How to define your goal with 7 tools
- 2. Personal introduction Hello! My name is Rinat Keinan I have a BA in Human Services from the University of Haifa and an MA in Design Management from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. For 10 years I worked as an employee in the largest companies in the Israeli market : in fashion, consumer goods and medicine. I have carried out four important and significant positions, including the development of strategic processes and the introduction of new consumer products into the Israeli market. I have dealt with three different challenges that have become business successes: First challenge - limitation as an opportunity Unilever consumer goods company In 2008 there was a large economic crisis that affected a 30% decline in the average basket of food chains. Marketing companies cut or froze marketing budgets and switched processes. The retailers fought for the attractiveness of promotions to retain consumer traffic. At the time, I was the shopper category manager of the Thelma brand and had to find a way to preserve brand sales without a large budget. I tried to solve the challenge by using the 3 circles tool:
- 3. Brandgoal Customergoal Shoppergoal What’s in it for the BRAND? What’s in it for the CUSTOMER? What’s in it for the BUYER? To be a preferred choice in the Israeli home Bring more buyers to points of sale Get maximum value for money External parameter: People spend less money, spend less indulgent time, seek escapism. Internal parameter: Reality programs are gaining momentum, the phenomenon of "instant idol" After doing a lot of information research, the opportunity I found was to bring the indulgent to the point of sale: Purchase Thelma packaging, take pictures at the points of sale and enjoy a package with a name and a personal / family photo. The move yielded 30% growth in Thelma sales, and the retailers increased consumer traffic by 15%. Unilever's marketing chief announced at the end of the year that this was the winning move for 2008. If you choose a different point of view, a limitation can become an opportunity After that, brands such as Danone, Nutella and Coca-Cola took similar steps without connecting to retailers points of sale.
- 4. Second Challenge – knowing your user Teva pharmaceutical company In 2011, I was recruited to launch a new brand - a milk formula for babies in Israel, a market of NIS 600 million with two big players. It was also a market that was traumatized after the Remedia baby formula crisis in which three babies died. Everyone thought who would want to experiment with a new brand in Israel? Therefore Teva thought it would be worthwhile to build the brand equity around the Teva company, and to emphasize the seniority and experience that the brand brings from abroad. Teva believed that in any event, the success of the brand in Israel depends mainly on the professional audience (the "Tipat Halav" nurses and the recommendation of pediatricians) The strategic direction did not feel right. I did not believe in this strategy and the results were not long to come: The “No. 1 brand in Europe” claim – didn’t affect buying. The doctors and nurses didn’t recommend any specific brand
- 5. I decided to get to know my users in depth. I went into forums and groups online to learn what they thought and how they behave . I found that mothers consult a lot with ”mothers like them" about every decision involving their baby - and they do that before even consulting their spouse. In fact, I came to the understanding that the wisdom of friendship is the deciding factor in the process of this decision making. Another insight was that there was a big difference between “new mothers” and “experienced mothers”- the experienced mothers wanted to continue what they chose for the first child with the next. There was also the understanding that our users were - “first time mothers”. I decided to act differently: I opened a Facebook group for ״first time mothers״ to talk about all new experiences involving their baby. The group reached 100,000 members in one year! I did also a lot of mothers events, and a large campaign of “mom to mom testimonial recommendations” based on geographical area. From 2012-2014 I managed to reach 12% of the market share of baby milk formula.
- 6. Third Challenge – building an action plan focused on user behavior Teva pharmaceutical company In 2015, I received an opportunity to be senior manager to the Acamol family, which included 25 different segment products of the paracetamol molecule. Although this field was the leading field of Teva in Israel, the brand was bleeding in terms of sales. Teva believes that profitability is more important than sales or market share, and therefore reduced budgets and resources. In general, I agreed with this approach because it is not hard to display high sales when there are high budgets. The challenge is to create a higher return on investment - to make every “dollar investment” bring more dollars back home. Most of the product and marketing managers are not familiar with financial planning and profitable economic analysis. At best, They just know how much they have in their budget and where they want to spend it. When I studied the new job, I saw that the packaging was very expensive, and a lot of money was invested in general generic advertising for a wide audience. To my advantage, at that time, new research was published. I found two interesting new facts from that research: The pharmacy pharmacist has 70% influence on the purchasing decision and everyone has at least one Acamol brand product at home.
- 7. Following the new findings, I operated on several levels: 1. I turned to printing firms to get cheaper alternatives to external packaging materials, which in turn reduced the cost of packaging by 8% by changing raw materials. In terms of hundreds of thousands of packages, this proved saving of hundreds of thousands in money. 2. Anyone who has experience in advertising knows that the more you appeal to a wider audience, the more your money gets burned up faster. In order to increase awareness of your product messages, you need more "screen time" just with your users. I decided to change my advertising strategy, similar to the Nutrilon baby formula brand, by adapting it to the content that the user searches and wants to know about – in other words, “fish where the fish are” strategy. For example, the paracetamol focus product is a solution for migraine and menstrual pain for women. So women that search and read this content, will be open to new information related to this content. Since the new marketing concept approach was revolutionary for that period, the companies that gave us services did not know how to execute the new request for advertising. After a lot of discussion, we came up with a solution to search for content articles through an Internet content monitoring company. We collected about 50 articles dealing with migraine and menstrual pain, and we introduced image banners with remarketing that allowed us to continue the “screen time” messages to the potential users of paracetamol focus groups after the reading of the content was over.
- 8. In this way, we also focused on the content of Acamol for children, Acamol Cooling and others. Because we operated where the users were available to listen, “fish where the fish are” – we managed to spend 80% less than the actual advertising budget. We managed to increase awareness and involvement by more than 60%, but still, it was not enough to increase sales. 3. The third operation was very crucial - the connection with the pharmacists at the point of sale, who have 70% influence on the actual buying decision. I checked regulatory standards, what types of incentives can be given to pharmacists and built a monthly plan that would allow pharmacists to prefer to recommend our Acamol paracetamol products. The total number of actions that I found necessary to act on, proved to be a changing fate for a brand that had bled for four years. Within a month, we were able to increase sales by 15% and improve profitability by 8% To a field that sells NIS 300 million a year, it was a great achievement.
- 9. During 2014-2016 I completed my master's degree at Bezalel, the foremost Academy of Art and Design in Israel. My degree was in Design Management. Through the degree, I was exposed to the start-up world for the first time. The world of entrepreneurship is a world full of passion and rich in creativity and brilliant minds. But there is not a drop of methodology that directs all these wonderful elements into success over time. I believed that a combination of my business experience and design thinking could yield the missing knowledge for entrepreneurs and product managers to succeed over time. I took this challenge, and for the next two years, I studied, researched, interviewed and accompanied dozens of start-ups. Now, I am proudly sharing the findings and examples from the field with you, and I hope, of course, that the guide will serve you as well as it has served many before you. Regards, Rinat
- 10. Understanding the guide Each action represent important key decision that need to be overviewed and examined. Each conclusion at one step reflect and affect the next step action items. Following pipeline roadmap of these 8 action items guide can dramatically increase the chances of your product success.
- 11. Define the goal When we know exactly where we want to go, unconsciously, we prepare ourselves, mentally and even physically for just that. The more accurate we are, the more precise things we achieve.
- 12. First action - define the goal Most entrepreneurs do not know exactly what they want. In fact, most people do not know exactly what they want. It's very hard to take a road trip where you have no idea what your destination is. In general, the more clearly and accurately you define the goal you want to achieve, the more likely you are to achieve it. Once you have precisely defined your goal, once you have chosen an exact choice of goal, more energy becomes available to achieve the goal and then the question "What do you want?” becomes "How do I get it?” When you know exactly where you want to go, you unconsciously prepare yourself, mentally and even physically for just that. The more accurate you are, the more precise objectives you achieve.
- 13. Define the goal
- 14. The goal: ___________________________________ Proposition Product Pack Price Promotion Place Persona
- 15. How can the world of product content understanding, help / prevent you from achieving your goal? The purpose of the question is to understand the world of your product content, which is basically your users market. What are the current trends in this content world? Are there any interesting user trends? Is regulation important? Who are the support “carriers” (companies / organizations) that can be relevant to your product? Proposition If you do not have the information for the questions, it is time to open your laptops and connect to the Internet to get answers. The best way to get answers is through information from forums / social networks / articles / desk research and business information about the direction of action of large companies in the market that can be the carrier of understanding the world of your product content. The goal: ___________________________________
- 16. Example 20 players 29 billion 4 players 130 billion I was approached by entrepreneurs who developed a brilliant product idea for indoors air purification. They were sure that the target of their product content was the home air purifier market and they sent me thousands of materials they had collected in the past 3 years, since they began to develop the idea of the product. When I read all the materials, I was really stressed by the amount of products that existed in this market and by the fact that this is a niche world of "problem-solving" awareness - for asthmatics, etc. I tried to look at the product idea from a new perspective. What happens today in home appliances? There is the IOT revolution - smart home automation products sold over the Internet Users from all over the world are looking for technological solutions to improve the quality of their daily routines. This is an interesting statistic and information that can change the business opportunity roadmap of this product idea.
- 17. Product What characterizations exist in the product that can help you / prevent you from achieving your goal? The purpose of the question is to understand your product in depth from the end-user perspective. What can or does the product do? Is there something that you found out from the previous question, that seems important and the product cannot do? Is there something unique that the product can provide that does not yet exist? Does the product offer added value that’s better than what already exists on the current market? The best way to know that you have all the information is to check the existing and forecasted planning market: Information from forums / social networks / articles / desk research and business information about the direction of action of large companies that you defined in the previous question. The goal: ___________________________________
- 18. Example Providing safe for indoors air quality Making your home safer by cleaner air quality Consumer Education (active) Consumer Life- style (passive) As soon as I realized that there was an interesting trend of smart home consumption behavior, I looked at the product more broadly – the product concept enables smart home security through air purification. User education is a challenge that requires the user to actively change existing habits and therefore can take a lot of time and resources that are not always available to you.
- 19. How can the use of the product help you / prevent you from achieving your goal? Pack The purpose of the question is to understand in depth the level of simplicity / complexity of the product in interaction with the user Is there a certain constraint in using the product? Is the product complex / simple to use? If it is still just a product idea, it is time to talk to the programmer or designer and verify the stages of conceptual product use with him. If the product already exists, you may want to test it yourself The goal: ___________________________________
- 20. Example Big limitation Mac computers usage Only 30% photographers use Mac computers I accompanied a group of entrepreneurs who developed intelligent photo editing software. But there was a limitation - the software was only compatible with APPLE's Mac computers. This was a limitation that "made it difficult" to achieve the goal set by entrepreneurs to "significantly increase the number of users." The users they defined were the photographers' community. In a quick test on Google, I found that only 30% of photographers purchased APPLE's Mac computers. The product’s limit become a limitation to achieving the goal set by the entrepreneurs. however, the limitation become an opportunity, and I will discuss it further during examples of the questions of this action.
- 21. Can product pricing help you / prevent you from achieving your goal? Price The purpose of the question is to understand how to price your product from the end-user perspective Is the pricing you're thinking about for the product suitable / unsuitable for the perception of user value? Pricing should be examined first through the information you have collected so far from previous questions and then re- examined in terms of profitability feasibility. If the product is priced too high for the value perceived by users, it will reduce the number of users the product can gain. If the product is priced too low, it will affect the product's sales cycle and consequent profitability. The goal: ___________________________________
- 22. Example Example of pricing a product idea In the IOT market that we investigated on Google, we found that the range of smart products sold to households, ranged from $100 to $150. This finding reflects on the price perception that users today are willing to pay for a smart home product. Therefore, product pricing should be tested around this range.
- 23. Example Example of changing the pricing of an existing product The developers of photo editing software priced their product at $70 after a two month free trial. There should have been no problem with the pricing, because they brought real innovation to photo editing that did not exist before. In practice, they did not have many conversions to buy after the free software experience. The first reason - they turned to a very small segment - 30%. Second - the perception of pricing value was high because photographers had a lot of diverse needs and the product did not provide a solution for everyone.
- 24. What are the user distribution channels that can help you / prevent you from achieving your goal? Promotion The purpose of the question is to identify the most effective ways to enable your product to reach the suitable end user. In the classic marketing world, this strategy defines as “fish where the fish are”. And in a simpler translation, you want to be where your user is and not invest efforts and resources to bring the user to you. Your chances are much higher in the first, passive option than in the second option. The best way to know that you have all the information is to check the existing and forecasted planning market: Information from forums / social networks / articles / desk research and business information about the direction of action of large companies that you defined in the previous questions. The goal: ___________________________________
- 25. Example If the product is only compatible with APPLE's Mac computers, then the first obvious way is to look at APPLE's distribution channels: Point of Sale, App-store, MAC Maintenance Services, etc. These are the channels where existing or potential users can be found on Mac computers.
- 26. What are the interaction points with the user that can help you / prevent you from achieving your goal? Place The purpose of the question is to understand what are all the points of convergence and possibilities in the user's behavior, which can affect the use / non-use of the product. In the classic retail world, the success of the product is defined by: Location, Location, Location The product should be in the right place at the right time so that the user can distinguish it and want to purchase it. The best way to know that you have all the information is to check the existing and forecasted planning market: Information from forums / social networks / articles and desk research The goal: ___________________________________
- 27. Example If we were trying to reach MAC users through the App-store, we would have a problem of not being seen, because there are a lot of applications. This interaction point would reduce the chances that the user would notice the product. On the other hand, we found a lot of social networks and blog discussions among MAC users communities. So we marked the finding as an opportunity for a relevant interaction point
- 28. How can having a detailed description of the user help you / prevent you from achieving your goal? Persona The purpose of the question is to better know and understand the user of the product What are the features and characteristics of the user? How can they be translated into a real description of the user? How can you describe your user in words? The most effective way that always helps me, is to do online qualitative users research. I search through forums and social networks to find potential user conversations. From the conversations that I find on the web, I examine characteristics and words that repeat themselves. These findings help me to identify the user definition. The goal: ___________________________________
- 29. Example The users of air purification products said that the issue of home air quality followed the identification of a breathing problem: massive asthma / smoking. After the identification of the breathing problem, they contacted a professional who recommended a home appliance solution. Smart home users say they are looking for affordable, automated technology solutions that will improve the quality of their daily routines and allow them to spend more time with their family in the home. After we specified the characterization of different potential users, it was clear to us where the best opportunity for the product was.
- 30. Example We all know the Harry Potter series, the most successful fiction series of all time. But we could have almost missed it. In 1996, eight children's literature editors in London received first chapters of the Harry Potter story. All of the first seven didn’t want to publish the manuscript, because they didn’t think that they had read something new or a potential best-seller. Children’s literature is a loaded book market. The 8th editor, Barry, believed that if seven colleagues had rejected the draft, he should also make a similar decision. The only difference was that Barry usually gave his eight-year-old daughter the new drafts of children's literature to read. And in this case too, the draft reached her. To Barry's surprise, his daughter was so excited by the reading that she begged her father to get the rest of the chapters to read. For her it was the most fascinating story she had ever read. Recognizing the suitable user, can make all the difference with your product!
- 31. Example When I finished the first draft of this book, I met an expert start- upper who had made three successful exits. My spouse recommended that I meet with him to see what he thought of my project. The meeting took two hours, during this time the expert was not interested in reading the method of my project or hearing examples of my work with startups. He was interested in telling me that without my own start-up experience, I have nothing to contribute to startups, and I'd better help consumer product managers from my professional experience as a salesperson. I was very, very upset by the meeting, especially because I felt that I had already done research, interviews, and had accompanied many startups, all of whom I had helped. That evening I ran an anonymous online questionnaire in a start-up group’s social media. Gladly, I got a clear answer to the questions: Is the information interesting? Yes. What will make you trust it? If the information will teach me something new and give me tools for solutions. The success of a product is not directly dependent on its being good or excellent, but in directing it to the suitable audience
- 32. After you have placed the notes, you will discuss all the questions and solutions you have written. I recommend that you circle the most important findings you have identified as an opportunity or a limitation. These are the findings that will focus you on the next task- identifying the suitable user.