Rishika's Tale of Two countries

Through a behavioral science and branding lens, Rishika will investigate the emerging economies of Cuba and Trinidad + Tobago and share her firsthand experiences while visiting these countries on the MIT Sloan Study Tour.    

[rishikabranding-blog]

Diffusion of Innovations

While reading the case, it was very easy to distinguish products with high market potential and adoption rates. In particular, I decided to explore two products, one of which I believe will be slow to diffuse in the market (the sliced peanut butter) and the other which I expect to diffuse rapidly in the market (the silver nanocrystal band-aids). 

I have outlined my thoughts below:

What is the market potential for each of the products? There is a small market potential for this product. It can be used by virtually anyone who wants to efficiently and quickly make peanut butter sandwiches.  Unfortunately, the product use is limited to sandwiches, as I believe people will prefer to use regular peanut butter while preparing other snacks.

Time to reach market: Slow - I think people are familiar with the jar container packaging for peanut butter products. They may be hesitant to try peanut butter in slice form.

Relative advantage: The sliced peanut butter allows one to create sandwiches quickly and easily without tearing the bread or using a fork or knife.

Compatibility: The product is not compatible with current peanut butter offerings on the market. The product is presented in a different shape and form than that of traditional product offerings.  Consumers may feel that this packaging will impact taste, freshness, consistency and texture of a traditional peanut butter sandwich or other peanut butter snacks.

Complexity: The product is not complex for consumers to use if they are creating peanut butter sandwiches. It may be complex to use if the peanut butter slices are used while preparing other peanut butter snacks. In addition, I would imagine that this product would need to be refrigerated unlike traditional spreadable peanut butter. 

Trialability: The product is easy to test by consumers.

Observability: The product is observable to a degree if the consumer prepares food items around others. The slices in the end product may not be observable to others.

All in all, this product has a small market potential. Although it is not complex, easy to test and is relatively observable, I believe that the product will be adopted at normal pace due to its in-compatibility with current peanut butter product offerings. Peanut butter is a traditional American spread with a longstanding tradition and history in the country. The negative impact of changing the consistency of the condiment outweighs the efficiencies it brings to the user.  

2) The Silver screen takes on germs

What is the market potential for each of the products? There is a large market potential for this product. Consumers can treat serious burns and injuries more effectively with this over the counter treatment.

Time to reach market potential? This product will be reach market potential rapidly as it is presents a relative advantage, it is compatible with current product offerings, is easy to test/use and can be observable to others.

• How do Rogers’ five factors apply to the four products?

Relative advantage – The product offers an advantage to kill germs and treat wounds effectively with silver nanocrystals. The band-aid prevents further infection and this can save consumers time and money. Currently, this is the only type of band-aid that is available for customers to use over the counter. 

Compatibility: The product is very compatible with current offerings. The product looks and feels like a regular band-aid.

Complexity: The product is very easy to use.

Trialability: The product is very easy to test. In fact, the FDA has approved these band-aids to treat serous wounds. This approval will give the OTC products instant credibility in the market.

Observability: The product can be observable to others if the manufacturer chooses to design the band-aid to have a distinguishable color or shape.

All in all, this is product is highly disruptive and its ease of use and relative advantage will allow it to be quickly adopted in the market. 

[rishikabranding-blog]

Black and Decker case

Black and Decker is a well regarded brand among consumers, but this does not hold in the professional-tradesmen segment. A typical tradesman dismisses B&D’s professional grade’s products, stating that the brand is known to make a “good popcorn popper….and dust buster,” but not tools to make a living. The company’s weak performance in the professional tradesmen segment is due to its poor branding strategy, which stems from the color of the tools to the name and price of the product line. I suggest that B&D change the price point and color of these tools, but also employ option 3 and drop the Black and Decker name from the product line. 

Although B&D’s professional grade products are of high quality, tradesmen feel embarrassed to use these tools on the job as the charcoal grey color of the tools are associated with consumer grade products that are best suited for light weight amateur work. My suggestion is that B&D differentiate the tradesman line with a bold color that is not grey and not used by competitors in this segment. Galli suggests yellow, but the color should be carefully chosen to align with the main characteristics of the product line. 

Additionally, the price point of the professional grade products are low in comparison to competitors such as Milwaukee and Makita. I think that Galli should raise the price of these products in order to increase the brand perception of these products. The name of the product line should be  something new such as DeWalt brand which is viewed favorably for its woodworking equipment. I am confident that with these new strategies in place, B&D will find more success in this professional tradesmen segment. I have elaborated my thoughts below :

Option 2 

Sub Branding will not work for B&D as the company already has a strong reputation in the low quality consumer segment and not in the high quality professional segment. Tradesmen have already anchored B&D as a consumer brand in their minds so it will be hard to gain credibility in the professional segment in such a short amount of time. In contrast, the Ralph Lauren brand did start with a strong reputation among luxury high-end purchasers, so the sub branding strategy did work when the company expanded to lower quality brands. For example, in women’s apparel, RL has six distinct sub brands, which include “Collection” which is very high end luxury runway attire, Polo Ralph Lauren, which is the high end brand and Lauren Ralph Lauren which is the low end brand. The price point, quality and style of the clothing differs in all three of these sub brands as well a the marketing and distribution strategy. 

Option 3 

This option will work best for B&D. Companies such as GAP have distinct product lines that cater to very different consumers. Banana Republic caters to professionals, while GAP and Old Navy provide mid and low priced clothing for consumers of all ages respectively. The demographics of consumers targeted by each of these brands are very different so it would not make sense for GAP employ a sub brand strategy as this would confuse consumers and not help the company position and price its product offerings differently.

[hellohavananights-blog]

Food in Cuba

I made some Tacos today and immediately thought about the food that awaits me in Cuba. I have listed some of the most popular dishes, and am excited to try everything I can while I am there. 

Cuba 

Cuban food is a mix of Spanish, African, Caribbean and Taino food. A typical Cuban meal consists of rice and beans, and when these two items are cooked together they are called Congri, or Morros, and if separate they are called Arroz con Frijoles. Meat is usually served with light sauces made up of garlic, oil, and oregano etc.  

Dishes

Ropo Vieja - Shredded beef simmered in a tomato sauce. The name derives from old clothes as the shredded meat resembles that. 

Cuban Sandwich 

This sandwich grew out of an open flow of cigar workers between Florida and Cuba in the late 1800s. The bread is slightly buttered, and contains roast pork, serrano ham, swiss cheese, dill pickles, and yellow mustard that is pressed panini style. 

[hellohavananights-blog]

Dancing the night away in Havana

I am very interested in learning more about the origin of Cuban dance and did some research in my spare time. Let’s hope we have some spare time to see some local performances while we are there!

History 

There are many different types of dance forms in Cuban culture. The people native to the land perform rituals called areito, but after the spanish colonization, european dance forms such as the French contradanse, eventually transformed to the Cuban Contradanza. This type of dance is a mixture of ballroom dances, cha-cha-cha and the mambo. Moreover, the dance traditions from African slaves, gave rise to religious dances called yuka and abukua, as well as the rumba. 

Types of dance 

Danzon 

This is the official genre and dance of Cuba. This dance evolved from the french contradanse but is influenced by African rhythmic dance styles. This type of dance begins with an introduction where dancers choose dancers, move to the floor, and all start dancing at the same time. As soon as the introduction is repeated, the dancers stop, chat, flirt and greet their friends, and then start back up again. 

Mambo

This type of dance developed in Cuba, and Mambo literally means “conversations with the gods” in Kikongo, the language of the Central African slaves that were taken to Cuba. 

Cha-Cha-Cha 

This type of dance was introduced by composer and violinist Enrique Jorrin in 1953. The original Cuban and ballroom cha-cha-cha count is “2,3, cha-cha-cha, 4 and 1, 2, 3.

[hellohavananights-blog]

Many people site that Cuba’s healthcare system is a model for the world. The average life expectancy of a Cuban is 78 years and healthcare access is free and universal as it is considered a fundamental right, guaranteed by the state. I was particularly interested in learning more about this system and what makes it very special. 

My findings are below :

Access: Cuba has managed to guarantee access to healthcare for each and every segment of the population.

Compulsory health checks: The data from patient’s check-up allows doctors to classify them as “healthy” or at “risk.” If patients are at risk, they are more likely to be checked and cared for frequently. 

Preventative care: The healthcare system is focused on preventative medicine. The results of this type of care have been outstanding and the government has put a huge invents in public health education around smoking, alcohol. diet and exercise. 

Reproductive and child birth care: The infant mortality rate is 4.2 per thousand births, lower than that of the US.

Humanitarian programs: A major vision restoration program was launched by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. In the past decade, 3.5M people have had their vision restored under this program.

Kudos to Cuba! Let’s see if they can maintain this system with the expected opening of fast food chains. 

[hellohavananights-blog]

“McDonaldization”of Cuba

As American tourists flock to Cuba, fast food franchise stores such as McDonalds and Starbucks will open across the country. In class, we have coined the opening of fast food chains in developing economies as the “McDonaldization” transformation.

In China and India, fast food chains have negatively impacted the population with increased obesity, diabetes, and health risks. And while the healthcare system in Cuba is efficient and focused on preventative care, it is very likely that the opening of these fast food chains will strain and potentially even break this system in place today. 

Dennis and I have decided to explore preventative measures to ensure that Cubans maintain their healthy lifestyle, despite new economic temptations coming to Cuba. Our target population are Cubans who are between the ages of 15-20 who are most likely to eat at these franchise restaurants located in major cities such as Havana. Our goal is to survey these students to initially identify their attitude towards fast food and estimate their expected rate of visits to fast food chains. Then we will randomly select classes to receive an intervention, which will most likely take form of a video that will show a personal story of a young cuban who eats regularly at fast food chains and has suffered from the health and social consequences. 

Hopefully, our experiment will persuade young Cubans to eat less frequently at these restaurant chains!

[hellohavananights-blog]

T&T Branding

In the last class, we had a chance to learn about nation branding from guest speaker Guido. I was particularly surprised that the branding strategy for T&T was very poor and did not reflect the true message and culture of the nation. 

The wording reflects that T&T is the “True Caribbean” but this message does not fit with the sun logo. As we were told my Professor Gosling, the purple side represents Trinidad and “Carnival” and the yellow side represents the relaxation and tourism found in Tobago.  What would be a good image that would show the “true” side of T&T? 

In class we did discuss that T&T has a booming business scene and that is why it is the “true caribbean.” I propose that the logo includes a picture of two hands shaking or something that shows the professional side of the country. 

My examples are below. What ideas do you have? 

[hellohavananights-blog]

T&T Branding

In the last class, we had a chance to learn about nation branding from guest speaker Guido. I was particularly surprised that the branding strategy for T&T was very poor and did not reflect the true message and culture of the nation. 

The wording reflects that T&T is the “True Caribbean” but this message does not fit with the sun logo. As we were told my Professor Gosling, the purple side represents Trinidad and “Carnival” and the yellow side represents the relaxation and tourism found in Tobago.  What would be a good image that would show the “true” side of T&T? 

In class we did discuss that T&T has a booming business scene and that is why it is the “true caribbean.” I propose that the logo includes a picture of two hands shaking or something that shows the professional side of the country. 

My examples are below. What ideas do you have? 

[hellohavananights-blog]

El Paquete Semanal

This past week, I was having dinner with a friend and our conversation focused on Cuba. I was surprised to learn about the El Paquete Semanal, or “the weekly package” that is distributed to locals illegally from the underground market in Cuba.  El paquete is one terabyte of digital material that contains materials such as films, video clips, and Spanish language news websites. This “paquete” serves as a substitute for the broadband internet. 

The way it works is pretty simple. On a weekly basis, someone drops by your house and then hands over a hard drive with content. The customer will need to download the content and return the hard drive within 24- hours, and then pay the delivery person. 

El Paquete become an issue in Cuba and the government is afraid that the distribution of it’s content will contaminate the Cuban culture. The government asserts that young Cubans should avoid watching American and Mexican soap operas as both the artistic and intellectual content of these series are very low. Additionally, the government has been afraid that the El Paquete will be used spread information against the government.  

It will be curious to see what will happen in the future when more Americans visit Cuba. Will the tourism industry respond by building theaters promoting American shows and entertainment to tourists? Will the distribution and content of the El Paquete increase? These are some questions to ponder, and we will see what will be in store for Cuba in the future!

[hellohavananights-blog]

Cuba - Protect culture despite increased Tourism

The sun is beaming in Cuba. Cubans are hard at work while tourists tan, play, and relax. Both groups eat, but they are separated. Last week in class, we outlined our associations with Cuba. Some people were reminded of cigars, embargo, Castro, and communism, revealing that we and future tourists still view Cuba as an unwelcoming and restricted country.

It is well known that communist countries, have crafted false images of their nation in promotional materials, displays, and tours in order to cater and appeal to foreigners. And people are less likely to respect a country and culture that is different, unfamiliar, and disingenuous. This is an example of confirming evidence, which is seeing and hearing what you want to see and hear. We tend to look for evidence to support what we already believe to be the right course of action and discount counter evidence.

To break this bias, Cubans and Tourists need to interact with each other in real environments uncontrolled by the government. One step to promote these types of encounters is to increase the opening of Paladares, a crop of privately owned restaurants in people’s homes that are bringing a dash of style and enticing food to Havana’s dining scene. If Cuban’s invite people into their homes, Tourists will experience the warm welcoming culture of the country and connect with Cuban’s personally while tasting their homemade food. If Cuban’s can communicate MI CASA ES SU CASA, tourists will me more likely to respect, and help preserve the unique culture of the country.

 In the end, these restaurants are a win-win for both tourists and local Cubans who are able to make a living and also share their unique and warm culture with others. Let’s hope we have a chance to visit one while we are there! 

[hellohavananights-blog]

Cuba - Protect culture despite increased Tourism

The sun is beaming in Cuba. Cubans are hard at work while tourists tan, play, and relax. Both groups eat, but they are separated. Last week in class, we outlined our associations with Cuba. Some people were reminded of cigars, embargo, Castro, and communism, revealing that we and future tourists still view Cuba as an unwelcoming and restricted country.

It is well known that communist countries, have crafted false images of their nation in promotional materials, displays, and tours in order to cater and appeal to foreigners. And people are less likely to respect a country and culture that is different, unfamiliar, and disingenuous. This is an example of confirming evidence, which is seeing and hearing what you want to see and hear. We tend to look for evidence to support what we already believe to be the right course of action and discount counter evidence.

To break this bias, Cubans and Tourists need to interact with each other in real environments uncontrolled by the government. One step to promote these types of encounters is to increase the opening of Paladares, a crop of privately owned restaurants in people’s homes that are bringing a dash of style and enticing food to Havana’s dining scene. If Cuban’s invite people into their homes, Tourists will experience the warm welcoming culture of the country and connect with Cuban’s personally while tasting their homemade food. If Cuban’s can communicate MI CASA ES SU CASA, tourists will me more likely to respect, and help preserve the unique culture of the country.

 In the end, these restaurants are a win-win for both tourists and local Cubans who are able to make a living and also share their unique and warm culture with others. Let’s hope we have a chance to visit one while we are there!