Activity 4 Mobius Toy, Inc

Commercialization of

Action Plan, Prototype Building and Testing, Finalization of Prototype

7/25/2013 Harvard Summer School, Cross-Border Innovation, Team Green: Stefano Angeli, Claudia Dall'Osso, Carine Melhorn, Jean-Luc Winkler, Elizabeth Wu

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Activity #4

Action Plan


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During our teamwork process on the prototype, an action plan was created in Microsoft Project to keep track of our activities and responsibilities.

Prototype Building and Testing


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For the prototype building and testing, we have chosen to encourage our prospective customers and other stakeholders to test out the “Green Challenge” and give us feedback on how to maximize the game experience. We created an early prototype consisting of a scoreboard in which children could gain points by performing eco-friendly tasks, and advance their pawn (an endangered animal) on the board. We also discussed the creation of an online platform to keep track of points earned among families and/or school classes that would rank each team among all participants. This website adds value to the product by encouraging families to increase eco-friendly behaviors and requires the product’s serial number to log in. Participation in the online competition could result in a prize (seed packages, movie passes, etc.), which is rewarded to highly ranked groups by lottery drawing. Mobius Toy, Inc. would provide these rewards.

A description of the game and a picture of the prototype was emailed to over 50 people, including parents that have at least one child between 6 and 10 years old, 10 teachers, and other experts. A brief description of the online platform was also given. The families were asked to rank the toy’s performance from the adult’s point of view as well as from the children’s point of view. In addition to these rankings, we asked for general feedback, concerns, and suggestions.

Survey Results - Parents


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For Parents Responses How important is it for you to teach your children eco-friendly values? Rate 1-5 (5 is highest)

Average: 5

Do you currently have a way to teach sustainability to your children? (Yes/No)

40% No (For parents who answered yes, the most common method was learning by observing parents’ behavior)

How well does Green Challenge instill eco-friendly values in children? Rate 1-5

Average: 3.6

How useful is the online platform that tracks family points? Rate 1-5

Average: 2.75

How likely are you to recommend the Green Challenge to a friend?Rate 1-5

Average: 2.5

Summary of additional comments/suggestions: • Competition between families with online platform was teaching wrong values (tangible facts related to the everyday environment were requested)

• Lack of direct connection between energy saved and environmental impact

• Parents liked the idea of rewarding the repetition of action

Survey Results - Experts


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For Experts (Child psychologist and teachers) ResponsesHow important do you think it is to teach 6 to 10 years old children eco-friendly values? Rate 1-5 (5 is highest)

Average: 5

Are these concepts age-appropriate? (Rate 1-5) Average: 5

Do you currently have a way to teach sustainability to children? (yes/no)

50% No (For yes responses, the method used was telling stories about how actions impact environment)

How well does Green Challenge instill eco-friendly values in children? Rate 1-5

Average: 4.0

If we were to produce a “Green Challenge school edition” would you suggest teachers to use it?Rate 1-5

Average: 4.5

Summary of additional comments/suggestions: • Fun idea but game board must be more entertaining• Online competition may provide too much stress on families to

meet a certain expectation (it should be kept simple)• Should reward whole family if they achieve high score as a group

Performance Testing Results


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Children ResponsesHow fun was this game for you? 100% answered that the game was fun

What did you learn from this game? 100% answered that they learned that it is important to form eco-friendly habits."I learned that we need to pick up trash, we need to turn the lights off when we leave, and I learned that when we brush our teeth, we need to turn off the water."

Would you play this game again? 100% yes

What was you favorite part of this game? “My favorite part was playing the recycle.”“I liked everything.”“This game reminds me of my what my favorite character is doing on TV and now I can do it too.”

Two children aged 6-10 were asked to play the game (with prototype scoreboard and challenges) for an afternoon and were subsequently asked a few questions regarding their experiences. Each challenge was thoroughly explained with an emphasis on benefits for the overall environment, before the child played the game.

Based on feedback, we have decided to modify our online platform. We realized that the competitive aspect of the online platform was not well-received, and we were missing a direct link between eco-friendly behaviors and environmental impact. Therefore, we decided to make the website an informative source of environmental facts. Families will be able to log in their scores and see the direct impact of their actions related to their everyday environment. Thus we will give them a tangible relation between their activities and well known measurements. For example, one statement after entering the scores could be as follows:

“The average American family for four can consume up to 400 gallons of water each day,1 which is easily reduced with the tasks you have completed. By saving water while taking a

shower, you have saved a month’s worth of drinking water for your family! Congratulations!”

It was also mentioned that our game board needs to be aesthetically redesigned to be more attractive to children.

Finalization of Prototype


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1 http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/pubs/indoor.html

Commercialization


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1. Reach out to environmental organizations and charities that are willing to partner with us to promote the Green Challenge.2. Roll out the “Green Challenge: Classroom Version” across schools in the Boston area. The toy will be available for school challenges to make it broadly

available to our target group. Hereby we will make all elementary school children familiar with the game and trigger broad attention.• Increase exposure.• Gain local recognition.• Transfer demand from children in school to families' homes.• Circulate in schools for 2 months to gain feedback from teachers and students to incorporate into our Family Version.

3. Get local stores in the Boston area (ex. Stella Bella Toys, independent bookstores, etc.) to sell the “Green Challenge: Family Version”; local stores will be selected based on the likelihood of attracting eco-friendly parents and based on the store atmosphere (stores where owners/sales assistants offer advices and suggestions to customers will be preferred to take advantage of the trust relationships already established).

• Benefit for local stores• Give an environmentally friendly touch to their business. Once the toy gains recognition, people will go to their stores to buy the game

and they will be able to offer their own products/services.• Benefits for Mobius

• Target environmentally conscious groups.• Engage local communities. Advertise by word of mouth.

4. Get chain stores’ (CVS, Walgreens) approval to sell in the "cashier area.”• Benefit for chain stores: Extra revenues as "pester power item" sale.• Benefit for Mobius: Fast and huge expansion of distribution system.

Based on the positive feedback from experts and their willingness to strongly recommend and promote the Green Challenge game in schools, we decided to gain sponsorships from environmental organizations and partner with a charity, to which part of our profits would be donated. With these endorsements, we will launch the product in schools first as a marketing operation to spread awareness and stir interest among children and parents. Below is the commercialization process of the Green Challenge.

Commercialization


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Because we are providing the “Green Challenge: Classroom Version” for free as part of our marketing cost, our revenue will come from sales to additional classrooms and families following the initial 2-month launch. By creating a classroom version (instead of a version for the entire school), we can sell more of the classroom versions to multiple classes within one school if the game catches on. We will also create different editions of the game, such as the water edition, energy edition, and recycle edition, with different tasks so a single classroom or a single family can buy multiple editions if they enjoy the game. The online platform will also provide links between these tasks and impact once the serial number and points have bee entered. These different versions (classroom and family) and editions have the potential to dramatically increase the number of boards we sell.

For the Family Version, we have decided to price the board at $9.99 for the following reasons.•More than covers the cost of production•Reflects the educational value of repetitive behaviors that will result in eco-friendly habits•Reflects the value of the online platform that provides link between actions and environmental impact •High enough that the customer will value the product and think it is worth buying (as opposed to a low price which reflects poor quality)•Not high enough to deter customers who may feel that it is too expensive for a paper toy

Education

Activity 4 Mobius Toy, Inc