooking Connection.  Now the key for this store/company is to deliver a consistent representation time and time again.  Will I be able to walk into this store six months or a year from now and experience the same thing? 

Blog 2: Personas

Personas are a very powerful marketing too and can have endless possibilities.   There is a lot to be learned about consumer lifestyles and characteristics, which can be leveraged to create successful business projects. The difficult part about personas is creating them and implementing them successfully.

Background:

Mexican/Hispanic bringing up from birth.  Mother born in Mexico, father born in Texas but his heritage is from Mexico.  I can speak both English and Spanish fluently. Low to average middle class household income, with no outside assistance income. I am a middle child with one older brother and one smaller sister, along with two older half sisters.  Straight A student in High School and didn’t participate in any sports but I did play the alto saxophone for four years. Started working at age 16 and have been working ever since, including college. I have been working for HEB for over six years and plan to continue my career with them post graduation. I am the first person in my entire family to attended a University and will be the first to hold a college degree.  I have enjoyed my time in college and will cherish the remaining time I have left in college.

Personality:

Very strong willed and independent person both in their personal life and career. Very loyal to those around me but a nuisance to those he doesn’t care for. Very friendly until you upset them but believes everyone should have a second chance. Large sense of humor, witty and sarcastic at every opportunity. Friendly and understanding, always attempting to view both sides of any argument or discrepancy. 

Demographics:

Mean Age: 22-25                                                        Median Income: 10,000-20,000

Lifestyle:

Outdoors/Recreational	Sports	Audio/Video	Home Life
Paintball	I.M. Football	I-Phone	Cooking
Swimming	Denver Broncos	Macbook	Studying
Texas Hold Em Poker	N.H.L	New technology
Tailgating	Golf	X-Box

Goals/aspirations:  

Graduate from U.T. at Austin

Obtain leadership position within a company

Pursue a MBA

Become an executive of a multi billion dollar company

C.E.O.

Overview: Hispanic Career Oriented College Young Guy Persona 

Early twenties college guy that likes to have fun, has high career goals and take school serious. A very strong-minded person that isn’t scared to voice his opinion but understands that there is an appropriate time and place for that. He is an independent and self-sufficient person, learning the value of a dollar at a young age.  Career oriented individual that is very loyal to both his job and friends.  Has a very strong social life and isn’t a stranger to tailgating, 6^th Street and college parties.  Very technology savvy and enjoys having the latest and greatest product available in the market.  A very big sport fan, attending many sporting events and never misses his favorite teams games. Tries to be as active as possible and keeps in good shape.  Loves to cook and to host events at his apartment/house.  Knows how to pick and choose battles, and graceful when they do engage in battles. Values friendships, education, and family, never forgetting the people that have helped him succeed in his personal life and career.  Have goals that are never-ending and a strong determination to succeed. 

Blog 1: Design

I have never been a person that has had the greatest artistic or design intuition or talent but after Jeff Mulhausen’s presentation on Monday, I realized that design is far more then just the actual physical design of a product but an actual experience.  Industrial design also has a rich history and evolution. The designer Dieter Rams was the designer that most interested me during the discussion of design history because he demonstrated that industrial design didn’t have to be complicated or confusing but it could be simple and still functional. Rams also demonstrated that there are many principles of good design such as, honesty, aesthetics, unobtrusive, and little design as possible.  When I first read the last principle “little design as possible” I was a bit confused because I assumed a great deal of design went into most products but Jeff offered examples of Rams’s work to help explain this. Rams designed the modern calculator format that we still use today, and the same format found on my I-Phone, I would have never guessed. Rams also design a radio, which wasn’t the most aesthetic but was simple and easy to understand and use.  Both examples demonstrate really simple and minimal design but did a great job in serving their purpose without any complication involved.

This type of design theory of “less is more” can still be seen today with products such as the Snuggie, which is just a regular blanket with arm sleeves included.  Imagine being able to take the simplest product such as a blanket and add sleeves to it and transform it into a new fad that has generated millions of dollars in profit.  Many other examples of simplicity are often found though “As Seen on T.V.” products such as the Sham Wow and the Magic Bullet.  All of these products are simple, durable, innovative and honest, following right on track with Rams principles of good design.

Another interesting point made is that we have shifted in thought process about design.  At first companies were reactive and only innovated to keep up with the competition but now it is about designing in order to improve peoples lives.  A shift from being reactive to your competitor’s actions to being proactive about what your company can improve and innovate. What we are seeing today is design that is universal, empowers, simple, and takes into account it surrounding environment. Apple is a great example of a company that has mastered design and what good design should do and look like.  Take for example their I-Pod music player, a very simple design yet a revolutionary product that transformed the industry.  The I-Pod only has one button in the middle and turning wheel around it, no instructions but yet easy to understand and use.  Following the introduction of the I-Pod many competitors rushed to create their own MP3 player, many of which had many more functions, buttons, and capabilities but all of them failed to compete effectively with the I-Pod.  We again see Apple leading the way with the school of thought of “How can we use our capabilities to improve people’s lives” by the introduction of the I-Phone. As expected the old school of thought “We need to make a new phone because our competition has one” followed with their versions of smart phone, but again were not successful in being able to compete with the I-Phone.  Apple illustrates a company that is in front the curve and a leader in simple design but still offering a product that enhances the lives of people and a product that takes into account the bigger picture.  Apple helps us fully demonstrate where design is going and how design enriches people’s lives.  

1st Blog

What's going on everyone reading my blog, this is officially my first blog of my entire life, so this should be an interesting semester.  Cheers!