Executive Summary
This report focused on a new product, Kaisr Original, which is a couch uniquely designed and made from a thin, light, airtight material. This product was specifically designed to meet the needs of travelers and tourists who may want to relax at various points during their journey. This report evaluates the innovativeness of the product, its awareness in the market, the target market, competitors, and the future of the firm. It is clear from the report that customers are thrilled with this product. They believe that it is very convenient, especially given that it can be deflated and carried as a small package that is neither bulky nor weighty. One of the main areas of concern that has been identified in this paper is the market awareness of the product.
Most of the potential customers are still unaware of its existence. This means that it is not exploiting its potential in the market fully. Another area of concern is the ease with which the product can be imitated in the market by other market rivals. It means that the firm may soon be faced with serious market competition. The paper outlines several recommendations that should be observed by the management unit of this firm to protect the sustainability of the firm. The main recommendation is that the firm should continue being creative in developing future products by adding more value to their products. Through such innovative approaches, the firm should try reducing the cost of its operations to help in lowering its products’ prices. It is also recommended that it should engage in an aggressive marketing campaign to promote its brand and product in the market.
Introduction
Kaisr Original is a highly innovative dry travel bag made from an ultra-light airtight fabric that allows its users to have a comfortable seat that can be used almost anywhere. This is a highly innovative product that can be very suitable for tourists who may want to relax in water, on the beach, in the forest, on the sand, or the rocks as long as the surface can support the bag once it is inflated. This report seeks to critically analyze the innovativeness of this product, its relevance in the market, the level of competition it faces, and how the company making it has managed to make it stand out among the rest of the products offering similar services. This report will help in determining whether the product has a future in the current competitive market and what may need to be done to improve its sales. The intended audiences include the marketing executives of this company keen on increasing the products’ sales in the market, customers interested in purchasing this product, and competitors who are interested in ensuring that their products are not overshadowed by this product.
Description of the Product
Kaisr Original is a traveling couch that is made of a very thin and light airtight fabric. When not in use, this bag is deflated and can fit into a very small journey back without consuming space. Smith says that when deflated, Kaisr Original consumes less space in a bag than a trouser (9). Its weight is less than 500 grams when packed. It means that one can easily travel with this bag anywhere without the feeling that there is a load that is carried. This makes this product particularly popular among tourists who may be traveling to various places and may need some form of a seat to relax on from time to time in varying geographical locations. When one wants to use this product, one only need to scoop the air into the bag, tighten the end and the seat is ready for use.
There is no need for an external pump because the bag is designed to retain the air in it once the other end of the bag is rolled and tightened. The bag offers its user’s ability to relax in various places, as mentioned before. Once inflated, it floats in water, which means that the user can relax on water in a pool or a lake without necessarily getting wet. It can be placed on the sand on the beach so that one can relax as he or she enjoys the beautiful view of the ocean. In the forest, it can be used to avoid sleeping on the grass. On the mountain top, this bag can be placed on a flat rock and one can relax seeing the beauty that the place has to offer. Within the compound, this bag can be used to relax instead of traditional chairs. This product can be used at any place as long as it is not pricked or placed on a hot place that can make the material melt. The figure below shows Kaisr Original while in use.
As shown in the above figure, this is a highly innovative product. It offers a service that many other products can offer in the market today. However, how it offers this service is unique. This is a small bag that can be packed alongside clothes when one is planning to travel. Its portability is very unique. The fact that it can be used virtually on any surface, including on water is also another very unique factor of the product. That is what makes it a highly innovative product that beats other existing products in terms of the value it offers its users. The company manufacturing this product, Kaisr Original Company, is a relatively small firm that is yet to gain popularity in the market. Their product is more popular than the company itself. It was founded in 2014 by a group of young travelers who were concerned by the fact that most tourists lacked good couches to relax while on the beach, mountain tops, forests, rocky areas, among other places (Desai 21). They noticed that sleeping bags were bulky and not appropriate for relaxation. They took one year to develop and present this product in the market.
Methods
In this report, the researcher had to collect data to understand this product and the view of the clients about it in the market. It was, therefore, necessary to develop a framework of collecting and analyzing data (Laureti and Hamp 122). This report used qualitative methods to collect and analyze data. The aim was to describe the product, views of the clients about the product, and how well the firm has been able to make sales since its introduction in the market. Data was collected from two main sources. The first source was the internet. The researcher went to the company’s website to understand more about this product, how it was developed, how it is used, its benefits and challenges, and other relevant facts about it.
The researcher then identified websites, other than the company’s website, that also talks about the product. This was necessary to gather unbiased information about this product and the view of the target clients about its relevance. The second source of information was the primary data that was collected from a sample of participants in this study. The researcher visited a local dealer that sells the products of this firm. This was done because the researcher could not travel to the firm’s headquarters. The local dealer was considered a reliable source because he is an employee of the firm responsible for the sale of this product in this region. The researcher also talked with a few tourists who have had an opportunity to use this product. The information gathered from these sources was valid enough to help in making decisions.
Findings
The data retrieved from both secondary and primary sources strongly suggests that Kaisr Original is a unique product that is yet to be emulated by other products in the market. It has been established that the product is not yet known to some of the potential customers. However, the few clients who have used this product noted that it is a highly innovative product that gives its users value. The information gathered from the dealer shows that the product is ahead of market competition and has a huge demand for people who have known about it. However, a lot of promotional campaigns still need to be done to popularize it in the market. Consumers are enthusiastic about this product because of the value it offers. However, some have noted that the pricing of the product, which ranges from $ 148 to $ 6499, is too expensive for a product of that nature. Customers appreciate the unique value that the product offers, but are concerned that the price is relatively high, especially when purchasing the highly valued products. The competitors in the market are yet to come up with products that can specifically match what this product offers. It has created a unique niche that other firms are yet to take advantage of, giving it an edge over its market rivals.
The innovation of this firm is way ahead of that of competitors and its technology is unique. However, this firm should be prepared to deal with the threat of stiff competition expected in the market shortly. It is not easy to patent this product, and this means that other companies can easily start producing almost similar products under different brands (Cleyn and Braet 44). Imitating this product is not difficult because of the simple concepts it uses. When this happens, the firm will experience a massive drop in its sales. It should advance this product to ensure that it is always ahead of the market competition at all times. It is also expected that shortly technology may redefine the nature of this product significantly. The firm should be keen to identify these changes happening in this industry and be ready to adopt the emerging trends to remain relevant in the market.
Recommendations and Actions Steps
From the above findings, it is clear that currently, the company has an attractive business model that gives it an edge over its market rivals. It has a product that is highly innovative and meets the needs of the target audience in a very unique manner. The product is yet to achieve massive popularity in the market because it is not known by many customers. The few clients who have used or heard about the product say that it is a perfect product for the people on tour or those traveling to remote locations. The following innovative and marketing recommendations should be observed by the firm to ensure that it remains successful in the market.
- The firm should embrace the emerging technologies and ensure that their product is continuously improved to make it unique even after similar products are introduced in the market (Martin 34).
- The marketing unit of this firm has a lot of promotional campaigns to do to popularize this product. Marketing campaigns should be done on mass and social media platforms (Brouwer and Kleinknecht 199). Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube will be specifically appropriate for promoting this product.
- The production department and the marketing department should coordinate very closely with other departments to ensure that the cost of production is lowered to make the product affordable in the market.
- The firm should consider identifying specific designs in their product and patent it to protect it from unscrupulous business entities keen on duplicating the product’s design and taking it to the market as their own.
- The firm should engage more retailers, especially supermarkets to carry their products as a way of increasing sales.
Works Cited
Brouwer, Erik, and Alfred Kleinknecht. “Firm Size, Small Business Presence and Sales of Innovative Products: A Micro-econometric Analysis”. Small Business Economics 8.3 (2006): 189–201. Print.
Laureti, Carolina, and Michael Hamp. “Innovative Flexible Products in Microfinance”. Savings and Development 35.1 (2011): 97–129. Print.
Cleyn, Sven, and Johan Braet. “The Due Diligence Process—guiding Principles for Early Stage Innovative Products and Venture Capital Investments”. The Journal of Private Equity 10.3 (2007): 43–51. Print.
Desai, Justin. Innovation Engine: Driving Execution for Breakthrough Results. London: McMillan, 2015. Print.
Martin, Roger. The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking Is the Next Competitive Advantage. New York: Cengage, 2009. Print.
Smith, John. The World of Decorative: Product Refinement. Nürnberg: Kaiser Lacke GmbH, 2015. Print.