Subject - Foundations of Project Management
Case study - Launching E- Collar
Team member details - Group 3
Xiaoqi Tang
Yuxin Liu
Krutika Shahanand
Project background:
About Pet Technologies
Pet Technologies Inc. has completed the development of a revolutionary pet collar code-named e-collar. The collar is specifically designed for dogs.
It is used by pet owners to identify the locations of their pets through a smartphone.
In addition to the collar, the customer needs to download a free app on their smartphone and by paying a monthly fee, the collar can be connected to the smartphone through a cellular network.
About Ad Jungle
Ad Jungle is a boutique advertising agency located in the same location as pet technologies. Pet technologies have used their services in the past for advertising their products.
They have been approached again by Pet technologies to give an offer for the advertising cost of E-collar.
Part I: Define the Problem
Define the problem that your project needs to solve. What are the underlying practical and business needs that the project must address?
• Limitations of Time
There is a designated estimation of time derived for each task. Thus the project needs to be executed in a limited time frame.
• Efficiency in research process
The research methods and process for the target audience and the customer requirements need to be accurate in order to be able to target the right audience for effective sales.
• Price factor
The price of our products is more expensive than other brands. Our Collars are all-around two hundred dollars or more, so the problem is how to let customers choose our product and how to lower the price.
Additionally, the advertisement also requires a good budget in order to carry the research, development, and marketing of the product in the market.
• Quality standards and stakeholder expectations
The advertising agency should be comparable to reaching the stakeholder briefs. The advertising campaigns and the strategies should be able to promote the products and match the quality standards of the company and the brand value that the company wants to promote.
What caused people to identify the problem that this project needs to solve?
• There are several other brands that mainly sell smart pet collars through searches. After comparing the products, we found that our prices are higher than several other brands in similar products.
• Availability of similar products in the market of other brands, with very few different features.
• These types of products are not considered essential for pet ownership, so customers may not spend too much money on pet collars.
• Improved functionality by explaining the purpose of the e-collars to the customers well through branding and advertising.
Part II: Brainstorm Alternatives
List possible alternatives that you and other project team members have generated for addressing the business need you’ve identified. Evaluate the alternatives and indicate which one will best address that need. Explain why you believe it’s the best alternative.
- Reduce production costs. Look for the lowest price raw materials of the same quality, and make full use of resources as much as possible, including raw materials, equipment, machines, etc.
- Increase the promotion of the advantages of our products and its features and address the crowd about what kind of problems this product can solve.
- Identify what methods would leave positive online reviews and repeated purchases. This can be done by targeting the right audience, and a niche audience than a larger crowd so that, that small number of converted prospects can be a loyal customer base.
- Provide a customized experience to customers that match their standards of product quality. This can be achieved by increasing customer engagement, by providing personally relevant offers and loyalty programs.
- Provide better after-sales service. This helps us maintain a friendly relationship with our customers. Customers can contact us if they have any questions or product suggestions. If their suggestions are accepted, we can offer a discount on the next purchase.
Part III: Identify Stakeholders
Who has a stake in the outcome of the proposed project? Identify the project stakeholders and their needs.
A project is a collaborative effort. Project success or failure is determined by the satisfaction of the project stakeholders. Hence identifying all the stakeholders in the project is very critical for the project completion and its success.
The core stakeholders of this project are as follows:
• CEO and shareholders of Pet Technologies
• Ad Jungle team (Consisting of the Project manager and their team)
• Marketing Manager
• Concept Developer
• Creative collateral team
• Accounts manager
• Production Manager
• Customer (Pet owners)
The Peripheral stakeholders to this project are as follows:
• Government
• Competitors
• General public/ users of social media
Do the various stakeholders’ goals for the project differ? If so, how? What criteria will different stakeholders use to judge this project a success?
We believe that different stakeholders have different goals for the project.
CEO and shareholders of Pet Technologies Inc. will be concerned with successfully launching the product, increasing sales, increasing market share and brand value, and growing their customer base.
The Ad Jungle advertising team will be concerned with completing the project on time and successfully meeting the budget requirements.
The marketing manager would be concerned about obtaining research for the number of pet owners and potential customers interested in buying the product.
The concept Developer will be concerned with the scope and time of the project and involve himself in identifying the tone of the project.
The creative collateral team would be concerned by the timeline and the fund allocations sto generate collaterals to the project through various developments in the marketing campaign.
The accounts manager will look into the concerns of project finance and budget, estimation, and fund allocations for various processes.
The production manager will target the outward sources and product development required for the advertisement of the E-collar within the timeline.
The customer is the end-user of the product and will seek better product features and services, and connect the security of applications keeping in mind it is an economical purchase for them.
Part IV. Define Objectives
Clearly state your project’s objectives. Do they reflect stakeholders' needs? Make sure each objective is SMART—specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and time-limited.
Goals and objectives are statements that describe what the project will accomplish, or the business value the project will achieve.(Mochal, 2021)
The objectives of the project were determined in the initiating phase of the project by the advertising company Ad Jungle, through their responsibilities and the various steps that they follow for the advertisement of the product which is as follows:
• Creating awareness of the product E- collar through advertisement campaigns.
• Increasing the customer base for Pet Technologies, Inc.
• Developing advertising concepts and campaign strategies.
• Generating revenue and brand value for Pet Technologies Inc.
• Improve user experience by bringing along a range of services like branding, advertising, designing, and media connection with management skills.
The various functional and specific needs of the stakeholders are reflected within the project objectives. Goals are useful to guide to understand what an organization wants to achieve.
It is imperative to set goals because it determines the vision and the business plan of an organization and its approach to managing projects through different stages. To achieve the objectives the SMART goals method was used as follows:
Specific Goals
• Understand the products that need to be advertised and the stakeholder requirements.
• Discover the target audience through market research.
• Creative concept development and decide the tone of the advertisement.
• Creative collateral (brochures, print ads, scripts for TV commercials) and mix media channel determination (e.g., print, TV, online) and advertisement material production.
• Increase the sales by at least 1500 customers in the first 3 months through advertisement.
Measurable Goals
• Quarterly checking the effectiveness of the increase in the number of customers by monitoring the sales reports and retaining the customers.
• Target the completion of the project development process, concept creative and collateral, and content of mixed media channels within the first 5 weeks.
• Track the key performance metrics by real-time monitoring, content distribution on the right social channels, strategic performance, and smart audience targeting.
Attainable Goals
• On an average basis, allot at least 80 hours of working time for concept development, 125$ of average salary, and achieve at least 1500 new customers in the first 3 months within budget spending.
• Resolve and troubleshoot any problems within the planned timeline for each process of advertisement.
Realistic Goals
• Promote the brand values of Pet TechnologieS, Inc. and increase sales and product value of E-collar.
• Choose an employee who can finish the concept development in around 40 hours. Ensure efficiency in advertising and increase in sales by 30% in the first 6 months by no flexibility in the budget.
Time-Bound Goals
• The final product development and the advertising campaign execution should be completed within the first 10 weeks. This timeline cannot be exceeded.
• The goals are targeted for the first 3 month results. If the desired goals are not achieved, the advertising strategy should be looked upon and altered in the next 3 months target to check for the outcomes.
Part V. Anticipate Trade-offs
What are the conflicting demands of your stakeholders? What trade-offs can you anticipate in terms of quality, time, and cost?
The chief conflict revolves around the pricing of the product. The price point is obviously set to guarantee the shareholders of Pet Technologies, Inc. to realize sufficient profit on their investment of both money and effort.
By way of contrast, a perceptibly excessive price will detect and dissuade many customers unless we can guarantee truly unique features for the product and, moreover, make certain that customers are aware of those features.
This, in turn, may require that the shareholders devote a greater share of their operating budget to Ad Jungle so that they can craft suitably alluring advertising materials.
Thus the price and the quality aspects are demanding in order to increase the sales and attract more customers through exceptional advertisement.
Also, the limited resources will affect the timeline and the production outcome. Another tradeoff is the requirement of Pet Technologies, Inc. to start the launch of their product immediately to break the market and the competitors through the advertisement of their product strategically. This would require the Ad Jungle team to be ready with the advertisement material and strategy and their research early. Limited interference of the sponsor company in the process can also benefit undertaking the advertisement process on fast-track.
What "scope creep" can you anticipate? What additional problems might stakeholders want the project to solve? Clarify what lies inside (and outside) the project's scope.
Scope creep may derive from technological or marketing advances that are associated with products that directly compete against Pet Technologies, Inc.’s smart collar product.
We may also choose to identify new features that may significantly contribute to our value proposition while not significantly affecting the price, that may come in between the project process.
Customers may wish for the smart collar to be able to contact the owner at the push of a button if the pet strays and is recovered by a stranger. They may also wish the smart collar somehow to store emergency medical information about the pet in a way that is readily retrieved, perhaps via a Web-based database and a QR code imprinted on the collar. These feature additions to the product may call for additional advertising methods to create awareness.
There may also be a requirement for additional media or platforms for advertisements like social media, hoardings, and animations like holograms, etc.
Reference
Mochal. T. (2021). Defining Project Goals and Objectives. Kidasa Software, Inc. Defining Project Goals and Objectives – Project Management Software (kidasa.com)
Meredith. J. R., Shaffer. S. M. (2021). Launching E-Collar. Project Management in Practise. (Seventh Edition) 187-188 https://lccn.loc.gov/2020020106