As we near the end of Winter Break, I have accomplished both goals I set out to: naming the company and figuring out how to best proceed with designing my brand identity. Though there is a slight chance the name could end up changing, I have decided on the name Performance Backed for the supplement company. This naming process was difficult because nearly every name I (or those I asked) could think of was already trademarked or had a domain in use. To reserve this name, I purchased the domain (peformancebacked.com) from Google Domains, as well as secured the social media handle @PerformanceBacked on the major social media platforms. In regards to the visual brand identity, I created a detailed design brief for the logo design, which, I hope to begin work on in January.
On 12/29, I met with Mr. Fennell to discuss how I can best proceed with business plan creation and financial forecasting for the investment pitch. Additionally, I drafted my Midterm Fellows Update presentation for next month. Reflecting on my work on my project this year, I am very excited at all of the progress I have made and am very excited to continue working on it in 2022!
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I spent the last couple weeks ironing out details of how my product would be manufactured if it was a real company. After speaking with a representative from a manufacturing company again, we settled on making the product a tablet with a 3 tablet serving size. I was given a quote for the finished product at 4200 units of 20 servings, and 2800 units of 30 servings. I am still waiting on the quote from the smaller manufacturer that should give me a better idea of how much it would realistically cost to produce on a first run. Though I originally planned on making the product a capsule delivery, the bulk densities of the ingredients in my formula were too high to keep the serving size at under 4 capsules––it would have been closer to 6 or 7.
During this time, I also met with Mr. Fennell from the business office to discuss financial planning and business models, and I plan on talking more with him in the near future. In regards to Winter break, I met with Dr. Martin to create my goals for the time off. We decided on two main goals: creating a name for the brand & figuring out how I could best approach graphic design. Aside from brainstorming possible names, the naming process will include an extensive trademark, domain, and social media search to make sure the name is available for use. It will also involve ensuring that the name is not too similar to other popular brands' names that it would be difficult to find my brand on the first page of a search engine. Lastly, I will reference the positioning strategies I developed to create name and brand identity cohesion. On the other hand, the graphic design process will entail researching and developing the best methods to ensure my product positioning and brand values come across well in my visual brand identity through things such as colors, shapes, and typography. I am looking forward to break and the opportunity to get even more stuff done! I spent the last couple weeks ranking my competitors value propositions in relation to mine and using that analysis to identify a couple possible brand positioning strategies, and planning a conference call with a manufacturer. The former two documents can be found here.
Using a 1-5 ranking scale (1 being closest to my value propositions) of the importance of my competitors value propositions, I identified my top 4 competitors from my competitive positioning analysis: Momentous, Thorne Research, Legion Athletics, and Klean Athlete. I then looked for possible positioning gaps between these companies to create two strategies of my own that I believe could be effective. I plan on refining these strategies and creating one more over the next couple weeks. I also used this time to plan for a conference call with a prominent supplement manufacturer which I did on 11/30. During the call, we discussed my formula and goals for the company. Although I am not manufacturing the supplement for the project, the company representative gave me important details to consider such as the high MOQ for capsule supplements, the MOQ for the commercial ingredients in my supplement, the poor smell and taste of valerian root (an ingredient in my formula), and the supply chain shortage that makes my form of Magnesium Bisglycinate Chelate (TRAACS) unavailable at the moment. Because of the high MOQ for capsules, we discussed making the supplement in tablet form and he planned on giving me a quote for it since the tablet MOQ is much lower. Additionally, he referred me to another prominent manufacturer that is able to work with lower MOQs so I can have an accurate estimate for the supplement in capsule form––I plan on talking with them this week. Aside from this, I purchased business plan software called LivePlan that should allow me to more easily start putting together my plan. I have watched tutorials on it so I have a better sense of how to use it. I have a lot of momentum in my project right now and I am excited to continue working on it! |