WORK EXPERIENCE REPORT 2014
Hanna Luberadzka - 158524@via.dk Branding and Marketing Management TEKO Design+Business VII semester
INTRODUCTION This report is a part of the material submitted in order to fulfil the requirements of the VI. semester's work experience exam. Apart from this written work, a copy of the Process Book was handed in, which documents the process of innovation and serves as a catalogue of methods and tools used by the author to solve the case. It is strongly recommended to read those two documents in parallel, in order for the visual material to supplement and illustrate the logic behind the concept developed and described in the following report. This work had been produced in Spring 2014, during the undergoing "Clothes that Monitor" project, which was a cooperation between the company - Danfoss PolyPower and TEKO Design+Business, VIA University, Campus Herning, Denmark. The project was focused on integrating stretchable sensors produced by Danfoss PolyPower into garments. Broad as the issue may seem, the main goal of the collaboration was the PolyPower sensors integration, understood in both: a technical way (design & production -related solutions), as well as connected to the process of adapting the products developed upon using the innovative technology onto the marketplace.
THE CASE: project theme and goals Danfoss PolyPower has prepared the project brief for the participants to find solutions to. Below author has summarized the key points of the said document : The Case At the project opening it was assumed that there was a forecast claiming that the modern society will soon be seeing an emerging need for monitoring people's physical condition and performance in a real time. This will happen on different levels and will be noticeable in different market sectors, beginning from the health sector where new technology will make it possible to distance-monitor patients ("teletreatment") and secure health care centers gaining all the necessary information on the important parameters from ex. patients with chronic diseases, through variety of safety apparel and workwear, up to the sportswear and lifestyle market. Based on this prognosis there is already a demand for developing technological solutions that would allow this process to happen with as little invasion into people's everyday life as possible. In other words the users should receive a huge positive impact from the technology, such as improvement of the quality of their everyday life, feeling more secure and objectively safer, but at the same time they should not be required to compromise on their comfort or usual habits in order to use the devices. Therefore, the product segment that is predicted to grow rapidly is the wearable technology market, with a focus on smart textiles and smart clothing. Moreover, There is a potential for the techno-garments with integrated sensory systems to be used as a
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substitute for traditional clothing, so that the scope of use can be very broad - the smart clothes can be used on nearly every field, as far as tracking parameters of the human body is being concerned. However, no matter how big the market potential of smart clothes may be, there are still very few products with integrated monitoring features being sold nowadays. The first reason for that is that the types of sensors fitting for the purpose of integration in garments have so far not yet been developed enough to register a precise measurements. Therefore an accurate feedback based on data collected while using the smart clothes cannot yet be drawn and provided to the end user. Another issue is that there is not enough emphasis being put on user-driven solutions and visual, aesthetic design, when looking at the research carried out in the field of the integration of the sensors into smart garments. Summarizing, the main reason for why the fashion industry does not yet produce smart clothes for the consumer markets is that the existing monitoring solutions within smart textiles are still rather poorly integrated and lacking of: - efficiency - stability - using/ wearing comfort - aesthetic features of the ready product. Project description Danfoss PolyPower A/S invited TEKO fashion and pattern design as well as branding students to develop concepts in connection to the potential use of the stretchable sensors the company produces. Based on the information provided in the case description the team were to investigate the opportunities that can be brought by integrating the sensors into textiles and clothes, as well as by targeting consumer-oriented markets (as an alternative to the way the company normally works - as a supplier to B2B markets). The project aimed "to develop design and integration solutions, making it possible to place sensors in clothing items and at the same time ensure that the clothing items can be used and cared for as usual." Apart from the design and production-oriented investigation it was a priority to analyse the market potential, segments and audiences for the smart clothing "powered by" Danfoss PolyPower.
User-related issues to be addressed Danfoss PolyPower has settled a basic framework for the students team to come up with innovative solutions to some of the most essential problems occurring to the consumers wearing and using the smart clothing with integrated sensors. 1. User's acceptance - It is important for the user to accept the smart garment and get used to wearing it on a daily basis. The added functionality of the product should not push the user to compromise their
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everyday habits connected to clothing, whether it means the wearing comfort of the item or the usability of the system (mobile Apps, retail and customer service models etc.). For example, the user should not experience a major difference between smart garments with electronic devices built-in and their ordinary clothes. 2. Social aspect - It is crucial for the fashion market to address the consumer need of self-expression and social acceptance connected to the clothing products. This aspect is especially important when it comes to particular target groups, such as children or people struggling with chronic illness (health care marketing of the product). In such cases it is an absolute necessity for the product to have all the devices, electronics and wires hidden not to cause the user to stand out from the crowd. Also, the product offered for a specific target group should be developed the way that allow the user to express their style, similarly to regular fashion products (branded, "emotional charge"), which is especially important on the commercial, lifestyle market. 3. Functionality - The smart clothing item should not only be comfortable to wear, but also easy to use and care for on a daily basis. The clothing must tolerate washing, either by making the electronic devices washable or allowing for an extremely easy disassembling. The battery should be long-lasting and in general very safe for the close-to-body use in changing conditions (ex. fitness market: running and other sports generating moisture and heat cannot influence the safety of use). Range of remits The team members was asked to individually choose a target group and product type "based on their own preferences where the integration of sensors would add value to the product and its users (for example sportswear, disabled clothing, hospital wear, etc.). The project was focused on developing innovative, integrated overall clothing item solutions that take into account market potential, construction and design and are aimed at the target group." The sensor itself and what it monitors was not the key aspect of this project. The main purpose was to build concepts that would demonstrate "how electronic devices may be integrated to the satisfaction of the consumer and his use of the clothing item."1.
PROBLEM FORMULATION In order to identify the focal issues to work with during the individual part of the project "The case" featured in the previous chapter and provided by the company was used as a basis. As the author's 1
The case / hand-out by Danfoss PolyPower
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field of studies at TEKO is the International Branding and Marketing Management it was decided that in general the project should focus on the marketing and brand strategy connected to the potential introduction of the innovative smart clothing item on the market. To provide the necessary structure to this report it was chosen to work with the main problem stated in a form of the following question:
● How to develop an effective brand strategy for the innovative product - smart clothes with integrated Danfoss PolyPower stretch sensors? The author aims at finding solutions to this major issue by addressing a range of more specific issues, expressed through such sub-questions as:
● What is the current situation when it comes to integrating the sensors in clothing and textile products?
● How is the competitors landscape? Who are the potential competitors and what is their product offer? Where's the gap?
● Which segment should Danfoss focus on? ● How to develop a product offer? ● What innovative services should be paired with the physical product to build a unique brand ecosystem ?
● How to develop a unique brand value proposition for clothes with integrated Danfoss PolyPower stretch sensors? (How could the product benefit target audiences?)
SCOPE OF REPORT / DELIMITATION Due to the fact that the specifics of the tech and electronics industry was unknown to the author prior to participating in the project, and lack of sufficient time resources in order to aquire more specialistic knowledge, the focus of this report has been put on documenting the updated research, as well as research outcomes driven conceptualization of the potential brand and product offer development. Due to a lack of expertise in the electronic components market the financial aspect of the strategy was not developed. Rather than this the author operates with the competitors' pricing strategies in mind and assumes that it is a good-enough point of reference when it comes to developing the brand concept. Another argument for not including the financial analysis was lack of focus on this field of matter in the materials provided by the company at the hand-out. Furthermore, The project has been based on the innovation-driven methodologies, that normally lead to multiple product and concept testing stages, which in case of this project is a potential future possibility for the company and their stakeholders.
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METHODOLOGY THE PROCESS This project was developed under the process structure inspired by the ME2 framework - the innovation process methodology developed by Aarhus University. The model was interpreted by the author in order to serve as a framework for addressing the partial issues stated in the Problem Formulation section of this report, gathered under the the main theme question: How to develop an
effective brand strategy for the innovative product - smart clothes with integrated Danfoss PolyPower stretch sensors? This process consist of the 4 following stages, that have been translated into this project's scenario: 1. UNDERSTANDING MEANS - Own resources / The Case provided by Danfoss PolyPower / Secondary Industry and Market Research Data This phase involves mapping existing and generally available resources. At this stage the author analyzed own personal and academic competences and based on that sets the project goals and establishes an overall approach to the project. This step is also connected to getting familiar with the current discourse in the world of wearable technology and more specifically smart clothing, as well as the assessment of the current industry situation insights achieved through the secondary research, as a resource of knowledge (know-what/know-how) and a starting point for further concept development.
2. DISCLOSING DISHARMONIES - Porter’s 5 Forces / PEST / SWOT As soon as the extensive research was conducted the large amount of data gathered had to be organized and analysed in order to spot the existing issues and, ultimately, to open up disharmonies such as “ the consumer needs that haven’t been yet addressed with the products currently available on the market”. The process of identifying
the existing
disharmonies was fulfilled by carrying out a thorough Micro- and Macro Environmental analysis, as well as evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in order to narrow down the research and choose a focal perspective for the next stages of the concept development process. The SWOT analysis has finalised this stage and addressed the gate issues such as: Strengths: characteristics of the concept that give it an advantage over others. Weaknesses: characteristics that place the concept at a disadvantage. Opportunities: elements that the project could exploit to its advantage. Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the project
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3. QUALIFYING OPPORTUNITIES - Primary research / Surveying / Perfect World / NABC The outcomes of the performed SWOT analysis has informed the author of whether the primary assumptions, the first draft to the product concept, and the project objectives are indeed relevant and attainable. Furthermore, the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving project objectives were identified. Based on the SWOT outcomes several disharmonies were identified and their relevancy verified by conducting a primary research in form of surveys and interviews. The conclusions served as a green light for the decision to continue following the initial assumptions. Further conceptualization of scenarios where conducted with using tools such as „The perfect world� templates, NABC model and authors own methods of organizing the innovative process, such as moodboards, braintorm maps and similar.
4. REALIZING VALUE - Value Proposition Canvas / Strategy Development The product and brand strategy concepts were developed and visualised to better convey the message behind those. At the final stage the author proposes a solution to be confronted and possibly revised in future resarch and development stages the company will undertake.
THE RESEARCH The author implemented a mix of both primary and secondary research in connection to the market analysis and concept development. Secondary research formed the initial phase of this project, where an extensive data collection was conducted, in reference to verified data sources such as industry reports and case studies, company whitepapers, academic research and
independent studies,
regulatory published material, technological media and press, magazines, statistics and other valuable data sources. The outcomes of this phase formed the basis for the author to put the gathered information into the perspective, make assumptions, furtherly analyse and finally reflect on them. Apart from the functional role that the extensive documentation of the secondary research played for the author (organizing data and documenting an important stage of the project), it is also aimed at providing the reader with a basic insight into the specific and rapidly evolving Wearable Technology and Smart Clothing industry. Understanding the characteristics of the industry plays a crucial role in understanding the solutions proposed by the author in the second part of this project - the innovative concept development.
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MARKET ASSESSMENT MATRIX
Qualitative analysis
Quantitative analysis
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Industry landscape and trends
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Market revenue estimates and forecast
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Market dynamics and key issues
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Market revenue split and forecast by
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Competitive landscape
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Porter’s analysis and PEST analysis
application
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Regional market estimate and forecast
DATA COLLECTION MATRIX
Perspective
Supply side
Demand side
Primary research
Secondary research
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The company case
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Company reports
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Company meetings
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Whitepapers
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Talks with employees
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Research publications
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Feedback session
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Independent investigations
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Economic statistics
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Demographic data
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Consumer surveys
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Case studies
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Consumer interviews
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Industry news
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Casual discussions
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Tech blogs and press
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Specialists interviews: fitness, orthopedic
DEFINITIONS In order for the reader to familiarize themselves with concepts that this work contains, and to be able to distinguish the fundamental terminology used in this report, the Definitions section was prepared. It is crucial to understand the relation and links between the broader and narrower concepts. The author decided to provide an overview of the general, Wearables market and in the further chapters moved to
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the narrower scope of this market, the single sector of the smart clothing. This subject of matter lies in the very core of the "Clothes that monitor" project.
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WEARABLES
Wearable Technology also alternatively named “wearable devices“, and “Wearables” all refer to "Electronic technologies or computers that are incorporated into items of clothing and accessories which can comfortably be worn on the body. These wearable devices can perform many of the same computing tasks as mobile phones and laptop computers; however, in some cases, wearable technology can outperform these hand-held devices entirely. Wearable technology tends to be more sophisticated than hand-held technology on the market today because it can provide sensory and scanning features not typically seen in mobile and laptop devices, such as biofeedback and tracking of physiological function."2 According to another definition, by IHS Electronics, the wearable devices must be "worn on the user's body for an extended period of time, significantly enhancing the wearer's experience as a result of the product being worn". Another criteria derived from the IHS's definition is that the product must pass the test of being SMART - must incorporate an "advanced circuitry, wireless connectivity and independent processing capability"3.
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SMART CLOTHING
At the intersection of the fields of fashion and smart technology a new product category emerged. Smart clothing represents the future of both the clothing industry and the Electronics. Challenging yet rewarding, the fusion of these two huge industries brings a great development potential and business opportunities, therefore the category has long drawn attention from various private and public investors and researchers. Smart textiles or smart fabrics can be defined as textiles that are capable of interacting with their environment. They have the ability to react to physical stimuli from thermal, mechanical, electrical and chemical sources among others. Sensors and actuators are the fundamental components of smart textiles. Materials integrated into smart textiles include optical fibres, metals and conductive polymers. Fabrics are often coated with nanoparticles ”in order to impart features such as water-repellency, UV protection, and anti-bacterial properties for a prolonged period of time.”4 2 3 4
http://www.wearabledevices.com/what-is-a-wearable-device/
Wearable Technology - Market Assessment an IHS Whitepaper from September 2013 http://www.innovationintextiles.com/smart-textiles-industry-trends-and-market-segment-forecasts-to-2020/
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Smart clothes are smart textile-based wearable systems. The term refers to one possible application of intelligent textiles. Smart clothes are hybrid products where variety of electronics and microsystems are integrated in garments. Smart clothes "afford interdisciplinary cooperation and an integration of reliable technology into socially and culturally acceptable pieces of clothing." 5. It is a general agreement that "smart garments" must include intelligent functions based on electronics and computing technologies, as well as fashionable design. Viewed from the side of the electronic industry, the smart clothing item is a perfect "interface medium between humans and electronic products due to its mobility, natural interaction, and advanced technologies in microelectronics and the smart textile field." 6 The fashion industry on the other hand views it as a good opportunity to incorporate new technologies, which helps the business to evolve, find new functionalities, product infrastructures and concepts to redefine the current understanding of what clothing is. Most importantly, the smart clothing category opens the new ways for the companies/brands for gaining competitive advantage in the age of an extremely exacerbated competition on the market, especially when sportswear and other fast paced fashion are being concerned. Numerous experts from the fashion field suggest that smart clothing will have a great impact in the near future of the industry.78 Currently, there is only a few products on the market that can be considered as an example of a full integration of high-tech devices and fashion design, which may be, inter alia, caused by the fact that most development attempts are oriented towards technical solutions to issues such as integrating sensors and computing systems into clothing (textiles) and everyday product care-related issues, such as washing, assembling and disassembling, battery charging and signal transmitting. Consequently, the smart clothing items are often entering the market rather in form of late prototypes / beta versions than ready product propositions - imperfect, with the ongoing development based on the user feedback and features being added gradually. The result of such situation is that the applications currently available on the market are still incapable of attracting the mass consumer. One of the biggest challenges that the smart clothing development at this stage is encountering seems to be the lack of strategic thinking behind the product development processes9. There has been a major shift recently from the technical approach towards a user-driven (user-centered) product development, 5 6 7
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Smart Semantics - Product Semantics of Smart Clothes, Dagmar Steffen, Françoise Adler and Andrea Weber Marin A Strategic Approach to New Product Development in Smart Clothing, Busayawan Ariyatum, Dr. Ray Holland The Next Black - A film about the Future of Clothing by AEG Wearable Electronics – Fabrics for the future, Mehrgardt S., http://www.wearable-electronics.de A Strategic Approach to New Product Development in Smart Clothing, Busayawan Ariyatum, Dr. Ray Holland
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which should become the key goal for the contributors on both sides - the electronic and fashion industry. Such change in addressing the design and development issues is crucial to defining core values and true user benefits of smart clothing, and lead to better business outcomes for the producers involved. This is where another very important facet reveals - the strategic marketing and value added management approach is necessary for the producers to differentiate their offers from each other, promote and expand the market for smart clothing. Summarizing, it can be assumed that any development within the smart textiles will occur as a result of joint efforts of the fashion and electronic industries and as such requires a collaborative work and revised innovative approach to the processes, which are traditionally very different to those two industries. The difficulty lies in the fact that the new work models for smart clothing development cannot be drawn directly from the existing models employed by the two industries, because these were developed to fit specific work methods and product context and are no longer relevant to smart clothing. The new work construct should be easily adaptable and understandable to people from different backgrounds and demonstrate the new paradigms of thinking and working. Moreover, research shows that the imbalanced contribution from the industries is one of the reasons why the new product development has not yet been using the maximum of its potential. Literature suggests that there is a strong trend for new technologies to be gradually becoming an integral part of fashion design. The ultimate goal, however, is for this tendency to start working bilaterally - for technology to become fashion and for fashion to become high-tech - a fully integrated approach.
MARKET ASSESSMENT MARKET STRUCTURE & PATTERNS INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS In a global perspective there is a large number of stakeholders present in the smart textiles industry. Among others these include: beginning from the researchers, via producers / manufacturer of raw materials and product components, suppliers, vendors from the fields of both textiles and electronics, but also technology solution providers, software developers, system integrators, up to distribution and trading consultancies. It is crucial to understand the importance of each of these actors in the Value Chain processes that are leading to a new product development, especially that the smart clothing industry is the new emerging field originating at the interface of many highly specialised disciplines. Some of the key stakeholders from across the smart textiles market has been listed in the following table:
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STAKEHOLDERS
- Research organizations
- Consumer wearables manufacturers
- Sensors, actuators, transducers producers
- Healthcare, enterprise and industrial
- Integrated Device manufacturers
- Textile, cloth and yarn suppliers
- Electronic components manufacturers
- Luxury clothing manufacturers
- Electronic design automation
- Accessories manufacturers
- Design tool vendors
- Fabless and Fabrication
- Raw material and manufacturing
- Intellectual property actors
equipment suppliers
- Original device manufacturers
- Electronic products manufacturers
- End-user application
- Technology solution providers
- Assembly, testing and packaging
- Platform developers
- Distributors and traders
MONETARY CHAIN The figure below illustrates the typical flow of goods & services from one segment to another in the wearable electronics industry, and thus presents the money flow in the form of a monetary chain. It shows the relationship between the major industry segments10.
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Wearable Electronics Market and Technology Analysis (2013-2018), Markets and Markets 2013
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MASS VS. NICHE APPLICATIONS Enterprise verticals will drive demand for high-value niche applications and leading edge functionalities of the integrated wearable technology. Sectors such as healthcare, military/defense / enforcement, and industrial manufacturing have been searching for case benefits that would justify the technology application earlier in the maturity cycle, before these are cost-effective and convenient enough to enter the mass market. The innovation is expected to be constantly driven by adapting the solutions developed by highly specialised start-ups and niche players. Furtherly, it is the smartphone users' ecosystem and mainstream leaders who are to identify the potential lying in the new functionalities and product features at the right time when these are ready to be integrated into mass consumer market without compromising the cost-efficiency/affordability, convenience, using comfort and device performance. This pattern is characteristic to the cutting-edge technology market entry strategy, and is visualised in the following figure11:
Emerging and niche actors (ex.startups) will often find that the platforms they rely on may quickly become their biggest market competitors. Therefore, the niche players will continually strive to create
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http://www.cartesian.com/wp_content/upload/Winning-in-Wearables_Cartesian_June2014.pdf
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enough value to challenge the mainstream, but this in many cases is likely to end up with their acquisition by the mainstream leading sellers, as soon as the startup gains a serious market presence. PRODUCT CATEGORIES The following table presents the five most popular applications for wearable technology, as well as the products included in each of these categories:
MARKET OUTLOOK AND GROWTH FORECASTS As a starting point the author decided to analyse the market potential for the product. To do so a number of independent sources - white papers12 and growth forecast reports13 from within the "Wearables" and smart textiles market - were analysed and compared, and the conclusions were 12 13
Wearable Technology - Market Assessment an IHS Whitepaper from September 2013 Smart Textiles Market Analysis And Segment Forecasts To 2020 by Grand View Research from January 2014
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drawn which are a mean of the data collected during this phase of the research. It was assumed that neither taking into consideration only the most nor the least optimistic prognosis would be reasonable. Rather than that, after looking at the different sources the information that were consistent were the ones that the author decided to use when estimating the market potential for the body performance tracking smart clothing. As an example of the differentiation of the estimates one can look at the figure below illustrating the Global Wearable Devices Revenue Growth (2014-2018) forecasts with the values estimated to be between 22%-68%, depending on the source14.
After the smartphones have flood the market, many see the emergence of wearable electronics as the next big thing - the upcoming technological revolution. The scope for wearable technology ranges from variety of consumer applications, healthcare, military, enterprise and industrial use as well as other fields. As the technology matures over the time, it is expected for smart textiles to find new application verticals and increase their presence in the existing fields. Developments within technology such as, among others, progressing miniaturisation of electronic components, decreasing manufacturing costs of fabrics and electronic components, and extensive use of conductive fibers have enabled evolution of 14
Wearable Electronics Market and Technology Analysis (2013-2018), Markets and Markets 2013 Smart Wearable Devices - Fitness, Healthcare, Entertainment & Enterprise 2013-2018, Juniper 2013 Market trends: Enter the wearable electronics market with products for the quantified self, Gartner 2013 One in Every Five Wearable Wireless Devices Set for Healthcare Deployment by 2017, ABI Research 2012 Enterprise Wearables Market to Reach US$18 Billion by 2019, ABI Research 2014
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smart textiles. Also, according to the Grand View Research Consulting's publication 15, the market demand for connectivity is expected to grow greatly over the next few years, empowered by the improving wireless technologies, which assist in communication between smart textiles and devices such as mobile phones and computers. SCENARIO FORECAST The author decides to acknowledge the IHS Wearable Technology Market Growth Forecast based on three alternative perspectives: the downside scenario, the base and the upside perspective.16 This is done to reflect the uncertainty in the long-term forecasting, as well as to pinpoint the key factors that may be affecting the future of the Wearables industry. This three different scenarios assume, respectively: 1. Downside (conservative) scenario: The adoption of wearable tech will be limited by factors such as:
● Lack of products ● Poor user compliance ● Lack of an overall enhanced experience from the wearable devices when compared to nonwearables 2. Base scenario: The reasonable adoption rate for wearables based on the enhanced user experience and general technological success. This forecast represents limited growth rate due to such factors as:
● Lack of reimbursement in medical applications ● Improved functionalities of competitive non-wearables ● Lack of consumer products introduction 3. Upside (the best case) scenario: This forecast assumes significant success of wearable tech products, thanks to successful introduction of new technology and gaining a significant market traction by products such as smart glasses, watches and most importantly widespread smart clothing technology available globally in product offers of the major brands.
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Smart Textiles Market Analysis And Segment Forecasts To 2020 by Grand View Research Wearable Technology - Market Assessment an IHS Whitepaper from September 2013
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â—? REGIONAL INSIGHTS Markets: North America (United States of America) dominate when it comes to the geographical locations (it accounted for 46.5% of the global market in 2012) and is expected to be the largest regional smart textiles market segment over the next few years. According to Grand View Research, the key driver for the estimated market growth in the U.S. is the product development in end-use areas. When it comes to the European perspective, Germany forms the biggest market 17 for smart wearables. Moreover, the market that is expected to grow at the highest pace over the next years is Asia & Pacific. The region expected to be the fastest growing has an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 25% from 2013 to 202018.
Production: Low cost of production in such countries as China or India has greatly boosted the textile industry in Asia & Pacific. The lowering cost of raw fibers and textile manufacturing in Asia has resulted in reduction of the clothing production in Western Europe. Therefore, many European companies from across fashion and textile industry have currently been looking at smart textiles as the chance to add value in the design stage of the Value Chain. A variety of research projects (related to smart and interactive textiles) have been funded within EU FP6 19 and FP720 programs, aimed, inter alia, at revitalising the textile industry production in EU.
17 18 19 20
30% of the market share in Europe http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/smart-textiles-industry http://cordis.europa.eu/fp6/ http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/energy/european_energy_policy/i23022_en.htm
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â—? APPLICATION INSIGHTS Smart textiles are used in various end-use industries. A robust market growth is expected in sports and fitness sector, protection & safety (via personal protective equipment), and at-home health monitoring. The consumer application sector accounts for the largest market share (by units) and is expected to continue its dominance during the next 5 years. Currently, the biggest revenue, however, is drawn from military sector21. SMART TEXTILES MARKET REVENUE SHARE BY APPLICATION (2012)22
Protection & Safety - The research shows that there is a need for a real-time tracking and information transmission in extreme environmental conditions and hazardous situations, which can be observed by looking at the demand for wearables in such fields as defences forces and emergency response services and, taking a step further towards the consumer use, in extreme sports and high risk professions. Some of the key requirements for such applications include tracking the exact location and position of the user, monitoring vital signs and pre-diagnosing injuries, as well as recording the environmental hazards. Medical & Healthcare - Nowadays, when the world population grows fast and at the same time the life expectancy has lengthen greatly the medical sector is observing an essential need for improvements on several levels, beginning from drug delivery, administration of healthcare and medical procedures up to professional interactions in patient's recovery process. Therefore, another possible use of the smart wearables is based on their feature of the continual monitoring of physiological signals, particularly important for the healthcare sector. This opens a possibility for starting up a variety of 21 22
Smart Textiles Market Analysis And Segment Forecasts To 2020 by Grand View Research Smart Textiles Market Analysis And Segment Forecasts To 2020 by Grand View Research
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different remote healthcare services (-> telemedicine), which eliminates the necessity for the patient to pay very frequent clinic visits - on one hand, and on the other hand fights the high costs of the long hospitalisation (significant financial savings for the healthcare providers).This application of the smart devices promote preventative health care delivery, accurate wellness monitoring and increases chances for the successful rehabilitation (ex. orthopedic). Sport & Fitness - Athletic Performance - Smart clothing has yet another popular application based on their ability to continuously track the body performance and physiological parameters. Products developed primarily for other industries, for example for the sake of restructuring the healthcare sector, often do also fit well into the professional sports and other, consumer applications in sectors such as fitness, wellness or lifestyle. Textile industry have also been conducting a considerable number of Research and Development-related activities in connection to exploring the potential lying in the smart textiles for enhancing athletic performance. There is a clear need for innovative solutions when it comes to garments' / textiles' features such as breathability, waterproofness, controlling the body temperature and providing awareness regarding the physiological performance of the user. This demand is very likely to be addressed in the future with products developed using passive, responsive, interactive and adaptive smart textiles.
SPORT & FITNESS SECTOR STATISTICS When assessing the business potential of a product or service, data-based decisions provide better results than those based solely on intuition23. Therefore the author decided to support the research with the data collected from a large number of respondents, presented in the IHS Electronics WhitePaper24.
Growth
â—? The global (worldwide) revenue is sales from the Sports & Fitness Monitors is forecast to reach $2.3 billion in 2017.
â—? It is expected that within the next 5 years (cumulative) the shipment of the devices will be around 250 million pieces.
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Dealing with Statistics: What you need to know, Reva Berman Brown, Mark Saunders. Oxford Brookes University Wearable Technology - Market Assessment an IHS Whitepaper from September 2013
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MEMS ( Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems )25
â—? In the last two years (12/13) the majority of units were shipped into sports & fitness devices â—? The Compound Annual Growth Rate 42% grow between 2012-2017 Consumer Insights : Current device ownership and applications statistics Types of activities performed
The surveyed groups were asked about the type of fitness device (if any) that was owned and used by them. The respondents had to point out an exact type of metrics being tracked by them. The percentage outcome of those questions looks as follows: 25
According to MEMS Market Tracker Database - Consumer and Mobile, IHS, 2013
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WEARABLE FITNESS DEVICES The vendors landscape within the Wearable Fitness Devices market consist of companies delivering products in such categories as wristbands, smart watches, step-counting foot pods (pedometers), heart rate monitoring chest belts, head-up displays and smart glasses, and finally the textileintegrated, sensors - embedded smart clothing. Some of the main players are presented in the map below: FITNESS WEARABLES - VENDORS LANDSCAPE
Recent events in the Wristbands category:
â—? Fitbit, the fitness tracking market leader tries to recover from a product
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recall of their Fitbit Force, which gave some consumers wrist rashes.26
● Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smartwatch has changed operating systems ● Nike discontinuing the Fuelband (exit), their activity-tracking bracelet27 ● In the further part of this report the secondary competitors were taken into consideration - the products that are addressing the similar consumer needs to “our” 28 concept, and if developed properly may become competitors even though the solutions are acquired through incorporating different technologies, for example the movement tracking devices that cannot be classified as smart clothing, but other convenient wearables instead. In the said part the author will also focus more thoroughly on the product as a full system - the smart garment and mobile "coaching" applications connected to it, and look at the alternative solutions in this subject. MARKET DRIVERS There is a number of factors that drive the development in the smart clothing. The most important drivers that influence both the fitness, and the bordering rehabilitation & wellness sectors are: Demographic and Social Trends
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The rising average life expectancy
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Higher proportion of seniors
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Increased prevalence of chronic
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Civilization and modern lifestyle-driven diseases (ex. orthopedic problems caused by the largely sedentary lifestyle)
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Larger ratio of patients requiring long-term care - need to decrease the length of hospital stay
Smartphones Ecosystem - Technology Adoption
26 27 28
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The Smartphone market experiences rapid growth
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In 2016 over a 1.8 millions Smartphones are forecast to be shipped globally
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Smartphones become a hub for information
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Rapid development within devices sharing data with smartphones
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Did-You-Scar-Me-For-Life-Philly-Woman-Sues-Over-Fitbit-Wristband-254437891.html http://www.dailytech.com/Nike+Axes+FuelBand+Team+Exits+Wearable+Device+Market/article34754.htm Developed during the “Clothes that monitor”, TEKO + Danfoss PolyPower project, body posture monitoring and correcting
22
➔
Top 20 sports, fitness, and health Apps account for over 230 mln installs
The Growing Demand From Several User Groups:
● Professional Athletes and Coaches/Trainers ● Recreational Fitness Consumers ● Researchers ● Corporate Wellness Programmes ● Chronic Disease Management ● Rehabilitation - ex. orthopedic Professional sport: The need to improve the athletic performance has become one of the key driving forces behind the constantly developing world of professional sport. Emerging technologies within the performance monitoring and motion supervision are currently becoming the key tools for the professional trainers to evaluate the efficiency of the training programmes and optimise the athletes' performance29. The professional sports market has already been adopting the smart clothing technology, and products such as Adidas miCoach Elite system (soccer) or the Reebok Checklight (a head impact indicator, primarily designed for american football / rugby players) are being developed in collaboration with professional sport clubs and teams. Such an early market adoption by the world of professional sport means not only acting on a larger scale but at the same time being able to focus-test the products and ascertaining the co-creation where professional coaches and athletes involved play the role of "practical specialists". Such strategy is also aimed at establishing new standards and trends for the field of amateur sport goods purchasers, encouraging the amateur fitness lovers to be seeking for the similar solutions yet in more affordable prices. Differently than in the amateur fitness market where the wearing comfort and the garment’s design have a great impact on the purchasing decision, in the case of professional sports the coaches / trainers / supervisors are the decisive group and these professionals are primarily interested in: tracking capacity, data accuracy and data management systems that the product provides. Amateur fitness: The Grand View Research report suggests that the key driver behind the adoption of smart textiles on the amateur sports market is the rising awareness regarding the importance of fitness, personal health and active lifestyle. 29
White paper on smart textile garments and devices: a market overview of smart textile wearable technologies, Christian Dalsgaard, Rachael Sterrett, Ohmatex Aps, Brendstrupgaardsvej 102, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
23
Quantified self: a movement to incorporate technology into data acquisition on aspects of a person's daily life in terms of inputs (e.g. food consumed, quality of surrounding air), states (e.g. mood, arousal, blood oxygen levels), and performance (mental and physical).30
SMART CLOTHING - COMPETITIVE INSIGHTS Due to their huge investment capacities, the leading sportswear producers - companies such as Nike, Adidas and Reebok are on the forefront of the smart textiles-based performance clothing. As the costs of the innovative products development has to be partially absorbed by relatively high retail prices, the majority of the smart clothing in the consumer sectors has been introduced in the high-end performance clothing category. The new product introduction in case of the aforementioned brands has nearly always been based on the same pattern: at first these companies introduce a range of products and services to the professional sports market and over the time move to the high-end amatour fitness sectors, appealing as both electronic gadget and a fit lifestyle-driven sportswear. Very recently (June/July 2014) a strong trend could be noticed in the Fitness Wearables Industry, which is to move over from wristbands towards smart clothing with a built-in technology. Not a long time ago, in 2013 there were only a very few companies oriented on combining the sport activity-monitoring technology with fashion design, but the progress in development has happened rapidly. One of the industry's groundbreaking news was that in April 2014 Nike announced they were discounting their popular performance tracking bracelet - The Fuelband. This can indicate that the wristband devices might have been somewhat problematic for the users, and that in the end the only medium convenient enough for the wearer is the one most natural - clothing (fully-integrated performance clothing).
â—? CURRENT PRODUCT LANDSCAPE In this subchapter the author juxtapositions the products currently available on the sports / fitness market, that are comparable or similar to the garments developed by the design team during the "Clothes that monitor" project. The products listed are limited to the performance smart clothing, that are based on the principle of monitoring different body functions / changing physical parameters by using sensors integrated into garments, which makes them a potential competitor to the products developed with the use of Danfoss PolyPower elastic capacitive sensors.
30
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantified_Self
24
Reebok CheckLight - Head Impact Indicator Developed in partnership with the tech company MC10 Inc., Reebok CheckLight is one of the first head impact indicator, reflecting direct accelerations that the head (not a helmet / chinstrap) experiences. The sensors continuously measure impacts the athlete experiences and provide a simple visual display of impact severity. In other words, the device measures how dramatically an athlete's head moves upon impact. The results of this check determine "whether medical attention is advisable, and ultimately, the wisdom of re-entering a game"31. The concept behind this product is based on the fact that an athlete can absorb contact or a collision that might cause a concussion, but at the same time have no idea of the actual damage. According to MC10's spokesman Elyse Kabinoff “In the heat of a game, you might not respond to a hit if you’re in the zone and the crowd is cheering”. In such case, which may help is for the coach and perhaps other players to become aware of that the athlete could have been harmed. A sensor designed by MC10 has been fitted inside a Reebok Skullcap. Additionally the three LED indicators are contained inside the sensor. The green one measures battery life. The price of $149.99 does include a battery charger. The yellow light turns up after a "moderate" contact, and the red one indicates that the impact was severe and the athlete should be examined by the medical staff immediately.
31
http://www.digitaltrends.com/sports/reebok-wants-you-to-check-your-head-lights/#!bnZq8Q http://shop.reebok.com/us/content/CheckLight
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Adidas MiCoach Elite System The miCoach Elite System is currently one of the most comprehensive monitoring tools for professional sport teams. The product measures players' moves, heartbeat and step and relays the data collected to a coach/trainer in a real time, who then by simply monitoring the iPad can understand the physical impact on the player's body (work rate, stamina, speed, distance, performance efficiency and power). The System includes "a small data cell that fits into a player’s base layer in a protective pocket on the back between the shoulder blades. Connected by a series of electrodes and sensors woven into the fabric of the base layer, the cell wirelessly transmits more than 200 data records per second from each player to a central computer and then is displayed in a series of simplified insights and results on the coach’s tablet."32 The tool simultaneously gathers data of every team member, whatever position they play at. Therefore, the technology is said to enable a better understanding of the physical and physiological impact on the team, or any individual, during a game or training session. By helping to maintain an optimum levels of player's performance in the single game, as well as in a long (seasonal) perspective, the system has the potential to influence important coaching decisions. It helps to plan the game tactics and to prevent the risk of player's overtraining and injuries. A coach can monitor the workload of an individual players, compare one athlete with another and view the team performance to gain a complete picture of the game.
32
http://www.adidas.com/com/goallin/articles/2012/07/performance-football-allin-mls http://preview.thenewsmarket.com/Previews/ADID/DocumentAssets/246461.pdf
26
OMSignal - “The first ever collection of biometric smartwear” In May 2014 OMsignal33 introduced a collection of Biometric Smartwear containing four styles of smart shirts for men (an undershirt, sleeveless shirt, t-shirt and long-sleeved shirt), currently available in pre-orders (first shipments are planned for the summer 2014). OM smart shirts monitor user's activity, physiological stress and fitness levels, providing the user with an overview of his daily and fitness performance. The shirts advanced smart compression garments of high-quality, seamlessly sewn / knitted for wearing comfort, moisture wicking and made with anti-microbial fabrics (polyester and spandex) in order to prevent the body odor connected to the wearer's intensive activity. The initial line is designed to appeal to different target audiences and according to a different types of use ex. smart garment worn under clothing for everyday activities, or a dedicated sportswear. The OMsignal’s shirt tracks the following bio-signals:
● Heart rate ● Breathing rate and depth (volume) ● Activity intensity ● Steps walked ● Calories burned ● Heart Rate Variability The sensors are embedded into the fabric in order to gather the deep biometric data at multiple touchpoints. The sensors have been knitted close to the heart to capture a robust electrocardiogram (ECG) reading, which deliver heart rate (BPM) and heart rate variability (HRV). Based on the readings the number of calories burned by the wearer is calculated, as well as physiological stress-level monitored. The sensors placed on the chest measure respiration rate and balance, and additional accelerometer tracks activity levels34. The fitness shirt - the unique compression properties enhance blood circulations and oxygen delivery to the muscles, which enhances the performance and recovery of the user. In the lifestyle shirt slimming and posture supporting solutions were added. OMsignal system works the way that the metrics taken during the fitness workout are sent into a software cloud and are then processed and finally presented on the user's smartphone app. The shirts infused with sensors comes with a clipon rechargeable device that continually streams data to a mobile app. The module - the little black box - is water-resistant (yet not waterproof - must be unclipped before the machine wash) and the 33 34
http://www.omsignal.com http://www.omsignal.com/blogs/omsignal-blog/14073217-omsignal-biometric-smartwear-is-here http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/06/24/wearable-smart-shirt-maker-omsignal-raises-10-million/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/08/omsignal-opens-pre-orders-for-smart-shirts-that-track-activity-fitness-and-stress/
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rechargeable battery provides up to 30h of use. The single power supplying + transmitting unit works with multiple OM smart shirts. Starter kits which include the device and a sleeveless shirt cost $199 in pre-sales. Each additional shirt retailing on its own is priced between $100 and $140. The black box on its own costs $140. Capital behind - Investors: Real Ventures is a seed stage venture capital fund based out of Montreal, Canada. The fund invests alongside entrepreneurs from idea to exit, and focuses on investments in web, mobile and digital media. Real Ventures is also the primary investor and supporter of FounderFuel, a web/mobile accelerator program. Real Ventures also manages the Montreal Start Up portfolio of 15 companies35. In the late June 2014 the company has raised $10 million in a round of financing led by Bessemer Venture Partners36. OM’s Strategy: According to the company's CEO Stephane Marceau, OMsignal plans to use the investment to explore partnership options with fitness and sportswear apparel companies as well as furthering research and product development and working on supply-chain issues. The company's ultimate business strategy is to license its technology and fabrics to other companies, including gyms and manufactures of cycling, running and skiing apparel. OM sees an opportunity in the major players, such as Nike, leaving the wristbands sector. “They’re (Nike) a fashion company and now they’re going to be looking for people to partner with to build better user experiences”37 says Rob Stavis from OM.
35 36 37
http://www.omsignal.com/pages/investors http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/06/24/wearable-smart-shirt-maker-omsignal-raises-10-million/ http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/06/24/wearable-smart-shirt-maker-omsignal-raises-10-million/
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Athos - Smart Workout Wear The company, backed $3.5M from Social+Capital, produces workout clothing for both men and women with all-over sensors that detect fitness metrics such as heart rate, breathing rate, and also provide the user with detailed information about muscle exertion. Athos turns biosignals from the wearer's body into easy to understand actionable insights visible via smartphone, so the workout can be optimized. Additionally, the Athos Score system represents the intensity and effectiveness of the wearer's workout and stores data to track user's improvements over time, set goals and motivate oneself to surpass them. It helps the user to track muscle effort, fatigue and Target Zones, Heart rate and Breathing patterns, and helps to distinguish training style between building vs toning / under vs over training. The offer consist of smart shirts and shorts with monitoring tools seamlessly built into the apparel, nonadhesive and built directly into the fabric. The fabrics used are moisture wicking and compressing and the garments contains different types of sensors:
The Core contains the electronics and intelligence that enables the collection and interpretation of the user's biosignals and streams the data in a real-time to mobile devices via Bluetooth. The module works with any Athos garment, provides 10h of continuous battery life, is impact resistant and contains a built-in 6-axis accelerometer38. The workout wear can already be pre-ordered and Athos plans to start shipping by the end of the fall 2014. The set of a shirt and capris together with The Core cost $390 for both men and women.
38
https://www.liveathos.com http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/athos
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AIQ Smart Clothing AIQ Smart Clothing Inc. is another player that combines electronics with textiles. The products have been developed through combining and processing a number of key components of King’s Metal Fiber Technologies, stainless steel yarns and threads that are integrated directly into garments. The embedded steel threads within the shirt provide electrical conductivity that allows for vital signals sensing. Furthermore, the material can potentially be customized to measure skin moisture and electrophysiological signals (ECG, EEG or EMG). The clothes are highly functional (washable), lightweight, washable and easy to use. Similarly to OMsignal and Hexoskin AIQ produces fitness t-shirts (for both men and women) that can track body vital signs and stream the data to the user's smartphone wirelessly via Bluetooth. The BioMan is able to track heart rate, respiration rate and skin temperature. The company targets their products to everyday and fitness users. The products work as a sports & fitness activity monitoring tool, and are good for tracking both outdoor or home leisure activities. In addition to BioMan, AIQ's offer consists of other smart clothing textiles39, such as:
● NeonMan integrating patented LED wire and LED buttons powered by a small removable battery to enhance the safety of night time activities.
● ShieldMan fabric, using a textile consisting of a fine metal mesh distributed evenly inside clothing, shielding the wearer from electromagnetic radiation.
● ThermoMan - a soft fabric using uniquely coated stainless steel yarns ensuring the wearer's safety, that keeps the wearer warm without the use of large heating panels /pads which tend to weigh down while performing outdoor tasks.
39
http://www.medgadget.com/2013/09/aiqs-bioman-biomonitoring-shirt-and-other-smart-clothing-technology.html http://www.aiqsmartclothing.com http://www.kingsmetalfiber.com/aiq
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Hexoskin
Hexoskin provides the user with insights on the physical training, sleep routines, and personal daily activities. The shirt contains different types of sensors: 1. Monitoring breathing - chest and waist sensors, and 2. Three fabric-based stretchable heart sensors. Apart from these the system uses a movement tracking device stored in the side pocket, measuring the activity intensity, steps, pace, cadence, intervals and tracking the sleep position.
The product measures such parameters as40:
● Heart Rate (a precise, real-time ECG) ● Heart Rate Variability (stress and training fatigue, prevents overtraining) ● Breathing Rate and Breathing Volume (avoid hyperventilation and apnea) ● Activity: Steps, Cadence and Calories burned ● Sleep - Hexoskin serves as a unique sleep tracking device: measure the wearer's resting heart rate, breathing, and sleep positions The starter kit available online includes Biometric Shirt, Device and device-to-usb cable and costs $399. Apps and online data storage are available for free. Also, Hexoskin licenses OMsignal and other rival smart shirt makers so their users can access their data collection and analysis technology. Approximately 50 developers have signed up to use their open application programming interface (API) to make use of the data in their apps41. 40
http://www.medgadget.com/2013/10/hexoskin-shirts-that-track-movement-respiration-and-heart-activity-interview.html http://www.hexoskin.com
41
http://www.sporttechie.com/2014/05/29/hexoskin-is-the-first-biometric-shirt-for-movement-respiration-and-heart-activity-tracking/
31
Intel (partnership with AIQ) In May 2014 another big player - Intel announced to be releasing a new smart shirt in the summer, designed in a partnership with AIQ (aforementioned), who specialize in merging electronics and fashion textiles. The shirt made with smart, conductive fibers will be paired with the Intel’s Edison micro-computer, to stream biometric data over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to a smartphone or computer. According to Mike Bell from Intel, the idea behind the new platform is that the company has produced both hardware and software for their partners "to go off and build stuff with it"42. Recently Intel has also joined forces with some of the influential fashion brands and cooperates with, inter alia, Barneys, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and Opening Ceremony to explore and bring to market beautiful wearable technology, and to increase dialogue and cooperation between the fashion and technology industries.43
42
http://time.com/126945/intel-smart-wearable-shirt/ http://wearableworldnews.com/2014/05/28/intel-smart-shirt/ http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/28/intel-shows-off-smart-wearable-shirt/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
43
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/fashion/fashion-technology.html
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SITUATION ANALYSIS MICROENVIRONMENT: PORTER’S FIVE FORCES SMART CLOTHING SEGMENT Porter’s Five Forces “represent a theoretical framework that is used for the industry analysis and strategy development." The said five forces shaping competition within the industry are in specific: the intensity of rivalry among the competitors, the risk of entry of new competitors, the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers and the threat of substitute products and services.” The aim of using this model was to identify the forces in the competitive environment of Smart Clothing segment, as well as assessing their intensity, in order to adapt the brand strategy and marketing tactics to the external situation leading to gaining the competitive advantage over the market rivals. 1. Barriers to Entry/ Threats of new entrants : Medium high
● Capital requirement ● Technology - high tech-intelligence required ● Little product differentiation ● But: technological solutions may be obtained on the basis of license from the existing market players, and with the smart value chain management (ex. strategic partnership and offshoring) and the strategic brand building the competition within the segment may exacerbate quickly 2. Threat of Substitutes: Relatively low
● As a very young segment, currently undergoing aggressive development it is rather unlikely for the alternative product lines / substitutes to enter the game in a few year perspective.
● The existing wearable solutions, such as smart-watches and for instance clip-on devices may adjust to become more convenient for the users and may then possibly become more direct competition to the textile-integrated ones.
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3. Bargaining power of buyers : Medium
● The minimal switching cost for customers is currently around min.$300, there is a few competitive offers although the ultimate cost structures and segment’s
situation is yet
unknown, because most of the smart clothing producers have still been in the pre-sales stage, with the shipments planned for this summer (2014).
● The consumer prices are set to be relatively high, but may become subject to flexibly changing pricing strategies (tech market).
● Building up the loyal brand audience would strengthen the preference towards the brand and make the consumers more flexible to the price fluctuations. 4. Supplier Power: Relatively high (Electronics) Medium (Fashion & Textiles)
● Electronic components and suppliers of the cutting-edge technology are the “key enablers” in the end product development, these companies work as innovation hubs and their expertise may drive new market opportunities.
● High number of suppliers and manufacturers within the textile industry - But: it is necessary to work with the ones complying with the high production standards, capable of integrating the electronic components and devices under the high safety and quality standards, as well as protect the tech-intelligence.
● With the forecasted rapid growth within the segment it is important to rely on a long-term, stable relationships with the suppliers, pair-up and collaborate closely to built upon each others perspective and look for interdisciplinary solutions.
● Partnership relation and understanding that the joining the forces on a way to a forefront innovation may become a catapult for growth for each of the collaborating players. 5. Industry Rivalry: Low to medium ( growing rapidly over short periods )
● Small number of competitors and a small product differentiation - Even though some of the startups have been offering slightly different product features, in general the way to differentiate from one another among the smart clothing producers seems to be the choice of the slightly different target groups. Since both the products and the prices are set on the almost identical level it is important to differentiate on the brand level, therefore most of the current actors will probably search for strategic partnership opportunities within fashion and lifestyle market, and are likely to collaborate with some of the major sports brands.
● Overlapping markets of smart watches and textile-integrated fitness devices
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● Rapidly growing demand (in the forecasted 5 years perspective) will allow for the new entrants to establish themselves, if act quickly, at the forefront of the “next tech revolution” and set the standards for the field.
MACROENVIRONMENT: PEST ANALYSIS THE NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE By conducting a micro-environmental analysis different existing and future potential opportunities and threats can be identified, by analysing interactions between the different market forces. Marketing scope is interested in the following forces: political / legal, economic, social / cultural, technological and ecological / physical. It is important for the organization to know how these fields affect the company, and it plays an important role in the decision making process, especially when it comes to entering the market with a new and innovative product . The PEST framework helps to describe these forces and by analysing interactions between them marketers are able to foresee the opportunities and threats connected to their decisions.44 Political forces
● Data generated by wearable technology will form part of a Human Cloud ● Privacy is among the biggest concerns for consumers impacting the smart clothing adoption (Study by Rackspace and Centre for Creative and Social Technology45), therefore the privacy issues must be incorporated and come to focus in the product development and corporate policies.
● Property rights, including protection of intellectual property (trade marks, copyright, patents, registered designs, trade secrets, software etc.)
● Being a responsible company Danfoss establishes a Code of Conduct and Sustainability Policy, as well as follows local laws and industry-specific regulations. Economic forces
● Disposable income, consumer buying power affecting demand for non-essential / luxury goods. 44 45
Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller, Marketing Management http://www.rackspace.co.uk/sites/default/files/whitepapers/The_Human_Cloud_-_June_2013.pdf
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● Price sensitivity - consumers are likely to choose much lower priced substitutes, such as smart watches.
● Highly skilled labour costs continuously rising. ● Production, manufacturing and raw materials supply costs. ● Economic stability / instability (EU recovering from the financial crisis). ● High-end wearables likely to continue to command premium pricing strategies - lower alternatives being developed (technology cost curve). Socio – cultural forces
● Market is at the verge of massive mainstream uptake of wearable devices
- a question of
consumers acceptance of the smart clothing technology.
● ‘Internet of Things’ - a growing network of devices, crowdsourced public service improvements - privacy and number of issues need to be considered.
● Ethical and moral issues (approach to concepts such as for instance quantified self and incorporating advanced, tracking technology in the everyday life. A discussion around transhumanism may also evolve.)
● Demographic issues influencing the scale of demand: ● Age distribution - Over the next few years the consumers of a younger ages to whom technology is inseparable part of a daily life are more likely to adapt the products from within the fitness, smart performance clothing category.
● General social approach towards fit and active lifestyle and monitoring one's health regularly. (May vary depending on location globally)
● Education level - awareness in connection to health-related issues. ● Using wearable tech is a life - enhancing experience: ○ 81% of UK, and 87% of US respondents claim that wearable tech has boosted their personal abilities
○ 63% of UK, and 71% of US user state that wearable tech has improved their health and fitness
○ One in three respondents in the UK and US believe that wearable tech has helped their career development
○ Wearable has boosted self-confidence (46% in UK, 54% in US) ○ 53% UK, 60% US believe it helps them feel more in control of their lives
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○ 27% UK, 36% US use wearable tech to enhance their love lives46 ● Social engagement : Social networking / connectivity incorporated into the product system (smart clothing+smartphone applications) builds higher customer engagement and develop closer ties with the brand.
● Fashion and trends ( product style and design, brand communication) Technology forces
● Design/comfort: flexible displays are opening new design options, increased robustness, electronics becoming more functional, conductive textiles.
● Functionality, interface, easy of use: miniaturization and cost improvements, the amount of data wearables collect, voice input, improving integration with smartphones ecosystem.
● Battery: Low energy connectivity through Bluetooth, wireless charging, advancements in processors, displays and battery life, ultimately - energy harvesting.
● Intelligence: Cloud-based processing, data analytics ● Platforms Flexibility: operating systems and platforms are being designed specifically for wearable devices, such as Samsung Tizen or Android Wear), with API, SDK, following open design, enhancing innovation and new tech ecosystem development47.
● Supporting infrastructure: Smartphones penetration, mobile internet connectivity (lowering prices).
SWOT ANALYSIS SITUATION / RESOURCES VS. CONCEPT IMPLEMENTATION POTENTIAL Based on the extensive industry and market research, after conducting both micro- and macroenvironmental analysis, the outcomes and conclusions worth putting into strong focus was incorporated into a SWOT framework, divided into 4 different groups of factors which influence or are likely to influence in the future various business objectives of the project :
46
The Human Cloud: Wearable Technology from Novelty to Productivity - A social study into the impact of wearable technology by Rackspace in association with the Centre for Creative and Social Technology (CAST) at Goldsmiths, University of London. The exploration was supported by quantitative research into attitudes and behaviour regarding wearable technology among 4,000 UK and US adults., 2013 47
Winning in Wearables: Strategies to Drive Enduring Market Traction, Todd Bricker, Cartesian, June 2014
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STRENGTHS 1. Cutting edge technology and innovative approach 2. Expertise and component production know-how 3. Constant product development 4. Customization optional (open for negotiations with partners) 5. Reliable enterprise and brand with a strong, global presence (Danfoss) 6. Financial resources of the big player 7. Focused on quality 8. Industry, research centres and academic network 9. Concept : technically achievable / attainable 10. Timing - Temporal advantage (technology integrated soon enough puts the company at the forefront of the new tech revolution) 11. The concept fits into trends and tendencies within the fashion/lifestyle and fitness/wellness 12. Forecasted rapid and strong growth of the Smart Clothing sector 13. Relatively low competition - only a few brands taking pre-orders, no very similar products being sold yet 14. Recent issues in the wristbands/smart watches category may indicate that the adoption of such devices might have been overestimated. At the same time it is said to be a result of a consumer preference towards better integrated and more convenient wearables (Smart clothing predicted to become an “ultimate” solution in the few years perspective) 15. The concept of posture monitoring has yet no direct competition in the field of smart clothing (only one recognizable similar project by Electric Foxy is currently under development. Wearable non-clothing: LUMO) WEAKNESSES 1. Lack of strategic plan 2. Time pressure - not yet “in the game”, while new players entering rapidly 3. Lack of expertise when it comes to lifestyle/fashion fields 4. Lack of technological know-how in connection to textile integration of the stretchable sensors 5. Lack of established partnerships and Value Chain planning 6. Prototyping in an early stage 7. Strong focus on details while not enough on the holistic approach (Currently focus seems to be put on searching for the technical solutions connected, inter alia, to the textile integration,
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while not enough attention paid to overall strategy and conceptual thinking in connection to developing a mainstream, mass-market consumer-driven product offer. ) OPPORTUNITIES 1. Action: fast implementation to gain the temporal advantage before the competition exacerbates, taking the forefront position 2. Filling the gaps - addressing the user needs that have not yet been addressed by other producers. For example, none of the existing smart clothing market players sell kidswear, no product focused strictly on the posture/movement tracking etc. 3. Partnership with the brands from within fitness and/or fashion markets 4. Planning of the Value Chain, product development and infrastructure 5. Market share growth (dominate the market) 6. Development of a smart clothing startup powered by Danfoss as a tool for promoting the concept, gaining recognition, getting insights into the potential consumers’ needs and expectations, test the audience interest in the particular solutions and whether it’s attainable and worth further investments, ultimately it will serve as the real-life showcase for the future investors/ partners in licensing 7. Production of a startup landing page with an open pre-sales option 8. Partnering with specialised team and co-funding/crowdfunding the further project development (taking initiative in order to push things fast forward) 9. Innovative consumer-driven collaborations 10. Growth derived from licensing relations 11. Brand strategy / Value based management THREATS 1. Uncertainty of the market growth forecast 2. Substitutes, such as smart watches, clip-on devices etc. may become as convenient as clothing and with a cheaper retail prices the categories will begin to overlap each other leading to the smart clothing prices devaluation 3. The company is exposed to rises in the cost of raw materials, production/ manufacturing and skilled labor, both within electronics and textile industry 4. Existing competitors successfully expanding on a global scale 5. Faster implementation from the cheaper, small scale, independent startups 6. Unstable global economic situation - reflected in loss within sales
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7. New, restrictive regulations and laws in connection to production and sales in the Smart Clothing segment 8. Public discourse around wearable tech - negative attitude towards self-adjustment with the use of the devices, ethical issues influencing sales 9. Privacy issues in connection to personal, biometric data streamed over to clouds 10. Further product development process too cost-consuming to proceed
RESEARCH-DRIVEN CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT The outcomes of the SWOT analysis have formed a basis for a research-driven concept development. The author has decided to work with the following disharmonies:
•
No product in the smart clothing category focused strictly on the posture correction
•
Lack of sufficient emotional (brand strategy driven) differentiation between the products
•
All brands in the segment convey very similar message/ tone of communication
•
No trully fashionable solution – rather than that the items look very „sporty” and do not match the criterium of replacing an everyday casual wear (only workouts ) Lack of solution that would be tailored for an „everyday fit lifestyle”
•
Lack of social brand experience ecosystems
•
Lack of the user-driven, trully engaging interaction and motivational system
•
No products targeted to women, while there seems to be a strong trend in women fitness workout („FITSPIRED”48from Fitness and Inspired)
EVALUATION OF THE INITIAL ASSUMPTIONS – SECONDARY RESEARCH In order to verify the initial assumptions and decide on whether or not the concept is worth undergoing further developments primary research was designed. The first step was to confront the data outcomes from the secondary research conducted on an earlier stage of this project by creating an online survey questionnaires. The internet space where the survey was asked was decided to be as focused as possible in order to get a sense of investigating the preferences among the chosen "focus groups". 48
https://twitter.com/hashtag/FITSPIRE?src=hash http://fitspired.me http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/fitspired http://sustainmymotivation.tumblr.com
40
The survey was collecting answers from a couple of different sources simultaneously but most of the respondents has gotten to fill the survey via the link posted in the following online communities: •
Facebook : Fitness Girls (1 376 952 Likes)
•
Facebook : Fitspiration ( 310 222 Likes)
•
Facebook : Endomondo - popular performance App (401 370 Likes )
•
Facebook : Ewa Chodakowska - polish celebrity trainer ( 1 268 012 Likes)
•
Facebook : Yeah, She Squats. ( 1 211 274 Likes)
… and around 20 similar websites and forums. Also, to get some imput from more general audience the survey was also conducted among danish/international students and people in their 20s. There was 104 unique visits to the questionaire landing page and 72 respondents has filled-in the whole, 11 Questions long survey. The majority - 78% of the respondents were females. The typical respondent's age: –
72 % - was in the age group of between 19-27 years old
–
15 % - the respondent between 28-36 years of age
–
8 % - was in the group of 37-45 years old
KEY FINDINGS The full transcript of the surveys' results has been attached to the Process Portfolio. The research key findings involved getting to know the customers' daily habits and routines when it comes to fitness and physical activity. The research has also addressed the question of motivation among audience, which was following the assumption that the concept of linking the Smart clothing items with the smarphone ecosystem-based platform should bring the motivation to the users as one of the most important benefits. Furthermore, the research outcomes led to developing a concept of the visual and emotional brand universe since the people were asked to (based on ticking the most appealing pictures conveying the major, leading brands from within sportswear market) choose the appeal of the brand that is the closest to their personal preferences. Another question with the use of visual options was connected to choosing the person's desired / „dream” body shape. This has not only provided an insight into the type of activities that may logically lead the user to gaining their ideal silhouette, but also told a lot about the general aesthetics the person prefers, because the graphic
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alternatives to choose from featured the descriptions that were placed there in order to analyse the self-expressive needs of the users. The research key findings have then be translated into the different consumer needs, and next to business challenges / objectives connected to those.
CONSUMER NEEDS TRANSLATED INTO BUSINESS CHALLENGES
1.
PEOPLE DO EXERCISE – IRREGULARLY, and
2.
FACTORS THAT PREVENT PEOPLE FROM REGULAR WORKOUT
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LACK OF TIME – People claim they are too busy to exercise on a more regular basis. This may possibly be a very subjective feeling of the users, which the product could solve for them. Business Approach: Development of a good planning feature. - The App can contain a weekly / daily planner - The alerts are set to send motivational messages each time the workout time „declared” by the user is approaching. The system will then track whether the user stuck to his /her
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initial plan and if this doesn't happen gives notice – ex. Minus 5 points in effective time management”. •
LACK OF MOTIVATION – People find difficulties in self-motivation. This finding initiated the author's further research in the form of interviews with 10 professional / semi-professional , athletes/fitness trainers on a topic of motivation. Each of the people interviewed have had different practices, when it comes to the issue, however some patterns were repeating, which formed a Best Practices list that may be useful in developing the specif app features oriented towards arousing motivation and inspiration amoung users.
MOTIVATION TECHNIQUES: BEST PRACTICES: ◦
GOOD EXAMPLE MOTIVATES - Serving as a real-life-example of that the success can be achieved. For the business/ strategic approach this means the App could additionally contain a feature of playing the videos with pre-made examples of the particular exercise type done correctly. This option would open many opportunities, such as:
◦ Celebrity workout which is back in trend and extremely popular globally ◦
Male Model workout - a new approach to the workout experience on the side of male users. The survey indeed has shown that the respondends were mostly interested in getting the toned silhouette and not many in a body-builder type of body. Men are also getting more fashion-conscious and want to exercise "with style" as much as women do. Also the more fitness advanced female audience would freely be able to pick this type of training.
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◦
The new Reebok Instructors Network is a great platform for online coaching services 49
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TALKING ABOUT OWN GOALS AND PROGRESS - This could be achieved through incorporating the social sharing experience to the App. The personal achievements can be shared and the health competition among groups of wearers inspired. The rivalry is also one of the things that may motivate the people to go beyond their own limits. The „sharing experience” feature is very valuable for the brand, because it bonds the users within the community, thus enhances their attachement to the product and services.
◦
HELPING TO DEAL WITH SETTING-UP THE RIGHT POSITIONS – The device could provide a 3D visual feedback to the user – depending on the sensors placing in the garments – either for a full silhouette or only the chest/back or the bottom body parts. Other senses could also be engaged, ex. Vibration/sound or light effect signalizing the wrong position and motivating people to posture correction.
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LACK OF RESULTS – People tend to loose motivation as soon as they realize there has been no progress. This is however, based solely on one's own feeling and assumptions. With the Smart Clothing Device one can easily measure the objective change within one's capacities. The trainings are also much more effective and planned in advance, and customized to the unique user, hence the predicted results are much better controlled and attainable.
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FINANCIAL ASPECT – The gear and the fitness-centre membership fee (10%) and finaly the cost of working with a personal coach is too high for many of the consumers. The solution offered is solving this issue in the variety of ways. Exercising alone takes off the duty of paying for the expensive services, and actually offers a much bigger value expressed in an in-depth analysis of one's training progress over long periods of time.
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http://fitness.reebok.de/reebokone
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CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR INSIGHTS Six profiles of wearable technology users 1. Curious The profile identified in the Human Cloud study 50 stands for people who have no particular health, fitness, food, mood or emotional need for wearable technology. Rather than this they were intrigued and genuinely curious about what happens when they use the smart wearable devices. These wearers were intrigued with the fact that device collects data but are expected not to use the information in an analytical sense. This group of consumers wants the device that is easy to use and wear. Key Characteristics:
● University students / Junior employees in their 20's ● Those that were asked to use fitness devices changed their behaviour in relation to the physical activity - begun to take the stairs rather than the elevator and walked instead of using the public transport.
Business approach:
● Keep them motivated ● Enhance the positive attitude towards regular use of the devices ● Focus on simplicity of use ● Develop products that are beautiful / interesting design-wise ● Interface: Fun and exploration
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The Human Cloud: Wearable Technology from Novelty to Productivity - A social study into the impact of wearable technology by Rackspace in association with the Centre for Creative and Social Technology (CAST) at Goldsmiths, University of London. The exploration was supported by quantitative research into attitudes and behaviour regarding wearable technology among 4,000 UK and US adults., 2013
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2. Controller Tend to see their life as a "selection of parts contributing towards an overall ecosystem". Representants of this profile declared to only be willing to purchase a device that would fit their high expectations, and that would allow them to manage their data flexibly. Key Characteristics:
● Confident and creative, ● Work in the digital space as entrepreneurs / strategists ● Know what they want and persistent about finding it ● Strive for a place of balance where they feel in control over their surroundings ● Familiar with technology and aware of how the personal data can be used ● Would share info to create a community / team of a shared experience ● Checking data often throughout the day , Storage / backup of the data important to them Business approach:
● Audience to focus on upon developing the 2nd and 3rd generation devices ● Tend to use multiple apps to get the most extensive picture - a need to create an integrated device and a holistic user system 3. Quantified Selfer This profile covers the consumers focus on tracking themselves, for both the body and health related purpose and a deep interest. Key characteristics:
● Early adopters who reflect their life via the data ● An entrepreneur with an academic inclination ● Comfortable with digital ecosystem ● "The journey more important than the end goal" ● Privacy-concerned: likely to share data for medical uses but are not opened to insurance or employer-regulated purposes Business approach:
● Fast growing sympathy toward quantified self concept ● Demanding customers, looking for the particular solutions and enthusiastic about those welldelivered
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● The need for data being stored in a cloud and another backup, this consumer type needs a convenient access to the data
4. Self Medic The profile of the people willing to take control over their health and well-being. Self - Medic uses multiple ways, electronic apps and devices in order to get accurate overview of their health condition. Key characteristics:
● Data accuracy is the most important output for them ● Technology keeps them focused and helps to solve the problem with self-motivation, enhance their well-being
● Open to people and happy to share their experiences with others, believe in transparency Business approach:
● Data needs to be absolutely accurate as the device serve them as a tool to manage health condition and the feedbacks provided via Apps are likely to have a big impact on their personal decisions 5. Finish line Fanatic For those consumers the idea of wearable devices in the very beginning seemed very exciting, but their enthusiasm fell down as soon they realised that the devices require a number of actions in order to set them up (calibration, charging, synchronization etc.) Key characteristics:
● Self-motivated, competitive, often perfectionistic ● Young career professionals working in the city ● First curious and excited but tend to turn against the concept when something doesn't go well ● As they are very result driven they require the data to be very accurate Business approach:
● Want a seamless, integrated and unobtrusive solution ● Transparent data collection ● Possibility to challenge oneself and others with true data shared via the social platform ● Capitalise on the initial excitement
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6. Ubiquitous Future Young children - the digital natives that will grow up with the next generation wearable tech. Key characteristics:
● Primary school students and younger children ● Keenly, naturally interested in how the devices contribute to the daily life situations ● Relaxed when it comes to personal data monitoring and sharing, likely to push the barriers and accept even more "privacy-invasive" solutions Business approach:
● Privacy is not an issue ● The more personal data, the more accurate and helpful the feedback ● Boost of intelligence and personal skills ● Full adaption of the technology into daily routines
BRAND RESONANCE – CUSTOMER BASED BRAND EQUITY MODEL The concept behind the Kevin Lane Keller's Brand Resonance Pyramid / Customer Based Brand Equity Model is that in order to build a strong brand, the company must undertake strategic actions that shape how customers think and feel about the product. The brand has to be build around the right type of experiences causing that the customers develop specificly directed, positive thoughts, feelings, beliefs, opinions, and perceptions about the company and the products. Development of the strong brand equity not only influences consumers purchasing decisions, but encourages them to recommend the brand to their networks on a basis of peer-to-peer social marketing. Apart from that, the well-enhanced loyalty of the customers leads to their strong preference toward the brand when compared to the brand's competitors. CBBE model was applied in order to imagine the possible brand approach and set the ultimate goals for different stages of brand resonance-building process. The first step in applying the Customer Based Brand Equity Model was gaining a thorough understanding of the brand audience (potential future customers) and the choice of specific market segments the brand is going to operate within. Furtherly the author analysed, with a help of a few different tools (NABC /Value Proposition Canvas etc.) the unique selling proposition of the "conceptbrand".
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CBBE CUSTOMER BASED BRAND EQUITY
Loyalty Attachement Generic community evolving around the brand True engagement
Evoking the feelings of excitement through offering unique brand experiences Users feel secure Approved by community members
RESONANCE Quality product&services Preference towards the brand’s product secured Credibility Trust
FEELINGS
EM IO OT L NA
IMAGERY
Modern, feel-good and design + genius, progressive tech + experienced, fascinating team behind Easy to purchase and use, positive energetic attitude from CS,
JUDGEMENTS Convenient, durable, efficient product Accurate data & privacy solved Effective customer service online Fast, reliable, and at selected retailers Fair price, beautiful design
PERFORMANCE
SALIENCE
E UT RO
The Smart Clothing brand in the fitness performace and lifestyle category focused on posture correction and tracking biometric data of the wearer + Personal coach - Customized training plan-generating App + Social community in smartphones ecosystem
BRANDING OBJECTIVES AT EACH STAGE
COMPANY PERSPECTIVE
Reward for loyal customers
Engagement into the community proactive approach
Social generosity and brand engagement into important issues
Focus on quality and great customer service, gaining opinion of a credible and “loving” partner of the customers
Keeping up to the promise
Differenciating our product from competitors’ offerings
Focus on conveying the brand personality and vakues
Finding a tone of brand’s voice
Arousing interest and building a deep Brand Awareness: Promotion PR & Publicity Social Media presence Expert lectures/talks
7 P's OF SERVICE MARKETING With this section the author summarizes the findings gathered through conducting extensive secondary and additional primary research, and translates these into a marketing mix, where different product features are being highlighted on each step of the mix building. The following is meant to become a starting point for a brand development processes, however for the present moment is mostly limited to the one type of product/service potentially entering the market of Smart Clothing. Since the conceptualized brand offer combines physical products and affiliated services the 7 P's of Marketing framework was applied. The first four elements in the services marketing mix are remaining the same as those described with means of the traditional marketing mix. However, due to the unique matter of services, the implications of these are different in case of the 7 P's model. The model consists of the following 7 fields: Product, People, Price, Place, Promotion, accompanied by the Physical Evidence and Processes. The author has proposed optional solutions in regards to the fields listed above. The solutions are relatively general, having in mind that the innovation process is still at an early stage of progress. The author recommends further research and consulting with specialists in each of the fields, such as manufacturers, vendors and software development crews, to name a few.
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THE PRODUCT In order to look holistically at the offer The value proposition canvas was created. The model is a tool for organizing the Customer NEEDS / WANTS / FEARS and coming up with solutions to those by addressing the unique BENEFITS / FEATURES / EXPERIENCE connected to using the product. Below the reader can find the descriptions of each of the elements that the concept consists of: the physical product – clothing item, the service – mobile app and the way those components form a bigger userexperience-driven service systems, both in terms of service functional infrastructure and - similarly to the fashion category – the fashion collection. 1. SMART CLOTHING ITEM WITH AN INTEGRATED DANFOSS POLYPOWER SENSORS FEAUTURES: •
Convenient. Casual and Comfortable clothing item
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Breathable, high-quality, durable textiles
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Monitors the users' biometric data and posture and body movement
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The battery-containing module needs to be taken out prior to machine wash
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The items are created both for women and men and the offer contains:
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Sleeveless shirts in a 3 different sizes S/M/L for both men and women
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Long-sleeved shirts
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Knee-lenght shorts
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Full-lenght leggins
THE MODULE : Attractive design - a fashion accessory / gadget (The drafts to the device design can be found in the Process Book attached to this report )
2. MOBILE APP - THE COACH The coaching services are available via mobile application, therefore the sphere of smartphones is where the user daily gets in touch with the brand. In order to evoke feeling of trust the user needs to be somehow related to „the advisor”. This may be fulfilled by incorporating the video coaching sessions (or just only one exercise at once), where the have the ability to develop emotional bond to the „coach”. Apart from that, one of the intentions of this concept is to allow the user to pick his „advisor” on onetime basis, which goes well with the current consumer trend of exercising „legs – one day, back – the other day” and for each of the workouts picking the favourite and the most trusted fitness trainer (dvs's,
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youtube videos etc.). Also, this allow people to make this decision based on their current mood, as well as for the reason of „constantly trying something new and exciting”.
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FASHION COLLECTION
The brand offers biometric wear which, form-following-function, as the principle need to be designed close-to body. In order to differentiate the final look from competitive products the collection sold could consist of additional layers that one could mix and match in order to create a truly fashionable and everyday lifestyle-driven option. This empowers the users to express their own style and mood without compromising on the tracking functionality that is the product's core value. With the mix & match upper layers the "oversized" casual look can be achieved. Those pieces should be designed in an extremely lightweight, sheer fabrics. The concept of the different colours, textures and transparencies overlapping each other adds the lightness and playfulness to the overall look, as if opposed to the situation when the smart garment, usually quite heavy, very tight on body and rather "sporty" than "stylish" is the main element of the look. Stella McCartney for Adidas designs would serve as a good point of reference for the collection development. The collection is short and consist of both women- and menswear. The core are the biometric smart clothing items in a few variations (sleeveless vs. long sleeves, knee-lenght shorts and long leggins) with stretchable sensors integrated into textiles.
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PEOPLE TARGET AUDIENCES - - FITSPIRED - •
Men and women interested in taking the recreational fitness activity to the semi-professional level. Highly motivated and informed in terms of current developments within the fitness wearable devices. Technology is more than familiar to them as they heavy-use social media as well as smarphone sphere on a daily basis. Most of them already use coaching / performance Apps, which helps them document their progress, set goals and share the achievements across social platforms. The target group was constructed on a basis of the two significant trends within fitness consumers:
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"Crossfit" - workouts that incorporate elements from high-intensity interval training, olympic weightlifting, plyometrics, powerlifting, gymnastics, girevoy sport, calisthenics, strongman and other exercises. The new discipline has many fans and fanatics. The individuals complete daily workouts posted by fellow community members.
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"Fitspired" - the women interested in the "light"body-building. An influencial trend, which has triggered a major social attitude shift from the preference of the very thin female silhouettes towards the one with a visible muscles.
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Both of those groups are characterized by a very strong community experience built over the internet and mobile platforms. They are the new "psychofans", spending above-average money on the sport geers, dressing up in a fitness-fashionable, fancy way and sharing their performance results, plans and goals with other community members, in an atmosphere of strong yet healthy competition that brings a huge boost of motivation. They tend to fall for trends and tendencies very easily, and those are being spread immediately via social media platforms.Those people are believed to quickly adapt the technology as long as the product will be developed in a professional manner, thoroughly consulted with specialists and focus groups, to fullfill their high expectations.
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- - CASUAL MOVERS - •
Casual, everyday users of different age groups
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People who would like to learn more about their own bodies and practice good routines
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Lack of motivation and knowledge that would allow them to do-it-themselves
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A little sceptical towards new technologies but curious at the same time
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Their main probles are ◦
The pain caused by the wrong posture ( connected to daily routines, such as sedentary lifestyle)
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Willing to be motivated – The Product promotes a more active lifestyle
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„Small steps” method works best for them along with a smart motivational programme
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A good example of the service feature that would work for this target group is that they receive messages like „Hey! You are sitting the 15th hour today! Stand up and exercise a bit”
PRICE The pricing strategy should be planned by looking at the competitor's current retail prices. At the moment (July 2014) the prices for the starting sets including 1 PIECE OF CLOTHING (ex.t-shirt/shorts) and accompanying DEVICE/MODULE are being set in most cases between $200 - $400 per set.
PROCESS A great customer service concept need to be worked out, since the main platform remains online.
PLACE The product implementation will be connected to building a landing page / website where the preorders could be placed. The website should provide both: a holistic overview on the product/brand concept along with its future potential capacities (VISION), and pragmatically approached – an insight to the product features and specifications, FAQ and information about the team behind the brand in order to share the expertise. The website should be created in a positive, open-to-innovation and up-for-opportunities tone, because it is not only the primal retail platform, but also builds a community and communicates the brand messages to other stakeholders, such as for expample investors and business partners.
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PHYSICAL EVIDENCE Physical evidence builds the confidence and provides a tangible experience to the customers. The case studies and testimonials would be useful. Another important step would be to ascertain the transparence insight into innovation – the press-releases, video case-studies and other evidence of the upcoming developments would be beneficial when it comes to building an expertise-driven brand.
PROMOTION There is a range of promotional tools which will help to position the product. The aim of the promotion is to create customer awareness first, satisfaction and ultimately a solid brand resonance and customers loyalty. Upon entering the market the brand may follow the Best Practices the existing competitors are implementing: 1./ Publicity and PR 2./ Branded website 3./ Social Media 4./ Industry literature/press/media 5./ Innovation-related media 6./ Lifestyle-media 7./ Fairs 8./ Conferences
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