Assignment 12A

Assignment 12A- Figuring Out Buyer Behavior 

Segment: People that attend Magic Kingdom 2-3 times a year

Interview #1:

The first person I interviewed felt like she encountered the problem as soon as she walks into the park. She has two small children and she is constantly worried that they are going to get lost in the park. Her children currently don't own cellphones so she has to be hyperaware of where her children are at all times. One of her children suffers from ADHD and he has been known to roam around without paying attention to his surroundings. Her current solution is to tell her children where to meet in case they get separated, as well as write her phone number in a piece of paper and place it in her children's pocket. She did not use any source of information to find her current solution. 

Interview #2: 

The second person I interviewed said that they encountered the problem when her friends want to go their separate ways in the park. She says that she usually goes in a large group of friends with her sorority sisters and they usually split up into several different groups. She says that it becomes hard to try and communicate between all of them. Her current solution to the problem is to try and set up a time when they can all meet. They make a plan and meet at a specific place and they give a time as well. Sometimes, however, some of her sisters are late because they lose track of time or they are in line to go on a ride. 

Interview #3: 

The third person I interviewed said that they encounter the problem when their phone runs out of battery. This person said that their family isn't too fond of riding the rides so they let her go by herself and she had to depend on her phone to be able to communicate with them after. She has had the issue before were her phone runs out of battery because of the long waiting lines and her using the phone while waiting. She realizes that her family becomes bored and they want to ride something else while they wait for her. Her current solution is to either have her family wait for her or if she gets out and they're not there they tell each other which ride they are going to next and they meet there. 

Conclusion: After I interviewed all three people I realized that they faced different kinds of problems when going to the park. Dealing with children is obviously more different than when you are going with your friends. They all become aware of the problem at different times when attending the park. All of their solutions included making some kind of plan in case anything goes wrong during the day. I think the segment that I chose was good because they are people that get to experience the park more and can encounter more problems when going.  

Assignment 11A

Assignment 11A- Idea Napkin #1

You: I am currently majoring in Business Management as well as minoring in Event Management. My skills include being able to communicate and work well with others, as well as time management and organizational skills. I've had a lot of volunteering positions where I have had to delegate tasks to people and make sure they are getting their work done. I try to be as organized as I can and make sure that everything gets done in time. I had the opportunity to work at several events where I had to work with a team and complete the tasks at hand. My aspirations if this business idea would ever take off would be to work for Disney. This would play a major role in my life because I would be able to achieve one of my goals by working for that company.

What are you offering customers?: What I'm offering customers is a chance to find their friends and family in an easy way. It provides an alternative to having to depend on your phone while you are at the park. It would cause no inconvenience because the product would already be in the magic band, which is what you would use to get into the park. It would be a product that you could use every single time you went to the park and you wouldn't have to purchase a new one every time. It is also convenient since Disney already has an app and on top of that has machines around the park where you can scan your magic band.  

Who are you offering it to?: I am offering this product to everyone that attends Disney's Magic Kingdom. No matter the age, whether they are a child or an adult this product is very easy to use and is accessible to everyone. Tourists would be of course the main demographic for this product since they most likely have no access to phones and they usually come to the parks in big groups. They would benefit the most from this product if they want to go around the park in different groups. However, this product is for the usage of everyone that attends the park. 

Why do they care?: Customers using this product would care because they would want to know where their friends and family are in the park. If the can't locate them through calling them, they have an option readily available for them. The longer they stay at the parks, the higher the chances are that the battery on their phone dies. It is very easy to lose a small child at this park when they become distracted and parents would most definitely care to find where their child is. 

What are your core competencies?: What sets me apart from everyone else is that there is no set system in place to find people at Disney. The only "competitor" I would have would be the cellphones that people carry with them. However, not everyone has a cell phone especially tourists that are just coming to visit. 

I think all of these elements fit together because they all complement each other. The people that I would be offering this product to cares about the well being of others. They would want to find their family members and they would want to know they are safe. The demographic for this product complements this as well because it applies to all ages. There are also weaknesses with this such as the product itself and how well it would work in the parks. Price would also be a concern because Disney may raise the prices to apply the GPS to the magic bands. 

Assignment 10A

Assignment 9A

Assignment 9A- Testing the Hypothesis Part 2

Who: The opportunity I had presented of being able to locate your friends and family in Magic Kingdom would ideally apply to everyone who attends the park. However, it certainly would apply more to people who go to the park very often or who have annual passes. In comparison to the other interviews I had conducted, the people I interviewed this time live in Orlando near Disney or have an annual passes. Three out of the five people I interviewed thought that the product would be a good idea since they would like to know where the people that they came with are in the park. The other two people that I interviewed had a few concerns. One being that the location wouldn't be as accurate or that by the time that they got to their friends they would've moved to another place. They also found that because Disney would have to implement this device into the magic bands, there would be a slight raise in the prices of the tickets. Another concern that they had was how the tracking device turn off as the left the parks. They also believe that because they go very often or most of them had annual passes they didn't find the need for this device as they change parks during the day and most times don't even stay for the entire day.

What: This need applies for a lot of people that go in large groups to the park and also parents who have small children. Some of the people that I interviewed seemed to go in large groups only sometimes because they had access to the park more frequently. They seemed to only go with 1 or 2 other people because not everyone in their friend group had annual passes.  

Why: Some of the people I interviewed seem to like the idea but found that there could be a lot of issues with the product. They felt like it would be unnecessary to have this product because they had other ways of communicating. 

Inside the boundary                                                              Outside the boundary 

Who is in: -Large groups of friend                   Who is not: - People who attend park with 1-2 others         Families with small children                     

Need: Easier to locate people you're with          Need is not: Tracking the other 1 person you're with

Why: loosing track of people                         Alternative: People already have phones/ don't split up    

Assignment 8A

Assignment 8A- Solving the Problem 

The problem I identified was that Magic Kingdom is a very big park and people can get easily lost in it. They might not even get lost, maybe they just want to go to different parts of the park with different people. This is mostly a problem for parents with small children that they can easily lose track of. It can also be a problem for a large group of people that split up. They would have to constantly pay attention to their phones so that they can find the people that they arrived with. Your phone can run out of battery and now you would have to find another way to communicate with other people. 

The solution I came up with is installing a GPS tracking device for the magic bands which are the now the tickets for Magic Kingdom. This device paired with the already made application for the Disney park would be a perfect solution to getting lost. There are also machines already installed around the park to get your fast passes for the day. This could also serve as a way of finding the location of the people you came with. As to finding the location of people in your party, you can link all of the magic bands which are the tickets together and find the specific location for your friends and family. 

Assignment 7A

Assignment 7A- Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

Opportunity: Finding friends or family members at Magic Kingdom who get lost or that go separate ways from you at the park  

Who: Anyone that attends Disney's Magic Kingdom 

What: Finding family and friends 

Why: Magic Kingdom is a big park and you can easily lose track of the people you're with

Testing the who: People who attend Magic Kingdom usually come in big groups. Especially friends and families. This need could also apply to all of the different theme parks in Orlando or any other state. 

Testing the what: The boundaries of this need are limited to Magic Kingdom but can also relate to other parks. A challenge that this opportunity might have would be the accuracy of the location of the GPS tracker. 

Testing the why: Getting lost or wanting to part ways with the group you came with can be a challenge. They why may hold for everyone that I am interviewing because they may encounter this problem when they attend the park. 

Interview #1

Sabrina (friend): This person experiences the problem sometimes when she goes to the park with her friends. She goes to UCF and has an annual pass to go to all of the Disney parks whenever she wants excluding block out dates. She usually goes with a big group of friends and they most likely end up splitting up during the day. She also leaves her personal items in the lockers provided and her phone runs out of battery constantly. She said its hard to keep track of people because they sometimes don't answer their phones or run out of battery like hers. Her current solution is to maintain a portable charger. 

Interview #2

Valentina (cousin): This person experiences this problem when she goes to the park with her family. She usually goes 3 times a year with her parents and her brother. She said that sometimes she likes to go on rides by herself because her parents and brother aren't too excited to ride some of the rollercoasters. She uses her phone while waiting in line and it always runs out of battery. Her family usually waits for her to get out but sometimes they go on different rides and she has to wait for them to come back. 

Interview #3

Diana (aunt): This person experiences this problem when she goes to the park with her family. She usually goes a couple of times a year with her children and husband. She said that she doesn't enjoy going on any rides so she usually has to wait for her family to finish. She gets bored sometimes and she goes to the stores around the park. When she calls her husband or children they usually don't answer their phones or it's too loud to understand what they are saying. She also had a situation where her son got lost in the park and it took a while to be able to find him. 

Interview #4

Virginia (roommate): This person experiences this problem with both friends and family. She usually only goes to the park 1-2 times a year. She said that with her friends it's most likely to happen because they want to go on different rides. She usually is very attentive to her phone but knows that her other friends are not. With her family, she has the problem of not being able to find her parents because they like to go and do their own thing at the park. 

Interview #5

Nathan (friend): This person said that he doesn't really experience this problem He only goes to this particular park maybe once every few years. Usually, when he goes to this park it's with his family and they like to stick together. If for some reason they want to do different things at the park they would just wait for them. 

Summary: Overall I found that this opportunity is feasible. It might apply more to people that go to the park a couple of times a year. It also reassured my thoughts about how groups of friends and family can split up or get lost in the park. I found out that the most common problem is people having to leave their phones behind or their battery dying. 

Assignment 6A

Assignment 6A- Practicing Opportunity Identification 

1). Economic trend: US-China Trade War

A. https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-china-tariff-full-list-of-goods-products-2018-6 

The opportunity exists right now for companies to search for ways to produce cheaper labor somewhere else, providing more jobs to people in the United States. Companies that would outsource their labor to China now have to find new sources for labor because of the tariffs that the United States has put in place. The prices within the United States are competitive with the prices aboard in China. Now manufacturers will get their labor here because it is cheaper. The manufacturers could also seek out other countries that could provide the same labor that China was providing before but for cheaper now. The prototypical customers would be other countries that can provide cheap labor, as well as companies based in the United States This opportunity would be easy to exploit if the manufacturers are already making the products here. Their business would be able to boom since more companies would buy their products because of the tariffs that are being implemented. However, it could be more complicated for companies that usually outsource their products to China. I saw this opportunity because this has been all over the news. The trade war with China is a very current topic and its something that could potentially have repercussions on our economy and is already showing the effects of it on China's economy. 

2). Economic trend: Shifting work demographics 

A. https://commercial.jpmorganchase.com/pages/commercial-banking/executive-connect/six-key-economic-trends

The opportunity exists right now for younger people to enter the workforce. As older people retire from the office jobs there are more hiring opportunities available for younger people. With unemployment levels very low, there are fewer options for people to join the workforce. There is a slow growth for the current workforce because of a lot of the older generation is currently retiring. More jobs are beginning to open for the current generation. The customer for this opportunity are younger people that are looking to join the workforce. This opportunity is relatively easy to exploit because companies are giving the opportunity to younger people to join the workforce. I saw this opportunity because as someone that is graduating soon, I'm looking to join the workforce soon. 

3). Regulations: Plastic straw bans are spreading all over the world

A. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/07/news-plastic-drinking-straw-history-ban/

The opportunity exists right now for more companies to make their own version of straws that are biodegradable. It started in San Fransisco, where there started to be a ban on the use of plastic straws because of the amount of plastic that was going into the ocean. Companies are starting to be more environmentally conscious and they are making decisions to help reduce the amount of waste by a significant amount. There are some options out there of straws that are metallic and they are able to be reused. The issue with the metallic straw is that it would have to be cleaned each time it is used and also that it would cost more than a plastic straw. You would also have to remember to take your straw everywhere. Others have provided straws that are made of paper, but the straws are very easily destroyed when left in a drink for a decent period of time. The prototypical customer for this opportunity are companies that use plastic straws. They have to come up with a feasible way of another kind of straw. This opportunity would be easy to exploit if they are able to come up with a good working biodegradable straw. There would be a potential problem if companies get rid of straws altogether because there are many people out there with disabilities that require the usage of straws. I saw this opportunity because plastic has been a very harmful thing to our environment. When companies started to talk about phasing out plastic straws it would reduce waste and hopefully they would take the initiative to reduce waste in other ways. 

4.) Regulations: Overfishing 

A. https://www.ecomagazine.com/news/regulation/overfishing-is-a-huge-problem-here-s-what-you-need-to-know

The opportunity exists right now for a more aggressive approach to regulate fishing. Overfishing has become a problem because our population keeps growing. This has caused an imbalance in the ocean's ecosystem. More fish are being taken out of the ocean than the number of fishes that are being able to reproduce. This also causes a problem because there are a lot of different animals that also get caught in nets posing a threat to their existence. Fishing boats are able to go into international waters where there are almost no regulations and they can do whatever they want. There is also a lot of fish that are close to extinction due to the amount of overfishing. The prototypical customer for this would be nonprofits organizations that dedicate their time to protect the ocean. This opportunity would be difficult to exploit because the ocean is very large and it would be difficult to regulate the number of boats that are constantly coming in and out of the ports. I saw this opportunity because there are almost no laws protecting the ocean from harm. There are a lot of nonprofit organizations looking to change that.