Testing the Hypothesis, Pt. 1
For this assignment, I had to completely change gears from my previous ideas. My problem from assignment 4A was about bike rack covers, however, this isn't something I can sell for a business because the opportunity is too limited. Now I present my new idea/the opportunity.
I've decided to open the competition in the UF coffee world against none other than the "Starbucks Bike", or Starbucks' portable coffee carrying booth.
The Opportunity: Students and faculty at the University of Florida are unable to get a quick and easily accessible, non-bitter tasting coffee drink on campus due to there only being one portable coffee stand, the Starbucks Bike.
If we were being honest, the idea of waiting in 15-minute lines is lame and so is the coffee that the Starbucks Bike carries; we need something different and new to compete with them. I propose a new coffee bike with a different/coffee-cooler-like product that is more enjoyable to "basic" coffee drinkers than extra strong Starbucks' Nitro Cold Brew.
The Who:
Students and faculty at the University of Florida who like coffee.
The What:
People at the University of Florida are unable to get a quick/easily accessible, decent tasting coffee drink on campus due to the Starbucks Bike being the only one of its kind.
The Why:
There is only one portable coffee stand on campus, thus, limiting the options and eliminating the benefits of competition.
Testing the Who:
After further examining my "who", I realized that there are people who are currently including that may not have this problem. Those who love the Starbucks Bike and its Nitro Cold Brew don't have the need for an alternative portable coffee stand. Those people would not share this need. Thus, we would turn our focus to the rest of the University's population.
Testing the What:
There is a large market for convenience coffee that is enjoyable. Most college students order some sweet tasting coffee drink varying from lattes to frappuccinos to simple iced coffee. The Starbucks Bike doesn't have an option that even tastes similar to these. Because of this, on-campus coffee stores are the only option. However, waiting in line is time-consuming because everyone else also wants their sweet tasting coffee in between class breaks. This is the entirety of the problem.
Testing the Why:
The problem with the Starbucks Bike is that they sell a product liked by only people with a taste for very strong coffee, who typically have been drinking coffee for a long time. Not everyone likes this type of coffee. Starbucks hasn't picked a very good product to use on their bike in my opinion, but that doesn't matter as long as there is no competition. The barriers to entry, constructed by the University have caused this. I believe much of the UF population would welcome a new portable coffee stand is given the opportunity to.
Summary of my Interviews:
When looking for people to interview, I had to find people who liked coffee and were part of the UF population. This was more challenging than I though. I didn't realize that many people don't enjoy coffee. This showed me that my original "who" may be smaller than I originally thought. However, when I found people in my "who", the idea of a convenient coffee solution was really important to them. Over half of the people I've talked to in the past week said that convenience was a big factor in their purchase decision process choosing one place over another. One lady I talked to said that she goes "wherever is most convenient." This is a potential marketing focus we can use to differentiate ourselves from traditional coffee places on campus. Several mentioned that they don't have time to wait in long lines so they will not go to places like Starbucks. Because there are limited convenient options, one student that me that he doesn't get his coffee on campus preferring to make it at home. After hearing from my interviewees, I found that the problem people are having has nothing to do with the product being sold but rather the convenience of getting it. This was something that I wasn't aware of before.
I've decided to open the competition in the UF coffee world against none other than the "Starbucks Bike", or Starbucks' portable coffee carrying booth.
The Opportunity: Students and faculty at the University of Florida are unable to get a quick and easily accessible, non-bitter tasting coffee drink on campus due to there only being one portable coffee stand, the Starbucks Bike.
If we were being honest, the idea of waiting in 15-minute lines is lame and so is the coffee that the Starbucks Bike carries; we need something different and new to compete with them. I propose a new coffee bike with a different/coffee-cooler-like product that is more enjoyable to "basic" coffee drinkers than extra strong Starbucks' Nitro Cold Brew.
The Who:
Students and faculty at the University of Florida who like coffee.
The What:
People at the University of Florida are unable to get a quick/easily accessible, decent tasting coffee drink on campus due to the Starbucks Bike being the only one of its kind.
The Why:
There is only one portable coffee stand on campus, thus, limiting the options and eliminating the benefits of competition.
Testing the Who:
After further examining my "who", I realized that there are people who are currently including that may not have this problem. Those who love the Starbucks Bike and its Nitro Cold Brew don't have the need for an alternative portable coffee stand. Those people would not share this need. Thus, we would turn our focus to the rest of the University's population.
Testing the What:
There is a large market for convenience coffee that is enjoyable. Most college students order some sweet tasting coffee drink varying from lattes to frappuccinos to simple iced coffee. The Starbucks Bike doesn't have an option that even tastes similar to these. Because of this, on-campus coffee stores are the only option. However, waiting in line is time-consuming because everyone else also wants their sweet tasting coffee in between class breaks. This is the entirety of the problem.
Testing the Why:
The problem with the Starbucks Bike is that they sell a product liked by only people with a taste for very strong coffee, who typically have been drinking coffee for a long time. Not everyone likes this type of coffee. Starbucks hasn't picked a very good product to use on their bike in my opinion, but that doesn't matter as long as there is no competition. The barriers to entry, constructed by the University have caused this. I believe much of the UF population would welcome a new portable coffee stand is given the opportunity to.
Summary of my Interviews:
When looking for people to interview, I had to find people who liked coffee and were part of the UF population. This was more challenging than I though. I didn't realize that many people don't enjoy coffee. This showed me that my original "who" may be smaller than I originally thought. However, when I found people in my "who", the idea of a convenient coffee solution was really important to them. Over half of the people I've talked to in the past week said that convenience was a big factor in their purchase decision process choosing one place over another. One lady I talked to said that she goes "wherever is most convenient." This is a potential marketing focus we can use to differentiate ourselves from traditional coffee places on campus. Several mentioned that they don't have time to wait in long lines so they will not go to places like Starbucks. Because there are limited convenient options, one student that me that he doesn't get his coffee on campus preferring to make it at home. After hearing from my interviewees, I found that the problem people are having has nothing to do with the product being sold but rather the convenience of getting it. This was something that I wasn't aware of before.
Hello Cason!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, thank you for sharing!
I completely agree with there being a major issue with Starbucks on campus. Similarly, I also created the idea to open a new coffee franchise. I am also a coffee fanatic - so this is absolutely something I would try if it were around campus.
In my summary of other assignments, I also found that there were quite a bit more people who don’t enjoy coffee than I had originally anticipated. Nevertheless, at a University where there are over fifty-thousand people - not including faculty, I believe the ‘need’ is still very prominent on campus.
I love this idea, and great job!
Caitlyn Torres