Quirkbot - Narratives as a Tool to Brand and Market Educational Coding
Written by: Tehilah Auramo Kevan D’Agostino Boyke Dalmeijer University Of Gothenburg Master’s of Business and Design KMD666 V16 Design, Branding and Marketing Gothenburg, Sweden March 21st, 2016
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ABSTRACT
1 INTRODUCTION
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CONTEXT AND PROBLEMATIZATION
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THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
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4
METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS
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4.3
SECONDARY RESEARCH
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2.1 COMPANY BACKGROUND 2.2 PROBLEMATIZATION 2.3 LIMITATIONS
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6
4.1 4.2
MARKETING OVERVIEW MARKETING IN SMALL COMPANIES BRANDING OVERVIEW LOVEMARK - THEORY OF EMOTIONAL BRANDING VALUE CREATION FRAMEWORK CUSTOMER VALUE
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY PRIMARY RESEARCH
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4 5 5 6 6 6
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5 ANALYSIS
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6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5
PROPOSED SOLUTION
SUSCRIPTION-BASED BUSINESS MODEL COMPANY PHILOSOPHY CUSTOMER AND USER SEGMENTS BRAND ORGANIZATION TWELVE MONTH IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
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7 DISCUSSION
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8 CONCLUSION
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REFERENCES
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APPENDICES
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ABSTRACT
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his paper aims to describe a new branding and marketing strategy for the start-up company Quirkbot and how that came to be. Quirkbot produces microcontrollers that are programmable through their own developed software and works closely with Strawbees. The company gained initial success through Kickstarter, but as that success is slowly coming to an end, Quirkbot is now looking for ways to make their product more aligned with a specific marketing and branding strategy to approach the market with a sense of confidence and clarity. Through the use of various primary research methods like applying practical marketing and branding models, observations, generative methods and secondary research, we suggest a subscription-based educational marketing model that targets children between ages 8 and 13. Through various themes in combination with engaging designs, a steady learning curve and the Build, Code, Play philosophy, Quirkbot will be able to create playful learning experiences that push the imagination, are easy to build and fun to modify. Consequently, we argue that the suggested brand position will help Quirkbot to create more value, win more trust and generate higher revenues.
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1. INTRODUCTION
of Gothenburg Sweden and will present a solution regarding programming in society for and in col-
Technology today is everywhere. From your high-
laboration with the company Quirkbot.
tech smartphone to the low-tech coffee machine, it’s omnipresent. Each of these devices requires a form of programming and a developer that writes
2. CONTEXT AND PROBLEMATIZATION
that code. In today’s society, there’s a shortage of programmers and the new generation takes technology for granted, but is not aware how it came to be.
2.1 COMPANY BACKGROUND In 2013 in Gothenburg Sweden, Dan Henriks-
Therefore, the question arises if programming
son, Kristofer Hagbard, Carl Bärstad and Paulo
should become an integral part of primary edu-
Barcelos combined their design, engineering
cation systems. In countries like India, program-
and development backgrounds to co-found the
ming has been an integral part of the curriculum
company and the product: Quirkbot. The product
for years, other countries are implementing it
promotes imaginative thinking through construct-
this year like Finland, but in other countries like
ing with Strawbees, which can be paired with
Sweden this is not yet the case. The programming
a microcontroller to trigger motion, lights and
languages like C++, Ruby, HTML(5), CSS, Javas-
sounds. Although not entirely clear, today they
cript and Python change every year and are not
have around seven employees both from Quirkbot
fully established. Hence, centralized education
and Strawbees working both full time and part
systems may have a hard time implementing
time. In early 2015, the popular crowdfunding site
programming to the curriculum. Companies,
Kickstarter, which helped to create buzz around
especially start-ups, see this lack of perseverance
the product and a financial backing of over $75,000
as a business opportunity to present their own
USD, funded Quirkbot.
solution to this societal challenge. An all-inclusive solution has not yet presented itself and it is
Although the company had a recent surge of
questionable if this will be possible due to how we
interest and backing from multiple communities
perceive programming today. Yet, there are possi-
within the maker culture, it has not yet turned a
bilities to integrate and popularise programming.
profit (personal communication, Dan Henriksson,
The fields of marketing and branding might be able
26, Feb 2016). The product’s main goals are to
to change the perception on programming and
promote play, learning, sharing, cooperation and
provide a clear strategy that fits within the possi-
equality for kids by enabling them to build, make
bilities of educational systems, businesses, people
and program their own structures (see figure 1).
and society as a whole.
Quirkbot hopes that working with their product will encourage children to explore coding. The
This paper, commissioned by Peter Zackariasson,
company also created and developed its own visual
is a four week case study of three students of the
programming interface that runs on a website.
Design, Branding and Marketing course, part of
This interface allows its users to switch back and
the Master Business and Design of the University
forth from a user friendly, drag and drop interface,
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Figure 1: The Five Values of Quirkbot
to your typical programming interface. This
provides users a more systematic way of learning
combinational learning is partly how they see the
physical programming? As Quirkbot has not been
success of Quirkbot within the self-teaching of the
selling their products outside of their crowdfund-
coding language (ibid). Today, their product is not
ing campaign, there is no telling how successful
available. However, Quirkbot is collecting a list of
they have been in any particular market. Hence
pre-orders and they are establishing their way into
Quirkbot is now looking for ways to make their
the market this year.
product more aligned with a specific marketing and branding strategy to approach the market with a sense of confidence and clarity. Part of our task
2.2 PROBLEMATIZATION
is to help Quirkbot approach the larger market
Quirkbot’s initial success was built within the
so they are in a position where they can generate
maker subculture, which encourages elements
sales; to be in a position where they can generate
of creative skills to make or design something on
profits not only towards Strawbees, but also for
your own; part of the Do it Yourself (DIY) mantra
Quirkbot as a separate entity.
recently growing in popularity (Klein, 2016). Quirkbot has been part of this success, proven by their recent funding through Kickstarter last year.
2.2 LIMITATIONS
However, as their recent success with Kickstarter
Although our research has reached its aims, there
subsides, they are forced to decide where they
were some unavoidable limitations. Firstly, due
belong in regards to where their brand is posi-
to lack of information regarding cost and struc-
tioned within the market. Despite being known
ture, we don’t produce calculations towards the
within Sweden, Quirkbot seems to be at a cross-
financial planning of Quirkbot. Secondly, within
roads when it comes to their decision to what their
the time constraint of three weeks, we did not find
products represent: Do they want to be known as
time to conduct interviews or focus groups, which
the fun toy that everyone wants to build and play
could have been an important and substantial
with? Or are they more interested in creating a
element of our research. Thirdly, it is important
product that is more focused on education and
to note that we used the majority of the methods
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for the first time within marketing and branding.
A pivotal concept in this regard comes from the
Finally, our limited knowledge around branding
development of marketing thinking known as the
and marketing may have constrained our ability to
‘managerial approach’ from E Jerome McCarthy
create a reliable and substantial proposition.
(as cited in Doyle, 2011). In 1960, in his co-authored book, Influential Basic Marketing: a managerial approach, McCarthy developed one of the most prominent and widely used concepts within
3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
the marketing mixes. Known as the Four P’s model, it describes the key ingredients of product, price, promotion and place (or distribution) (see figure
Before diving into the Quirkbot case, we need to
2). Although the Four P’s model is now regarded
establish some grounds on what marketing and
as too simplistic for current marketing conditions
branding really means, because these terms are
(ibid), it has been an important groundwork for
quite ambiguous. By using several theoretical
basic marketing planning and programming.
frameworks from professionals within the field of marketing and branding, we will shed some light on what marketing and what branding means. Additionally we will explain the meaning of value and how to create it, because creating value within this context is important. Both products and marketing strategies unavoidably communicate values and thus impact the perception of a brand.
3.1 MARKETING OVERVIEW Marketing can be described as to “what an organization must do to create and exchange value with customers” (Silk, 2006, p. 7). In this sense, marketing plays a major role within a firm’s strategic direction and to claim success it requires a deep understanding of its customers, competitors, collaborators and capabilities to serve their custom-
Figure 2: The Four P’s of Marketing by E Jerome McCarthy
ers profitably, which is an important aspect of any business (Silk, 2006).
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“Enjoyment of interaction can transform the most insignificant product into a musthave item” - Cho, 2011
However, with newer formed organizations and entrepreneurial businesses, this aspect of marketing can often be overlooked due to their ‘Liability of Smallness’ (as cited in Kraus et al., 2010). The term refers to the organization’s limited finances and human resources, which reflect on their marketing decisions and accuracy due to often single ownership or ideas (ibid). The importance of marketing plays a major role for many of these new firms, however Kraus et al. (2008) argue that many of them actually approach marketing in a very informal way: “more simplistic and ad hoc, based on intuition, with little or no formal structures” (Kraus et al., 2010, p. 7), and spend more of their energy
Figure 3. SME Entrepreneurial Marketing Orientation
towards financial decisions.
(Jones & Rowley, 2011)
3.2 MARKETING IN SMALL COMPANIES
3.3 BRANDING OVERVIEW
A study by Jones and Rowley (2011) summarizes
Branding is perhaps one of the most abstract sub-
some key characteristics for small and medium
jects within business. What we find helpful though
sized enterprises (SME) across different market-
is the fact that these theories cover a lot of similar
ing literature. It is suggested that the shorter pro-
thoughts in what we have thus far learned from
cesses for decision-making and communication
design literature, that also highlight the impor-
can partly explain why SME’s behave in a more
tance of sense-making through sensory aspects,
responsive and risk-taking way towards customers
emotions and values.
and competitors. The authors have created their own model, the SME entrepreneurial marketing
Two powerful descriptions by Cho (2011) of what
orientation, (see figure 3). Despite being gener-
a brand might mean are summarized as a useful
alizations some of the points in this model, e.g.
introduction to a more recent, Lovemark, theory.
speed to market, might lead to increased competitiveness if properly explored and adapted by small
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companies.
Departing from just a physical product, branding is found to be symbolic and deliver social meanings (Frazer, 1983; Pohlman & Mudd, 1973).
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A brand image equals the complete set of
3.5 VALUE CREATION FRAMEWORK
impressions that consumers get when inter-
To better understand value, we looked into Smith
acting with a brand (Dichter, 1985; Newman
and Colgate’s (2007) proposed framework for
1957) including perceptions, feelings, attitudes
defining different types of value. They identify four
and beliefs (Bullmore, 1984; Gardner & Levy,
main types of values, and are proposed as a tool for
1955).
marketing strategists to develop creative product concepts and recognize new product opportunities for organizations:
3.4 LOVEMARK - THEORY OF EMOTIONAL BRANDING
a) Functional/instrumental value - The descrip-
A lovemark is a brand that enjoys higher cus-
tion of the product itself and the extent to which a
tomer loyalty by enforcing feelings of love and
product is useful and fulfills a customer’s desired
respect among consumers (as cited in Cho, 2011).
goals either directly (functional/intrinsic value) or
While products only capture low levels of love
indirectly (instrumental/extrinsic value).
and respect, and brands low levels of love but high respect, lovemarks perform high in both aspects,
b) Experiential/hedonic value - The extent to
(see figure 4).
which a product creates appropriate experiences, feelings, and emotions for the customer.
A deep emotional connection with customers is what distinguishes a lovemark from a brand (ibid).
c) Symbolic/expressive value - The extent to
In order to create it, a brand must incorporate
which customers attach or associate psychological
three elements of experience in their offering, that
meaning to a product.
is, mystery, sensuality and intimacy. The original ideas by the author Kevin Roberts (2004, 2006)
d) Cost/sacrifice value - The cost or sacrifice that
are presented below as summarized by Eunjoo
would be associated with the use of the product.
Cho (2011) (see figure 5) 3.6 CUSTOMER VALUE Customer value is created as a result of the interaction between what the product provides and what the users bring in terms of their goals, needs and limitations. Osterwalder et al. (2014) refers to value creation as value proposition, which describes the benefits your customers can expect from your products and services. Looking into Holbrook’s model and definition on what defines customer value and how the customer perceives it, he describes it as “an interactive relativistic preference experience” (Holbrook, 1994, p. 27) that can be explained using three definitive characteristics:
Figure 4. Love and respect matrix
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Figure 5. Lovemark elements (as cited in Cho, 2011, p. 18-20)
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“Typically, the act of purchase is not an end in itself but the means of obtaining experiences derived from the product.” - Holbrook, 1994
4. METHODOLOGY & RESULTS
a) Interactive - First, Holbrook explains that customer value is interactive because value can only be obtained through an interaction between the customer and the product. And although a
We will briefly describe the methods we have used
product may have many qualities, he explains that
to come to a solution for Quirkbot. We divided
they only come to represent customer value when
these methods up in two categories: primary
customers within the context of a marketplace
research, which we have conducted ourselves, and
exchange appreciate them.
secondary research, that which has been collected and written by professionals within the field of
b) Relativistic - The second value is explained as
marketing and branding. First, we will describe the
relativistic, because value is subjective when it
validity and reliability of our methodology, then
is the result of customers, who relate to various
the models we have used and how we used them.
sources of value in a multitude of different sit-
Additionally we will briefly describe the results we
uations. Customer’s interests differ and change
gained from the used methods. The analysis of the
over time to the arrival of a newer product; hence
results will be presented in Chapter Four.
another characteristic of this value is the judgment of preference. 4.1 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY c) Experience of Consumption - Thirdly, Holbrook
In any research, it is important to state if the
(ibid) explains that value is found in the experience
research is reliable or viable. This gives the indica-
of consumption of the product, rather than in its
tion if the research is trustworthy enough to use in
purchase. Typically, the act of purchase is not an
other work. The research we have conducted is not
end in itself but the means of obtaining experiences
reliable, but it is viable. The methods used mainly
derived from the product. It is a marketing axiom
involved filling in different practical hands-on
that people do not buy products, they buy the
models than abstract frameworks in branding and
services that products provide. However, we might
marketing theories in order to explore Quirkbot
recognize that for some products and markets the
from different angles to create a thorough under-
act of purchase is a part of the consumption experi-
standing of their business. We found it especially
ence; I may choose to shop at an expensive delicacy
helpful to scan and interact with the product on
store in preference to a conventional supermarket
our way towards a marketing and branding strat-
because this is more enjoyable and, arguably, this is
egy for Quirkbot. Sadly, due to time limitations,
part of the consumption experience derived from
we were only able to test the models with just
the goods purchased (Smith, 1996).
the three people in our group. Considering that
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Figure 6. Competitor Matrix with the example of LEGO Mindstorm
different people value and experience Quirkbot in
After we filled in the model, we applied some of its
various ways, which result in different outcomes,
aspects to closely related competitors to create a
more research with more people should be done to
competitor matrix (see appendix B). The combi-
come to a more reliable consensus.
nation of competitors we chose were companies that revolved technology, creation, programming,
The validity of the models is somewhat debatable.
education and toys, which we saw as closely related
Each of these models have been created by profes-
to Quirkbot. Some of the competitor’s offerings
sionals within the field of marketing or branding,
we looked into were Lego Mindstorms (see figure
however we did not research the origin of these
6), Kano, Moff Band, Raspberry and Arduino, as
models, how trustworthy they were or how well
well as Roommate, Thymio, My Atoms, Crafty
they worked in other research. In the discussion
Robot, Robi and Robo Wunderkind. The competi-
later on, we will describe our experience from
tor matrix helped to see what really differentiated
using these models.
Quirkbot from the rest and how the market situation looks today.
4.2 PRIMARY RESEARCH
During the initial introduction of Quirkbot, two
Our process began by filling in Kelly Odell’s (2006)
of our team members who were there noticed that
World’s Shortest Marketing Plan. This model
no instructions were present and that the product
asked short questions relating to products, price,
seemed a bit rough around the edges. This made us
place and promotion, which were divided by six
question how others would perceive the product as
questions (what, why, when, how, how much and
it currently stood and this formed the third step in
who) and helped to rapidly explore the market-
our process.
ing aspects within Quirkbot (see appendix A).
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One of our team members was not present when Quirkbot was introduced and this gave us the opportunity to let her try the kit without prior knowledge of Quirkbot, programming, and without any insight (see figure 7). We decided to not give any specific task, instruction or a time limit to see how the product would do on its own, and to allow her to experience the product as it is. The other two team members observed, wrote down her actions and asked some questions afterwards.
Figure 8. Customer Journey Observations of Tehilah, 29 years.
After one hour, she got frustrated and was on the
Besides observing how someone would use the
verge of giving up, which at that point the other
Quirkbot kit, we looked at a market leading toy
team members decided to help out. Reasons for
company that embraces creation, namely LEGO,
this was that the suggested design, found on the
to use as an unofficial benchmark throughout our
Instructables.com, was too complex and ended up
work. We went to a toy store and explored the
in a shaky structure. Also, the software interface
spectrum of different LEGO products, how they
did not explain how to program specific move-
are presented and what customer segments they
ments. Through the observations we gathered
seem to target, in order to learn from their ways of
various data that later led to key insights on how to
marketing and branding (see figure 9).
properly market and further develop Quirkbot. In figure 8 you will find the first ten actions from the observations. For the full list of observations, see appendix C.
Figure 9. LEGO Display at Toy Store
After the observations, we chose to generate and share ideas and thoughts around Quirkbot in a mind-map (see figure 10). A mind-map is a common design method that uses brainstorming to generate ideas for the diverging part of the double diamond model (Norman, 1988). Each team member was encouraged to put any ideas or thoughts on the board using post-its. We then
Figure 7. Tehilah Testing The Quirkbot Kit
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Pierre Hermé’ model (Jobber, 2009). This model helped to further define the branding of a company. It consists of six different parts: the brand domain, the brand values, the brand reflection, the brand personality, the brand assets and the brand heritage. The model encourages the user to map out their business within different stages of the company’s life, however due to Quirkbot being such a new business, we modified how we used the model. Instead we divided these factors into a “before” and “now.” With “before” meaning how Figure 10. Mind Mapping Around Quirkbot Idea
explored our ideas through secondary research
Quirkbot is currently positioned and “now” meaning how we might see Quirkbot positioned with our ideas in mind. See Appendix E for the results.
and came up with a more refined idea. By dividing this idea into five key categories (business model,
As our process came to a close, we used the Busi-
education, unique designs, start kits and identity)
ness Model Canvas created by Alexander Oster-
and explored these through more brainstorming,
walder (2008). The use of the Business Model
we mapped out the possibilities of our refined
Canvas helped to create a holistic view of Quirk-
idea. We used this information to create state-
bot’s business. It also functioned as a checklist
ments and themes which eventually led to the
to see if all the ingredients were there. Although
following research question for the Quirkbot case:
we did not have all the elements of the canvas, for
“How might Quirkbot create playful learning
example cost structure, it allowed our group to
experiences that push the imagination through
understand and see the value proposition and key
engaging designs, which are easy to build and fun
activities more clearly within our proposed ser-
to modify?” This question enabled us to work
vice. Finally, as we started to understand our pro-
effectively on a common ground.
posed service more clearly, we decided to create a customer journey map 2.0 that outlined our
The next step in our process was to fill in the ‘
proposed service from start to end: purchasing the
Successful Branding Process’ model, created by
Quirkbot to engaging with it. This process helped
O’Malley (2014). The model gives five easy steps on
to make our ideas more tangible and was useful
how to develop a successful brand by asking ques-
in viewing any possible issues, gaps or challenges
tions like: How is the brand perceived today and
during the journey. We will show these two models
how will you nurture, enhance and innovate the
as a deliverable for Quirkbot in Chapter 6.
brand? We answered these questions as a group and this resulted in a list of aspects that differentiated Quirkbot. This helped us to further define the branding of Quirkbot. See appendix D for results. After the ‘ Successful Branding Process’ model, we used the ‘Anatomy of the branding position of
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“Young people today have lots of experience ... with interacting with new technologies, but a lot less expressing themselves with [it] ... almost as if they can read but not write with new technologies.” Mitch Resnick (2013) 4.3 SECONDARY RESEARCH
of college students graduate with degrees in the
The Quirkbot case involved several elements,
field” (CNN, 2014). Some educators and experts are
such as marketing, brand value, customer experi-
referring to coding as language (Techerhack, 2013)
ence, user friendliness, psychology and sociology,
or calling coding the ‘new literacy’ (Missio, 2015)
making this case somewhat challenging to grasp.
and the urgency to bring coding to school seems
Therefore to better understand the scope we used
evident. In some countries like India, coding has
secondary research gathered from several sources,
been an integral part of education for several years.
such as journals, books, websites and other online
For Sweden however, we found out that this is not
sources. This research dived into various subjects,
yet the case; programming has been discussed
including the psychology of toys and coding within
in the government several times before, but has
education, as they were valuable in shedding light
only as recently as in last September, 2015 asked
on our proposed direction for Quirkbot. We will
for an actual updated curriculum (Skolvärlden,
briefly describe our key findings.
2015). This might be because coding languages like C++ (Quirkbot), Ruby, HTML(5), CSS, Javascript, Python etc. change every year and are not fully
Coding in Education Today
established. Knowing the centralized education
As all of us have personally experienced a recent
system, adding this unpredictable language of
surge of technology-based systems and products,
coding to the curriculum would be challenging and
we became interested in this growing topic in what
may take years to implement.
seems to be one of Quirkbot’s primary objectives: to teach children about coding. Therefore, as part of our initial research, we looked into the promi-
Psychology of Emotional Branding in Toys
nence of coding within school curriculum in our
The non-representational building material
home countries Finland, the Netherlands and
(Strawbees) that enables users to create represen-
Canada, as well as the USA. We have learned that
tational material (structures), the low entry level
all the countries mentioned above are already
of physical skill and the experience of dumping out
taking an initiative to implement coding as a man-
material and sorting it (Wrenn, 2012), reminded
datory element of the primary level curriculum.
us to a large degree of LEGO. We saw this familiar-
Some educators argue: “Computer science is one of
ity as an opportunity to research LEGO and break
the top paying college degrees -- and yet only 2.4%
down the psychology behind toys.
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LEGO is an interesting company, after decades
Further research shows that kids have major
of success they were almost bankrupt in 2005,
impact in family purchasing decisions. YTV Tween
but by cutting costs and innovating their brand,
Report, a national survey in Canada that tracks the
they are now the biggest toy manufacturer in
lifestyles, attitudes and opinions of kids aged 9 to
the world and beating Mattel (Ringen, 2015). A
14, shows that kids influence, for example, 76% of
problem for LEGO was that children played less
the family purchase-decisions of software and 98%
with the tangible physical and more in the intan-
of family entertainment decisions (Corus Enter-
gible digital. For a company that mainly relied on
tainment, 2008). When it comes to the actual use
selling building blocks, this trend was devastating.
of toys, it is interesting how children and adults in
Through extensive research, LEGO has managed
fact behave in similar ways. According to experts
to integrate the offline and online world, but in
and anthropologists (Muensterberger, 1994, p. 10):
recent research they saw that there are no more meaningful distinctions between digital play and
“Giving a doll or any other object a “soul” or a name
physical play anymore. Yet, the (toy) experience
is one telling example. This is a phenomenon anthro-
should be carefully balanced between the offline
pologists are long acquainted with. It is called ani-
and digital world. They claim it’s not necessarily an
mism. In psychological terms, it has been described
intuitive experience for kids, and the flow between
as “attachment” or “clinging response”, not only
setting down the bricks and picking up the tablet
among children, but adults as well. The concrete
has to be carefully choreographed. The play with
manifestations are many. Some people remember
LEGO is therefore always choreographed with
a favorite toy; others recall the first attempts at
clear instructions and feedback.
collecting baseball cards or campaign buttons, or perhaps going in search of shells and minerals. Pref-
One of LEGO’s recent successful products is the
erences and taste are under the influence of prevail-
new LEGO Friends theme. Their research showed
ing trends and environmental conditions, especially
that boys are more compelled by strong narratives
as one grows older.”
and that girls are more into role-play, as proven by the success of the Friends theme (Ringen, 2015).
Some emotional drivers to collecting are further
But regardless of the toy, children create a world of
listed by the same author (ibid, p. 11-12):
their own (the world of pretend) and don’t worry about what it is and what its worth than whether
“Repeated acquisitions serve as a vehicle to to
it has a sense of wonder. If it’s not special, it’s
cope with inner uncertainty, a way of dealing with
not worth keeping and it will never grow to be a
a dread of renewed anxiety, with confusing prob-
valuable collection. LEGO promotes the collective
lems of need and longing. The sense following the
aspect by providing unique pieces in every box.
acquisition is usually that of blissful satisfaction
This has the benefit that people can’t just replicate
and excitement, at times accompanied by flagrantly
a design from the box, they need the pieces. Adults
exhibitionistic elation (as I spoke of when George
collect in a different way. If it has a higher price, it’s
Tillmann wanted to show me an object he had just
more valuable and worth collecting (Robertson,
brought home, even though it was long after mid-
2016).
night (…) The intricacies of the find; its discovery or attainment; the sometimes clever ploys utilized to effect an acquisition; the fortuitous circumstances
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“People need their interactions with technologies and other complex systems to be simple, intuitive, and pleasurable.” -(Kolko, 2015, p. 68).
of the lucky strike; the energy expended in obtaining the object; and occasionally the waste of time; the preoccupation with the challenge; with rivalry and jealousy - all the emotions are shared and devoted collectors...” When researching popular toys we made some interesting findings especially in the following two sources. Wired (2013) has listed “32 of the Most Popular Toys From the Last 145 Years”. We learned that toys most often take the form of a featured figure, like the self-carved wooden dog from a Noah’s ark series from the 1880’s or even a character with a particular personality, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja from the 1980’s around the time when the development of plastic technology has recently boomed and became a cheap and popular
Figure 11. Popular Toys From The Last 145 years (Wired 2013)
material for toys (see figure 11). Playthings, such as the Jojo in the 1930’s or slinky from the 1950’s,
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are also listed, but they are not so many. Safety and
Toys that are kind enough to tackle tough emotions
educational aspects of toys are argued to be the
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rising trends among toys (ibid).
It’s easy enough for your child to do frustration-free
A more recent study by Parents (2015) confirm
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With minimal assistance from you
that the most popular toys - picked by parents and
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Kids feel like they’re standing in a city or even in outer space
tested by kids - include mostly toys with some kind of sensory aspects, such as blinking lights. See the
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total list of 21 of the most popular toys for ages
Children who love the challenge of a long blueprint, assembling the Lego City Spaceport has a
appendix F. The descriptions, as quoted directly
cool payoff
from the source, often include an explanation of
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what makes the toy special in emotional mean-
Accessories allows more customization than ever
ing, especially the following wordings we find interesting:
14
5. ANALYSIS
lost business opportunity. A user might not create anything valuable at all, by trial-and-error maybe,
This chapter discusses how we perceive Quirkbot
but one that is very time-consuming and not very
today, its values and target group in relation to
engaging. We want to challenge the idea that “an
the current market situation. Due to the many
empty page” is the most effective way to spark a
intertwined perspectives in this chapter, we will
user’s creativity.
describe the analysis with a discussion approach. We dig deeper to the current challenges and
It becomes obvious for us, that the product in its
opportunities in order to introduce the reader to
current form is designed for ‘makers’ that already
our proposed solution in the next chapter.
know what they are doing, which is also confusing since they address educators on their webpage.
Quirkbot’s current values of promoting play,
Quirkbot is marketed only on digital platforms
learning, sharing, cooperation, equality are novel
that make it hard for some potential customers to
concepts, but might not bring the economic
find the product. This increases the pressure for
breakthrough for the company that Dan Henriks-
Quirkbot to create a proper marketing strategy.
son envisions. During our study, that by no means
Quirkbot seems to rely heavily on the ‘maker’
was theory-driven, we have noticed that due to
movement, which despite its recent rise still
the practical issues with the product itself, it is
represents an identity of a minority or a niche that
rather hard to both build and code, and therefore
is perhaps not appealing enough for the masses to
the incentive for the user to learn and share are
relate to. It is questionable, if an ordinary child of
remarkably lower than what the brand actually
5+ would use Quirkbot in its current design out of
promises.
their own interest without the push of an educator or a parent. By designing for ‘makers’ and assum-
Incremental improvements in the product are
ing that users know how to get along with the prod-
necessary to achieve a higher level of perceived
uct without instructions, they fail in delivering
quality around the Quirkbot brand. During our
their value of equality. We have learned that the
customer journey we learned that it is especially
success stories in the toy market, such as LEGO,
frustrating when basic tools, such as a screwdriver
indeed deliver instructions along with narratives
and rubber bands, are missing. Without instruc-
and characters, that in turn create emotions, and
tions and suggested designs we argue that the
an easy and attractive framework that become a
value offering is rather weak. The current idea is
welcome push for consumers’ own imagination.
that Quirkbot facilitates consumer’s fantasy and
We also see that the demand is high for educational
creativity with few or no limitations. According to
toys especially within coding, both on the con-
our experience this, in reality, leads to frustrated
sumer market and towards educational systems in
consumers that grab whatever tools they have at
e.g. Finland, Canada and USA, but the competition
hand, e.g. knife instead of a screwdriver, and turn
is already tough. Similar circuit boards are sold
to Google for finding instructions and suggested
under many - sometimes more known - brands,
designs randomly on the Internet. Sometimes
such as Arduino or Raspberry.
these designs are not suitable for the user, considering the level of difficulty. The user is sometimes
Coding is a very popular topic in many countries
even asked to pay for the instructions coming from
today; coding has actually become mandatory
other sources than Quirkbot, which we see as a
in the earlier described countries. The timing
15
6. PROPOSED SOLUTION
is perfect in that sense. Sadly, Quirkbot’s home country Sweden is lagging behind other countries as a potential market. The curriculum in elemen-
Now that we have discussed our findings, we
tary schools in Sweden doesn’t include coding yet.
will present our proposed solution for Quirkbot
It has been brought up in the Government several
that we have created with the earlier described
times, the last occurring in September 2015. The
constraints in mind. This chapter will describe
discussions are still happening on a very high level.
the new business model for Quirkbot, its vision,
In a democracy like Sweden, it might take several
mission, philosophy, targeted customer segments,
years, to actually agree upon and implement a
as well as the more practical implications like
detailed plan.
organizational structure and a twelve-month implementation plan.
Coming back to our original problematization of whether Quirkbot represents more of a toy or education, we have learned that these two brand
Vision
positions don’t need to be mutually exclusive since
To blur the lines between learning and playing
“educational toy” is a commonly used term on the market. However, our research shows that whatever position is dominating their offering will have to be reflected in the unit price towards consumers. Toys represent a category of cheaper pricing
Mission
whereas education can be more expensive. The
To create playful learning experiences that pushes the imagination through engaging designs, which are easy to build and fun to modify.
competitive situation is increasing the pressure for Quirkbot to increase user-friendliness, and either drop their prices or radically differentiate their product and service offering. After analyzing earlier theories in branding and marketing, we can confirm that there is a remarkable resemblance in design literature that studies sense-making, and marketing and branding
6.1 SUBSCRIPTION-BASED BUSINESS
literature that highlight consumer’s emotions and
MODEL
values. In order to discuss how the marketing and
Through our research, we saw the implementation
branding theories helped us to analyze the Quirk-
of the psychology of storytelling as a fundamen-
bot case, it’s worth mentioning that we found a lot
tal opportunity of the future marketing strategy
of support in the Lovemark theory to back-up our
of Quirkbot. In return this could potentially
results in the emotional and sensory issues found
target new customer segments and give Quirk-
during the customer journey map.
bot an opportunity to generate more recurring revenues. It appeared that the development of a subscription-based business model would be most suited, effective, and fun for this concept. (see figure 12) We envision this as follows: Every
16
Figure 12. Subscription-Based Model With Learning Curve
month, customers will receive a box, packaged in
with what they make. By allowing them to choose a
a theme-featured series of attractive designs for
theme/narrative, they become more engaged with
a Quirkbot. Each box represents a quality service,
what they’re making. To start, we propose that
that helps the consumer to reach new levels of
customers can choose between three sets of narra-
building and coding know-how. The box includes
tives: Jungle, Space and Farming. These narratives
clear instructions together with the necessary
showed in our research to be relevant on three
hardware like LED’s, speakers and extra equip-
points: gender neutrality, general interest, and
ment like a screwdriver and rubber bands. Because
ability of storytelling. The idea would be that at the
users need a computer (or even better a tablet
end of the six months, users would have a collec-
or smartphone), the transition from building
tion of designs that relate to a grand narrative.
to coding is carefully choreographed within the
Within the time provided, we managed to start on
instructions (depending on the structure). This
three narratives that may reflect how Quirkbot can
will enable Quirkbot to better facilitate within
build these stories.(see appendix G). We see this
educational systems, as children can use Quirkbot
as a major opportunity for Quirkbot as there are
on their own, without any help of adult supervi-
possibilities for expansion within these areas both
sors. Consequently, teachers don’t need to learn
within the designs and narratives, and also licens-
how to code. In this concept, Quirkbot becomes
ing possibilities through popular and relevant
something that users look forward to: every
brands such as National Geographic, BBC etc.; all
month, a new challenge, but also a new opportu-
with the same goal in mind: keeping education fun,
nity to learn and play. (See figure 13 for Business
informative and engaging.
Model Canvas used with Quirkbot proposed solution) Learning Curve The proposed subscription-based model would be Designs as Narratives
part of a learning curve that unconsciously teaches
As part of our initial research, we looked into the
the user coding skills and pushes the imagination.
psychology of narratives and storytelling within
In return, this creates drive for learning around
toys. This gave us insight into why users associate
Quirkbot. As with any language, (C++ in Quirkbot’s
17
KEY PARTNERS
KEY ACTIVITIES
VALUE PROPOSITION
Strawbees
Clear instructions
Easy building
Tech/hardware producers Retail chains
Design generation
Focus on coding
What themes attract different groups?
Fun
Licensing opportunity (National geographic and discovery channel)
Trend sensitive
Educational labs
Push imagination Attractive and engaging designs Recurring learning Sense of accomplishment
Universities KEY RESOURCES People making Unique designs (copywriter) Intellectual properties
‘Wow’ effect Different packages for various users Packages works as facilitation Re-usability
CUSTOMER RELATONSHIPS
CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
One website (Quirkbot)
8-13 year old kids
Self-service (selfmaintaining)
Anyone interested in learning code with flexibility(?)
Playful contact Communities Co-creation CHANNELS
Fun teachers Lead users The ‘involved’ parent
Preferred retailers Free marketing through Youtube and Snapchat Specialized stores for special editions
COST STRUCTURES
Revenue streams
Research and design
Subscription based
Tech development
Fixed vs. monthly
Economies of scale
Retail
Salaries
Figure 13. Business Model Canvas of Quirkbot
case) coding can be taught with incremental steps.
something valuable resulted in failed attempts to
Our idea would fully integrate these steps into
make something that had any sort of value at all. As
the six-month-subscription, and would allow for
well, the time spent on constructing these char-
a guarantee to their users that they would uncon-
acters resulted in less time available for learning
sciously learn a level of coding at the end of their
code, an important observation considering the
subscription. The learning curve becomes a frame-
limited attention span of the human brain. To
work for each theme, that helps both Quirkbot to
solve these issues, we have outlined a company
design the themes and the user to get most out of
philosophy in three main concepts around our
the Quirkbot experience. In order to acquire such
proposed idea for Quirkbot, helping to outline how
a learning curve, Quirkbot should try to consult
the product itself should be perceived and com-
with experts, or turn to professionals from the field
municated. The philosophy stems from our aim to
within their social network or the ‘maker’ commu-
reinforce and deliver more truthfully to Quirkbot’s
nity. The learning curve drives their values as edu-
core values of learning and equality, by improving
cators of code, which helps solidify their position
aspects such as accessibility, accomplishment and
as being more educational.
user-friendliness. BUILD - By providing the design of structures with
6.2 COMPANY PHILOSOPHY
clear instructions, users will be able to build with
In our analysis we suggested that one of the
a sense of direction. This in turn, will give the user
struggles with the Quirkbot was its inability to
a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. With
create clear feedback to its users during building
our educational subscription model, users will
and coding. In turn, a lot of the attempts to create
be able to create structures each month that are
18
part of a grand narrative or theme, that the user
Quirkbot is not meant for everyone. If you are
finds fascinating and motivating from the start.
not into creating, programming or even robots,
By knowing the scope of a building project before-
Quirkbot is not made for you. With our proposed
hand gives an extra push to start building.
solution it becomes possible to target a bigger market than the current situation. However, with
CODE - With the created structures in hand, users
Quirkbot there’s a clear distinction between a
will attach a Quirkbot and continue to follow the
customer who buys the product and a user who
(physical and/or digital) instructions to code and
uses the product. We have identified two customer
make the structure come alive. This is where the
segments and one user segment that represent the
power of Quirkbot really comes into play. Firstly,
most prominent segments for our proposal.
we think that because the user relates to the structures coming from within a particular theme, the user feels more affection and it becomes more
User Segment: Children 8–13
fun to code the structures. Secondly, we believe
The years between 8-13 in a child’s life can be full
that because the building momentum will now be
of experimentation, fantasy and fun. Perhaps the
much easier and faster, users will spend a lot more
last time before things become complicated within
time on modifying the code. This dual psychology
the teenage years. For example, social aspects start
will allow users to learn the most. Less time spent
to become more important and take time from
on building the structures, and more time devoted
learning and hobbies. However, by setting proper
to making the structures do certain things. Each
values and habits within these years can lay the
design becomes a living character in a story, where
groundwork for how children develop the rest of
a user solves a series of challenges curated by
their lives. We see this as an important segment for
Quirkbot.
Quirkbot, as it represents both an opportunity to positively influence a young generation to play and
PLAY - As soon as the quirkbot is programmed, the
learn through code in combination with a theme of
user can start to play through their world of imagi-
their choosing, and build a long-term relationship
nation. We want to help the user to get most out of
with them, potentially growing the future maker
the momentum of play, that we gladly emphasize
community.
to keep a child’s life in balance after all this learning. We envision that Quirkbot can suggest things to do with the structures, for example, battle, race
Customer segment: Involved Parent
etc, or other examples of gamifying the experience.
Parent’s generally care about their kids well being,
After playing, users are able to make and collect
learning and having fun being just two of them.
many more structures. One Quirkbot circuit board
With entertainment now in numerous forms of
can fit into as many designs as you can imagine and
technology, opportunities for engagement are
with new Quirkbot designs coming every month,
everywhere. The involved parent is aware of this
the user won’t run out of ways to play and learn.
information overload and takes the effects into consideration in relation to the well being of their children. Quirkbot creates a non harmful play-
6.3 CUSTOMER AND USER SEGMENTS
ing experience that combines physical play and
Through our research, it became clear that
digital learning through programming self-created
19
structures. Involved parents can decide to join in if
6.4 BRAND ORGANIZATION
they want to, but children are fully able to use the
During the course of our process, designing a
instructions to their advantage and play without
suitable brand organization for Quirkbot was a
assistance. This becomes a valuable incentive for
challenge. Quirkbot is a company, but it’s also a
parents to buy a Quirkbot for their kids.
product, therefore the product defines the brand and this limits the possibilities of the brand. However, LEGO has the very same problem and
Customer segment: Cool Teacher
they are doing better than ever. We think this is
Quirkbot helps you learn in an unconscious way.
due to the building possibilities of LEGO. With
However, we also see Quirkbot as a new learn-
the different blocks LEGO can design whatever
ing tool that ‘cool teachers’ can bring into their
they want and create themes like LEGO City,
classrooms and use to approach ordinary subjects
LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends etc. The same
in a new way. Due to Quirkbot’s inability to fully
thing is possible with Quirkbot and the straws (or
integrate their product as an alternative to learn-
any other building material for that matter). By
ing within a programming curriculum, we see the
creating different themes dedicated to different
themes as a driver. With new themes come new
user segments, Quirkbot as a company is still able
ways to learn a variety of subjects. For example, we
to divert. Through licensing Quirkbot is able to
could see the solar system as a subject, and Quirk-
‘lift’ with other brands like Star Wars, National
bot as an alternative to learning how the planets
Geographic, BBC etc. Quirkbot has the potential
revolve around the sun versus a more traditional
to also extend its own brand by creating games,
textbook approach. There are endless ways for
movies, etc. out of its most popular narratives. We
teachers to bring Quirkbot into the classroom, and
consider Strawbees as one of many suppliers for
we feel the company itself has a direct possibility
Quirkbot. Another idea, borrowed indirectly from
to cater within this market in the future.
our LEGO benchmark, that also has the potential to strengthen the relationship with Strawbees as a preferred supplier, evolves around ordering
Customer Journey
unique Quirkbot-branded straws from Strawbees.
For our proposal we created a customer journey
In a quite clever way this would help Quirkbot to
map that shows all the important touchpoints
protect its designs and make them less replicable
a customer and an user would go through. The
by the market.
reason for dividing the customer and user is due to parents that provide for their children. Therefore
We suggest that the umbrella brand Quirkbot will
we see the customer as the involved parent or cool
hold Quirkbot Academy, Quirkbot Maker and
teacher and the user as kids between the ages of
Quirkbot Business. Each of these subsidiaries
8 and 13. It is unlikely, however not improbable,
target different customer segments and offer dif-
that kids will buy Quirkbot related products in a
ferent products accordingly (See figure 15 for our
retail store or online on their own. The customer
proposed organization.).
journey map (see figure 14) shows these different journeys.
20
JOURNEY MAP “I need something fun for Johnny, if he could learn from it, that would be great!”
“This was easy! I’ll choose a theme Johnny would like!”
“That’s a great deal for a gift and I can just put in my address and it delivers right to my door ”
TOTAL
$89
WEBSITE
customer segment
“INVOLVED PARENT”
PAY + ADD INFORMATION
FAST DELIVERY
“YAY!” “Wow! thanks mom”
“This looks exciting Johnny”
Q Q
EDUCATION RIGHT AT YOUR DOORSTEP “It came with everything!”
“wow! that was so fun to build”
WELCOME TO THE ACADEMY
Q
customer segment
“CHILDREN 8-13”
WELCOME TO THE ACADEMY + INSTRUCTIONS FOR FIRST BOX
FUN + EASY BUILDING
“hm, let’s look at the code and see if I can make it do something”
“ROAR!!”
VISIT QUIRKBOT SITE AND START CODING
“Lets battle!”
“I can’t wait to play with this”
ATTACH YOUR CREATION TO MAKE IT MOVE
“let’s make it do something else!” “meow”
INVITE FRIENDS TO PLAY + BATTLE
CODE MORE
“I LOVE MY QUIRKBOT! I can’t wait until next month”
Figure 14. Customer Journey Map
21
Figure 15. Proposed Organizational Structure of Quirkbot
6.5 TWELVE-MONTH IMPLEMENTATION
separately, undivided attention and buzz around
PLAN
that particular theme can be created. Developing
An important question for Quirkbot is of course:
a variety of themes for the market is of key impor-
How to implement this? What do we need?
tance and the first years will be intense, because
Although we are no experts in the field of imple-
the kits are still in the making. However, it seems
mentation and the finances were never our main
reasonable to assume that Quirkbot is able to
focus, we created a twelve month plan that gives
launch three themes within one year.
a suggestion on where to start and what that requires, e.g. what kind of people Quirkbot needs
In our plan (see figure 16), only the three subscrip-
to make our proposal happen. The approach to
tion based products or kits are treated, but we
this implementation plan is carefully structured
don’t want to exclude the development and sales of
as a project that divides internal activities from
the existing Quirkbot kit. An upgraded version of
activities that need to be coordinated together
this kit can be a strategic move that doesn’t require
with external actors.
too much effort. The profits from the ‘maker’ kits can support the project financially while targeting
We suggest that the three kits are developed and
a customer group that poses little or no risk to can-
launched at different times in order to get the first
nibalize sales of Quirkbot’s educational subscrip-
package e.g. Jungle out on the market as soon as
tions. An important thing to note is that Quirkbot
possible and start generating revenue. We believe
needs investments beyond Kickstarter to hire the
that focusing on one theme at the time is the way
right people. Kickstarter and their experience
to go, because different themes require different
thus far shows that there is a market out there. We
(theme) experts or (in the case of the licensing
defined this market and made it even bigger, thus
model) partners. Fortunately, the learnings gained
making investing in Quirkbot more appealing to
through development of one package, can be used
investors (see full 12 month implementation plan
to speed up the process, e.g. the learning curve
in Appendix H).
stays the same. By launching the different themes
22
12 Month Implementation Plan INTERNAL Project Management
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
11
12
♦
Design Development
★¹ ★² ★³
Visual Communication
Product Content Creation
Graphic Content Creation
EXTERNAL
1
2
Sales
Purchasing/Sourcing
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
▲
Communicator
Brand Ambassador
♥
MILESTONES
♦ ★
Project plan ready, key resources acquired and mobilized Theme/product package completed and ready for market
▲ ♥
Trial period with retailers start Additional promotional activities start
Figure 16. 12 Month Implementation Plan
7. DISCUSSION
found that by approaching the masses, there is a larger chance to impact change within society, and
In our report, we looked at Quirkbot as both a
find ways for a larger amount of people to learn
product and a company, and explored a variety of
how to code through their products. By position-
ways for them to approach the market. Quirkbot’s
ing Quirkbot as an educational alternative, we
products are not fully clear whether they are toys
see appeal within its ability to then approach the
or educational tools; two product markets that
market at a later date with more confidence, as it
don’t often live symbiotically. However by only
would have an opportunity to be situated within
approaching the maker culture, they may only be
the minds of their consumers. As well, by creating
targeting a narrower segment of their potential
a more standardized learning curve for code, their
market. In our findings we also found that the
roles and values will be more prominent within
educational systems within Sweden may not be
this market, and would have a clearer percep-
fully ready to implement coding into their curric-
tion of their position within it. We found that the
ulum, thus Quirkbot must find ways to prepare the
use of narratives is also important for children’s
market until it is ready. Thus, in our findings we
toys, and can see this also as an important aspect
23
8. CONCLUSION
and differentiator for Quirkbot to leverage more aspects of learning within their product.
Our focus was to help Quirkbot approach the The methods used to approach this case
larger market so they would be in a position where
leaned heavily on the models used throughout.
they could generate sales; to be in a situation
Because this case relied more on more practical
where they can generate profits not only towards
approaches, we saw the practicality of the models
Strawbees, but for Quirkbot as a separate entity.
as more useful than the frameworks set forth
During our process, we reformed this task into the
by theory. We see the models useful to any new
following research question: How might Quirkbot
venture, and particularly helpful when checking
create playful learning experiences that push the
off elements of their business to see if they are
imagination through engaging designs, which are
missing anything important.
easy to build and fun to modify? Through various primary research models like a competitor matrix,
Because Quirkbot has situated themselves within
the Successful Branding Process model, obser-
this maker culture, we see our proposed service as
vations and secondary research, we came to the
a more radical shift for their brand. However, we
conclusion that Quirkbot’s current product needs
see value in placing Quirkbot towards the masses,
improvements, e.g. additional tools and instruc-
as the opportunity to create a drive around their
tions, before being able to be released on the
products is much higher. We also see how their
market. Additionally, we see the targeted customer
current novel values can actually be enhanced
segments, especially education, as not the right
within our proposed strategy. As long as there is
choice for now. Knowing the centralized educa-
demand on the market, Quirkbot will do wisely by
tion system in Sweden, adding the unpredictable
exploring different business opportunities in order
language of coding to the curriculum would be
to try and respond to some of that demand with
challenging and may take years to implement.
feasible commercial offerings. A bigger market
Therefore mainly targeting the education system
share would mean a more established position
is both too challenging and too limiting, when
on the growing market and provide more means
considering the full business potential of Quirkbot.
for the survival and development of Quirkbot as
Instead, we suggest a subscription based educa-
a company. Instead of seeing radical commer-
tional model that targets children from 8 to 13
cialization of Quirkbot as a bad thing, we want to
years old. Through various themes in combination
focus on the huge potential of building a successful
with engaging designs, a steady learning curve and
company that inspires other start-ups, further
the Build, Code, Play philosophy, Quirkbot will be
enhancing the culture of makers of different kinds.
able to create playful learning experiences that
With a larger timeframe and more information
push the imagination, are easy to build and fun to
around their finances, the ability to create a plan
modify. Consequently, with our proposed solution
that reflected their ability to generate profits may
Quirkbot becomes a learning toy for the masses.
have been more conceivable.
If this more utilitaristic approach is properly adopted by Quirkbot and communicated out to the potential customers our assumption is that the brand will create more value, win more trust and generate revenue.
24
25
26
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APPENDICES
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APPENDIX A: The World’s Shortest Marketing Plan Applied to Quirkbot
PRODUCT
PRICE
PLACE
WHAT
WHY
What products do you sell?
What need does When do you it fill? need it?
Arduino boards, fun toy, a new craft, is it a service, coding for kids
Fun alternative education, hobbyist, visual imagination, coding education, creative flowbuilding coding and sharing, leisure time time to learn code, tangible + digital combination
When you want to make strawbees come alive, when the teachers tell you to, when you got time to spare, time 45 mins - 1hr
What price will you sell for?
Why is that the right price?
Is it a risk - will schools make it a want, more for maker box, too high for individuals, cheap straws, what makes this price worth it, $80-90
How long will the price be valid?
For education, private use, Already timed usability, out, it's not valid packaging, long at all lasting?, needs to be aligned with competitors
No info available, tech becomes cheaper - price is always dropping, initial price should go down
How will products be distributed?
Why choose When do these channels? customer choose different Quirkbot channels? doesn’t know any better and it Alternatives are chosen when is quick and something is easy, get needed quickly, consumers to channels are test and limited, when prototype, all tools available there is a "want" might lead to or desire for a sales product
Posted - no clear distribution channels, kickstarter?, maker fairs, science festival, liseberg, other events in universeum? PROMOTION
What type of Why choose promotion to be these activities? used? Tailors to young 7 wonders of audience, the world, Snaphat for Snapchat + kids, innovation other social companies to media, web make quick and blog, easy prototype, Kickstarter, physical places, Youtube, moving objects package are well solutions - even captured on bigger or more video, open expansive, source is social design schools, good for social Quirkbot Stores, media pop up workshop in parks + squares "flying objects"
WHEN
Timing, launch, lifecycle, etc. Ongoing, now, depends on education system
HOW
HOW MUCH
WHO
How will the product fill the need?
Product costs, volume to be sold, etc.
Customer segments to be targeted?
QuirkBot provides you with tools + instructions + designs, big creating and learning visuals, learning by doing, attractive appearance
No information, depends on channel, plastics - injection molding might cost more,
How will the price develop over time?
How much sales and margin will be created?
Different prices for different segments?
How will we create of enter these channels?
What are the costs/benefits of these channels?
How do different segments use different channels?
Talking to educators, businesses, stores, showing benefit to education system, requires QuirkBot to contact schools directly
Internet spreads fast + easy, no middle man - all for profit, only domain post costs.
How will the promotion be executed?
Cost/benefit of the promotion?
Probably cheaper for Low volumes - high schools - volume dependent, margin, if education education, business, private market - low margin - use high volume
Spreads fast world Viral video, record etc, cheap QuirkBot competition, celebrity innovators, quirkbot event at schools, promotion through vloggers
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Schools, children, educators, parents, DIY, geeks, families into technology
Kids Snapchat + Youtube, target groups and potential customers might never find their homepage - FaceBook - InstaGram, recommendations spread in networks - example: between teachers,
Target group for various promotions? DIY on Youtube, young "sharers" yes business to business, business to education, business to consumers - kids + parents
APPENDIX B: Competitor Matrix
COMPETITOR MATRIX Lego Mindstorm Kano
Moff band
Raspberry
Arduino
What it does?
Use Lego system to create and command robots that walk, talk, think and do anything you could imagine
Wearable tech with sound effects. Controller for games, like Wii. Battery works for 20 hours with one charge.
Standalone circuit board. "Single-board computer" and you can create anything with it.
Standalone circuit board.
What are the costs?
4000 SEK (cost 150 EUR (but also 46 EUR of an iPad!) needs a screen)
5 - 40 USD
20 - 50 EUR + VAT
How involved are children?
Kids already know lego. Kids can be selfgoing with the help of manuals.
Build your own computer. Program your own games.
Software is No adults needed. Not really - they need Not really - they need already there. The supervision supervision user basically plugs n play and drag and drop.
Learning outcome Building and programming
Build computer and design your own games given the options provided.
Ease of use
Drag and drop. Good instructions and design suggestions. Kids already know how to lego.
Support
Experiment and create anything. Hard-core programming.
Experiment and create anything. Hard-core programming.
User is introduced Very easy. to some ready options, so it's easy to start. Easy to assemble and plug'n'play. "As simple and fun as LEGO".
Not very easy
Not very easy
Established international company - lot of support! Manuals, videos, forum, community
Reviews available. "KANO for education": schools, clubs, communities. Lesson plans, teachers just have to check if the plans are aligned with educational learning goals.
No support provided by Moff. No support really needed. 3rd party developers involved.
A lot of support provided. Established on the market and other companies are using Raspberry technology.
A lot of support provided. Established on the market because one of the oldest solutions available.
Differentiator
Brand recognition. Probably more advanced than other competitors.
Possible to subscribe to a magazine to an extra cost. Open source - the KANO computer uses Linux OS.
Ready to use. New Unlimited sound effects possibilities. It can published every run Linux OS. month. Energyefficient, shuts down after a short time.
Target group
10 years + (almost exclusively show boys in the ads)
Schools, clubs, 5 years + communities. Seems that they are targeting 8 to 14-year-olds. Content (as in games) and ads seem genderneutral.
14 +
14 +
Visual - what does Looks more it look like? technical.
Looks nice with the orange color. Very neatly packaged.
Multiple colors, minimal style.
Just a normal circuit board. The web videos use a lot of humour.
Circuit board
Customization possibilities (flexy design)
Theoretically, yes it's adaptable because open source. Not really sure how this could work in practice.
Choose between You have to build already existing something around it. sounds. We think Moff can only host 1 sound at a time.
Combine with any LEGO
Toy for fun, no real learning happening.
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Unlimited possibilities.
Completely customizable.
APPENDIX C: Full Customer Journey Experience, Tehilah, 29 years
Observations Customer Experience 1
She opens up the box
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She drops the LED
2
She removes everything out of the box
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She asks: Ok, I am set-up now? I don’t get it, why do I need two?
3
She opens a smaller box insides in the big box
25
She makes another helicopter
4
She removes everything out of the smaller box
26
She looks for additional instructions and finds the website
5
She is amazed by the LEDs
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She grabs her laptop
6
She asks: Why do they have a light when it has no function? The light doesn't do anything?
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She goes online to the Quirkbot website
7
She opens up a plastic package with connectors
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She creates account on the Quirkbot platform
8
She tried to connect a LED to the Quirkbot
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She grabs the box and looks for instructions
9
She connects straws with the star connector
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She adds a sequence on the platform
10
She looks at the pictures on the box
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She sets some numbers in the sequence
11
She compares the quirkbot with the picture on the box 33
She plugs in the Quirkbot using the usb cable
12
She looks at the pictures inside the box and copies the images
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She looks for ‘Quirkbot test’ on Google
13
She asks: How do you put in the led?
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She finds some code on Github
14
She say’s: There have to be some instructions to help me out!
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She sighs deeply
15
She compares the star connector with the quirkbot
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She says “I don’t know, I wanted to look up some ready made codes but I don’t know. It’s blinking, it’s red, I like it.”
16
She adds the backpack to the quirkbot
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She turns the Quirkbot on and the Quirkbot starts to blink blue
17
She connects the rotor to the quirkbot
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She says: Now I am connected, but It didn’t say anything like ‘ Welcome’ or anything. Should there be a instruction with it?
18
She connects the star connector to the rotor and tries to bold it with a screw
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She asks a friend what to do.
19
She says: I need a screwdriver! A really tiny one!
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She searches for ‘Quirkbot for dummies’ on Google
20
She had no screwdriver so we handed her a stanley knife and she screwed it in with the tip of the knife.
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She finds a tuturial on instructables.com
21
She asked: Should the helicopter thingy be really tidily screwed or slightly loosened up?
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She looks through the instructions
22
She adds a LED to the quirkbot, it sticks out. “The sticks should go inside somewhere?”
44
She starts building the strawbies according to the tutorial
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APPENDIX D: ‘Successful Branding Process’ model
Brand Assessment: How is the brand perceived today?
Brand Promise: What will define your brand?
• Kids go crazy about it, but it’s questionable how involved they are with the Quirkbot. • Without instructions, building a decent Quirkbot is difficult. • Organisational structure is not clear. • Learning is not an integral part of the experience. It is not clear what you learn
• Kids go crazy about it, but it’s questionable how involved they are with the Quirkbot. • Without instructions, building a decent Quirkbot is difficult. • Organisational structure is not clear. • Learning is not an integral part of the experience. It is not clear what you learn
Brand Strategy: How will you manage and position the brand? • A creative testing lab to engage users, get feedback and improve the designs • Give users a sense of accomplishment • Facilitate growth and innovation within the product line
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APPENDIX E: ‘Successful Branding Process’ model
Anatomy Of The Branding Position by Pierre Hérme HERITAGE Before
Now
Kickstarter + earlier product created
Product does not work well without assistance in both construction and software
Learning kids to code
Competitors are able to give better experience to educate and learn
Open source
Not embracing business opportunities
The maker movement
DOMAIN Before
Now
Kids 8-13
Create customer segments
Parents that want children to learn
8+ Kids who want to have fun
Maker community
Adults who want to learn code
VALUE Before
Now
Making coding fun
Making coding fun
Learning by doing
Learning by doing An engaging and supportive community
ASSETS Before
Now
Ride on trend with coding + maker era
Creating and collecting unique designs
Personal attention for kids
Quality
Safe and fun
User can do it themselves in a proper way Easy to learn/understand, hard to master
PERSONALITY Before
Now
A platform for makers and coders
Build, code, play, fun to display
Quirky and contemporary
Quirky
Heavily influenced by Strawbees
Strawbees as one supplier
Unconsciously learning code
First steps into coding
REFLECTION Before
Now
Kids enjoy messing around with Quirkbot
Users engaged by the designs
Children and parents feel part of the revolution
Revolution flows into education Multiple designs, one Quirkbot Quirkbot becomes expandable through both licensing and product extensions
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APPENDIX F: 20 of the most popular toys
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APPENDIX G: Narrative Suggestions
SPACE Benefit: Endless possibilities for storytelling. Space sparks mystery and creativity, and represents a more or less gender-neutral offering. Story/package: The 5 pieces could be Earth, Moon, Sun, stairchain e.g. Big Dipper and an Alien or Robot such an Alien. 1.
First package is Earth - Make it rotate!
2.
Moon, night-glowing - Build together with Earth and it rotate around it.
3.
Sun - Combine with leds and make it shine!
4. Robot - Make it walk or anything. This robot habiting the Earth is called XX. Add sympathy elements to the character to resemble Wall-e or Ex Machina. 5.
Alien - Attacks the Earth. Robot makes a counter-attack. How can it save the Earth? (Alternatively, build yet another planet that is on the course to hit the Earth. Use sensors for the attacking planet or missile “weapons” for the robot to protect the Earth)
FARM Benefit: Domestic theme will appeal to parents since it teaches kids values that are home- and work related (LEGO friends), and puts focus on the origins of food - a growing interest on the market. Story/package: 1.
Dog - the King of the farm. Make the tail move. Sympathy and Easiness.
2.
Tractor - Make it move! It’s time to harvest!
3.
Sheep - Make it move and add a sensor for King to follow the sheep.
4. House - Add lights. Build a similar mini-house for the King doggie (sympathy). Add lights on the tractor as well. The harvesting has not gone as planned. It’s getting late and the farmer has to work nighttime (realism)! 5.
Wolf - It’s attacking the sheep when farmer is sleeping or away working. Wolf has night-vision. Make a night-glowing wolf! Finally, the dog and wolf become best friends (sympathy ending).
JUNGLE Benefit: Exotic values sell well. Story/package: 1.
Tree - How high tree can you build?
2.
Monkey - Make it play and climb the tree. It wants to see the sun!
3.
Fluorescent frog, glows in the dark - Make it jump!
4. Parrot - Make it talk / imitate voices, or make it fly! 5.
Dinosaur (or tractor) - Attacks the jungle! How can monkey, frog and parrot protect the jungle?
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APPENDIX H: 12 Month Implementation Plan
12 Month Implementation Plan INTERNAL Project Management
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
11
12
♦
Design Development
★¹ ★² ★³
Visual Communication
Product Content Creation
Graphic Content Creation
EXTERNAL
1
2
Sales
Purchasing/Sourcing
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
▲
Communicator
Brand Ambassador
♥
MILESTONES
♦
★
Project plan ready, key resources acquired and mobilized Employees Theme/product package completed and ready for market
PARTICIPANTS TASKS
Project Leader
Visual Designer
▲ ♥
Trial period with retailers start Additional promotional activities start
Pushes the project forward, follows up the deliverables in weekly meetings and reports back progress and questions to the steering group Designs the instructions, letters and other visual communication guidelines
Product Designer Creates the unique designs for the characters. Experiments with other material that can be added as part of the packages Copywriter Programmer/Educator
Creates the narratives, and does trendsearch to define what characters and themes suit for commercial viable offerings Defines the learning curve
Salesperson Approaches investors and banks to raise capital, sells product to store, explores other channels for sales and collaboration, lobbies programming into the curriculum for Swedish schools Brand Ambassadors Analyzes the market and conduct negotiations with suppliers Communicator
Promotes the brand in strategic locations
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