This week in class we talked a lot about the market place and how to inform the public of our product and ensure that we have a successful marketing plan. One of the entrepreneur professors/Baker Institute members came to talk to us about how to present our information to engage our audience and make them want to participate even more!
Some important things that we have to consider as a group are our stakeholders and their motivation as well as ways to validate our product to increase our credibility.
Our project has a few stakeholders with a lot invested in us. They include, but aren’t limited to: the farmers, the manufacture workers, the importers, the street vendors, and Lehigh University. Each of these stakeholders have different motivations and investments into our product. The farmers want to expand their crop production and when our group did the math, it was extremely beneficial and profitable for farmers to produce and sell sweet potatoes compared to the other products such as corn. The manufacture workers/chiefs will be employed by men and maybe women who need extra income to provide for their family while gaining new skills. The importers will have a share in the company because they are actually bringing in and distributing the materials that can’t be naturally produced in country; such as the vitamin supplements. The street vendors have, I would argue, the largest share in the company. They will have this new product to sell and they will hopefully be able to make more of a profit. Lastly, another stakeholder is Lehigh University. They are funding their students to produce such an impactful product and then sending them to the country to gain more in field experience and data to make the product even better. They have such a huge contribution in this product and are definitely a large stakeholder.
One way that we will increase our credibility throughout the semester is definitely doing more tests with our muffins to provide more data. Generally, what I find is people become more comfortable with a product if they have data that backs it up with facts showing why it is the best product. We will provide data on how long the muffins last, when they expire, the moisture content and how long that lasts, the shelf life, etc. All of this information we will collect will help to provide credibility with our product and show it isn’t just something we threw together; but rather that we spent time and effort ensuring that the product is the best it can be. Another way that we will add to the credibility is by contacting Sensory doctors to discuss with them our product. We want to make sure that kids will want to eat our product; that the consistency will be something that the kids will enjoy and that it appeals to their overall senses. Additionally, we will continue talking to nutritionalists to make sure that our product is not only the most marketable, it’s the most nutritional. Our goal for this product is to ensure it’s the best product to help these children out. We want to work with these different professionals and organizations because what we are marketing to the kids has to be the best; we don’t want to give something to the kids if it’s just going to cause more damage. As a result of this goal, we will naturally increase our product’s validity and credibility.
good job with all three blog posts!