Blog 8 – Project Reflection

This project really drove home the importance of relationships in team building. Developing a strong, congenial rapport between team members early in the semester made a significant difference in the way that our group went about the project. It helped us better communicate our strengths as well as our needs, and increased communication as a whole. It also made the time spent working on this project much more enjoyable.

I built a much stronger understanding of developing and carrying out research though this project. It is an area that I was initially very uncertain about. Going through the process of coming up with key questions, defining research methods that focused in on those questions, and carrying out the research, helped me gain a much better understanding of this concept. I also had the opportunity to learn through observation. Some of my teammates were extremely good at laddering and gaining a deep understanding of the participants. Watching and listening to them helped me understand what a high quality interview looked like, and helped teach me how to model it.

There was no aspect of the project that stands out to me as not being of value. However, if I could make one change to the course it would be to further integrate the readings into in class discussions, blog posts, or some other aspect of the course. They were all very interesting, but I found it hard to make time to read them when there were other more concrete deadlines and deliverables for the class.

Customer insights is an area that I have been interested in since I began my marketing degree, so I was very excited about this project when I first learned about it. However, the ambiguity of the requirements made me somewhat uncomfortable. Having in class work time to bounce ideas off of Professor Walls and Ryan made a significant difference in our comfort level with the assignment as well as with the outcome of the project itself. Collaborating with a group on this project made it much more enjoyable, and helped to generate creativity and insights. However, I do feel that a smaller group size could have been more efficient. After choosing our persona, whom all of the girls immediately wanted to date, we began to worry that there would be no solution for this person. My ‘Aha!’ moment finally came when my group developed a strong problem statement with the help of Professor Walls. It finally felt more concrete, and we could see potential solutions to our persona’s problems. From there, developing a prototype was fairly straightforward. Finishing the project was exhausting, but the end result was worth it. I feel that the video format we chose helped give our audience a strong sense of our persona’s identity.

Blog 5 - Visualizing Insights

Source: Mintel - Teen and Tween Beauty Personal Care, August 2013
 https://courses.utexas.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-6079812-dt-content-rid-27649950_1/courses/2013_fall_05105_MKT_372/Report%20Teen%20Tween%20Beauty%20Personal%20Care%20Consumer%20Mintel%20Issues_and_Insights.pdf

Blog 4 - Business Model Analysis Report

C3 Presents is an independent event planning and production company based here in Austin, Texas. In addition to producing large-scale music events like Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza, they also book and promote over 800 smaller music shows across the U.S., put on other special events, and provide artist management services (“C3 Presents”). C3 is positioned as a nimble, multi-capability company with a positive and easy-going culture with an Austin-y vibe. C3’s status as an independent company contributes to this positioning, which stands in contrast to the corporate nature of one of its main competitors, publicly traded Live Nation (“ReferenceUSA”).

As a fan of music festivals, I’ve known about C3 for some time, but in a fairly peripheral way. It seems that C3’s events are promoted much more prominently than the company itself. I became much more aware of them in the last few months as I began my full-time job search. C3 interests me because my ideal job would integrate my academic interests with my personal interests. Music, and the events that go with it, provide great experiences. It would be extremely fulfilling to perform a marketing or event-planning role that contributes to making these events happen.

In addition to providing a wide array of services, they also serve a number of customer segments.

College students are a significant customer segment for C3. These individuals tend to be part of the early adopters and early majority in terms of music consumption. They also tend to be fairly tech savvy. An important aspect of this segment is that they are extremely social and spend a large amount of time with their peers. College is one of the few times that people spend a concentrated amount of time around people their own age.  This social and group dynamic, combined with frequent use of technology and social networks, can be leveraged to create significant value.

While many college students complain about a shortage of funds, they seem to have significant purchasing power. According to a study by CruxResearch, the nearly 22 million students attending college this year wield $117 billion in discretionary funds (“Re:fuel”). By connecting strongly with this customer segment now, C3 has the opportunity to build valuable relationships with these individuals as they graduate and transition into other segments.

Hipster Yuppies, or young urban professionals with an interest in non-mainstream music, are another key segment. This kind of individual can be thought of as the prototypical Austinite. They tend to be upwardly mobile and have a significant amount of disposable income. They favor indie, punk, electronic, and underground music, which they might listen to at places like Emo’s or Stubb’s (“C3 Presents”). Additionally, they seek to be at the forefront of new music and are extremely loyal to artists that resonate with them. The majority of this segment was in college at some point. The key value of this market is their loyalty as fans, and their financial ability to put money behind it.

Another important customer segment are Empty Nesters. This group has, with varying degrees of recency, come into significantly more free time and is eager to take advantage of this newfound freedom.  They tend to reside in a stage of financial stability and security. Empty nesters seek out events like The Austin Food and Wine Festival and attend events like Austin City Limits for the popular bands of their generation. The value in this segment is similar to that of the ‘Hipster Yuppies’, in the sense that they are financially stable and can afford to spend money on entertainment. However, a key difference is the types of events that they seek out. The empty nester segment holds a great deal of opportunity for marketers in the entertainment industry as a result of the shift in these individuals’ time obligations.

References

C3 Presents. (n.d.). C3 Presents. Retrieved October 8, 2013, from http://www.c3presents.com/

ReferenceUSA. (n.d.). ReferenceUSA - Detail. Retrieved October 8, 2013, from ReferenceUSA website: http://www.referenceusa.com.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/UsBusiness/Detail/Tagged/9367469ba8944a6cbda915e11242301d?recordId=997959986

Re:fuel. (2012). Campus life back in session; College students arrive confident, smarter and with climbing consumer spending power [Press release].

Blog 3 - Generative Research

Close To Me

Inner Circle

People & Family

My support network makes all the difference in my life. My family and friends keep me grounded. People are wired to seek connection, and the quality of those relationships is one of the strongest predictors of happiness.

iPhone

I tend to feel like a piece of me is missing when I don’t have my phone on me. It keeps me organized and connected to the people around me. Also, it’s small enough that it’s extremely portable, so it’s easy to keep at an arm’s length at all times.

Glasses & Contacts

I would be so lost without my glasses or contacts…literally.

Energy needs – Sleep, Coffee, Exercise

A decent portion of my inner circle revolves around energy. I sleep to refresh, and supplement with coffee when I don’t get enough ‘Z’s” (which is all too often). I also like to stay active and exercise. It keeps my endorphins up, and I sometimes feel lethargic if I go too long without it.

Outer Circle

Planner

My planner is my life. It has all of my due dates, events, and reminders in it - I’m a constant note taker.

MacBook

My computer is definitely an important item, but because I can do so much with my phone, my Mac doesn’t quite reach the inner circle of importance. At the same time, I feel much more on top of things when I have my computer to use.

Music

Life would be very dull without music. Usually I listen to it in the background of what I’m doing, it creates a sort of life soundtrack. I usually listen to music that reflects my mood, or to certain genres in an attempt to change how I’m feeling.

Digital Ecosystem

Reddit is probably my primary source of news, information, updates, and other content. I’m subscribed to subreddits that range from world news and business to humor and music. I know that I can always count on Reddit to give me a wide snapshot of what is going around me.  It also keeps the information that I receive varied, and breaks up more serious topics with funny memes or stories.

Facebook is integral to how I receive information. I am connected to Facebook for a significant portion of my day – I receive updates on my phone, and it’s usually running in the background on my computer. Most of the news I get comes from peoples’ statuses and article postings. Facebook is definitely not the best way to get news, but it functions as a good source of personally relevant information because of how frequently I use it to keep in contact with people. 

In addition to Reddit and Facebook, I keep my homepage set to the New York Times website. I usually scan the page when I first open it, and read articles that catch my attention if I have the time. I don’t usually watch TV, so this helps keep me more attuned to what’s going on in the world.

Typical Weekday

When I wake up, I usually check the weather so that I know how to dress and if I need to bring an umbrella with me. The first time that I check my computer is when I sit down in my first class. My homepage, the New York Times, is the first page I see, but I only have a few minutes so I scan the first page and make a mental note of any articles I want to read later.  During my classes, when I’m going to the gym, or cooking, my information search tends to be relevant to my task at hand. I look up recipes when I’m thinking about making dinner, and pull up definitions or related articles to class topics. Sometimes I get off track, but this is generally the case. I access the highest number of information categories during my down time – my break for lunch, and during the evenings when I am working on homework, finding distractions from my homework, and catching up with the people in my life.

Blog 2 - Journey Map

A Junior in the McCombs School of Business, Hailey is a bright student with a warm and bubby personality. She is an only child from Houston who loves reading, experiencing the great city of Austin, and traveling the globe. She is currently seeking a degree in Management Information Systems with a minor in Computer Science.

Hailey began thinking about college majors during her sophomore year of High School. She briefly considered a career in law, but ruled it out quickly after a dull experience volunteering at a law office specializing in claims and litigation. Her search for a major resumed at the beginning of senior year, as college applications grew close.

During this ‘what if?’ phase, Hailey went through a process of divergent thinking, where numerous majors pulled at her attention. She had always been interested in business, and her father encouraged her to pursue the subject. Architecture was intriguing, as was communications. However, there were also paths that she knew with certainty that she did not want to follow. Science and engineering are two such areas that she ruled out with ease. Growing up with a mother who was a biologist and a father who worked as an engineer on oilrigs, she knew from second-hand experience that these careers were unappealing.

At the time that Hailey was filling out college applications, she was only moderately confident in her choice of a major, but she knew that she really wanted to go to The University of Texas at Austin. She had narrowed the list of possible majors down to two, but was still vacillating between business and architecture. While she applied to architecture at some schools, she chose to rank the business school as her first choice of study at UT. She was concerned about getting into the university, and knew that the architecture was extremely competitive, even compared to McCombs. The rank of the UT business school also played an important role in this decision.

Once Hailey was accepted to The University of Texas at Austin, she knew that she had chosen the right school for her. She was extremely confident in her decision to study business, and knew that she would be able to find a major that she liked. However, she did not have a comprehensive understanding of all the business majors at this time. Management information systems and supply chain were completely foreign, while she knew generally about international business.

Taking the core business classes offered by the university solved this problem. In fact, when Hailey took MIS during her second semester, she fell in love with the subject, which made the decision to choose MIS as her major a simple one. She felt a sense of resonance with the subject matter, and found the integration of business and technology particularly interesting.

The next semester brought a new wave of divergent thinking on possible majors and interests. Hailey still knew that she wanted to study MIS, but really she wanted to study everything. She took a computer science class to discern if she wanted to double major in MIS and computer science. She also took an undergraduate studies class on Gothic literature and an English class on conformity to social norms in books and movies, which spurred brief consideration of an English minor before realizing that it was interesting but not very practical (During this portion of the interview, Hailey and I lamented the fact that we couldn’t be students at The University of Texas at Austin forever – there are so many classes we wish we had time to take).

Hailey found that she was very good at programming, and likened it to solving puzzles. However, after attending an information session on double majoring in the two subjects, Hailey learned that she would have to graduate a year late, or take extremely heavy course loads in order to graduate on time. Additionally, she began to realize that she liked human interaction aspect of MIS, which computer science lacked. With that in mind, Hailey chose a happy medium – a major in management information systems and a minor in computer science. She feels that this has enabled her to strengthen her technical skills and become more marketable as an MIS major.

Hailey currently feels very confident in her decision to major in management information systems and minor in computer science. She is enjoying her penultimate year at The University of Texas at Austin, and is currently in the process of looking for an internship in management information systems.