THE CHALLENGE
 
Develop a physical product for a national non-profit to encourage consumers to buy local and support neighborhood economies.

 

 

 

 

THE TEAM 

 

As the entrepreneur and designer, I managed a graphic designer and a design consultant to uncover insights and translate concepts into a new product that address customer behaviors and motivations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

DISCOVERY
 
Our team's initial phase began with a discussion of our assumptions and challenging what we believed we knew about local economies, small businesses, and consumer habits. We used a human-centered design and lean start up approach and conducted customer discovery research with small business owners and end users/residents that included online surveys, 1-on-1 interviews, and small focus groups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OBSERVATIONS AND INSIGHTS

 

Our team synthesized what we had learned, and conducted brainstorming sessions for two groups, business owners and end users/residents in which we identified themes, refined our insights, and crafted both frameworks for the problem and ideas for potential solutions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

insight 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

END USER AND MARKET RESEARCH
 
Further end user research concluded that most people shop within a two-mile radius or a 5-15min drive from their home. End user interviews concluded that new residents are the most likely to try new places and don’t have a pre-existing and established buying patterns. From this research, we determined that proximity to businesses is the main factor for establishing repeat customers for local businesses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

We also learned via customer discovery and demand testing that people recycle or discard regular “flat” mail at very high rates. However, 3D packaging offers a lower discard rate and higher open rate of up to 3x more than “flat” mail.

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE WELCOME PACKAGE CONCEPT
 
The Welcome Package is a direct marketing tool that includes a coupon book, a high-quality neighborhood map, and promotional items (such as magnets and gift cards) that highlight small businesses in a specific neighborhood.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE PROTOTYPE 

 

We developed both a physical MVP with the most desirable characteristics we uncovered from the customer discovery phase. Our team created an approachable and fun logo design that tested well with end users. We then created a physical prototype, website, and sales materials.  

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                              
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GOING TO MARKET TEST LAUNCH
 

A total of 31 businesses participated and paid to be included in the Welcome Package test, validating demand. We mailed and hand delivered the Welcome Package to 2,000 new residents who recently moved into the targeted area, within 2 miles of the highlighted businesses. We gathered data, analyzed product demand, determined ROI, and usage rates to gain additional insights. We found that the Welcome Package with its unique packaging (a 10-inch tall tube) leads to customer engagement rates far higher than many other advertising options, and over 350 new customers in total were generated to those businesses that participated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RESULTS, IMPACTS, AND CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

 

 

There is clear evidence that our hyper-targeted specially design marketing product provides value to many types of B2C small businesses including restaurants, pet stores, barber shops, cafes, optometrists, etc. Our average sale per customer increased $62 from the first to the second test, a positive trend. We also reduced expenses from the first test by 30%, and on our way to break even.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A large percentage of people went to our website and signed up to receive additional promotional coupons. We are A/B testing targeted emails, and to date, we are averaging a 24% click rate (extremely high for emails).