CLIENT PROJECT II
In my second semester at the MPS Design Management program we worked with Cadenza Innovation. We started the ideating phase with the help of directions given by the client, the problems identified were:
- Communicating Cadenza batteries as the “Safest Batteries.”
- Marketing to manufacturers and investors.
- Displaying patents and awards.
- Wraps for the batteries.
- Display for graphite rock and batteries.
- 3D photorealistic animation of the battery.
I began by going out and talking to experts from car dealers to local businesses in the hopes of understanding how lithium-Ion batteries are viewed and sold. I took those insights and used them to collect secondary research which helped me find out how companies are marketing and utilizing Lithium-Ion batteries. I found that Electric Vehicles are going to be the next big industry to utilize Lithium-Ion batteries. This will increase investments and profits that will help support research and development. There are also other growing industries that could utilize Lithium Ion batteries and Cadenza technology. My solutions are aimed at helping Cadenza broaden their market and allow them to make beneficial partnerships to increase investments and brand exposure.
My team and I worked on various ideas catering to the problems stated by the client, below are just a few of solutions I provided on behalf of my team to the client.
Battery Facts – How is my battery’s health?
People interact with lithium-ion battery devices every moment, what happens in a situation where a battery gets worn out. We offer an assessment test, to get an estimate on battery’s health. Also, the test will give a comparative value to battery life if cadenza batteries are used in the devices. Carfax is the most comprehensive vehicle-history database company,
which enables millions of car buyers and sellers get valuable information about vehicles.
Creating Experience for Stakeholders
The concept involves re-designing the experience of stakeholders when they walk into the company premises. The ambience should reflect values that Cadenza wants to share with stakeholders and how it is different from other innovators. Apple’s most innovative product is not a product, but an experience; The Apple store customer experience. Similarly, Cadenza can create an experience and story that adds value to stakeholders.
Food Trucks
A food truck is a great way to showcase technology. A truck that runs and operates on cadenza batteries can help users connect and experience cadenza batteries in an innovative way. The truck could influence the general public and would serve as an innovative marketing tool at trade fairs and expo marts.
Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies and have recently come up with the way to showcase their new technology of gravity lights through a food truck. According to them, food is a universal passion which can be combined with technology in
order to make the marketing more engaging. The company organized an event “hack-a-truck” inviting all the college students to design a truck for the same.
Testimonials & Story-Telling
Testimonials play a very important part in the relationship-building journey of a brand, which is lined with credibility and expertise. The experience isn’t strong sales pitches, they come across in an unbiased voice and establish trust, using real people to show success in the provided product or service. The feature also helps in connecting and building trust for the potential customers who don’t know anything about the brand. Different customers validate different components of a business.
Lego is a family owned business company involved in the development of children and aims to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through creative play and learning. The company tries to capture the experiences and emotions of the children, as a means of storytelling and create value involved in the development of children and aims to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through creative play and learning. The company tries to capture the experiences and emotions of the children, as a means of storytelling and create value.
Promoting patents and awards on the website
A patent is an intellectual property right granted by the federal government to an inventor to prohibit others from making or selling their invention for a limited time, in exchange for public disclosure of the invention. Patents are an important asset of a company and can play an integral part in marketing. Public disclosure of patents can be profitable for companies, especially in the high-tech space, the terms “patented” and “patent pending” carry a lot of weight with buyers. It means that you can offer them something that no one else can, which automatically adds value to your product or service. It also affords you greater credibility and establishes you as an innovator in your field.
Awards are a form of public validation for the company and that validation is something that every company needs in order to grow. Business awards are an especially powerful form of validation because they are awarded by experts and they supply you with a seal of trust.
Interactive mirrors
Clients should be able to navigate and look closely at the technology they plan to purchase. Mirror screen displays is an interesting way to implementing these into a client experience. The technology enables the client to navigate through the design and technical details of the batteries with a 360-degree view. The mirrors on the outside walls of the trade show booths can engage and influence new clients to know more about Cadenza.
Ralph Lauren stores have incorporated fitting rooms with mirrors that have changed the shopping experience of customers. The mirrors identify the items brought into the fitting rooms and displays them. From there, customers can navigate through different styles, sizes or colors with just a click. The requested items are sent out to the store associate, who can access the information the customer is navigating through and can bring up requested and suggested items into the fitting room.
Repurposing ceramic case for pavements
Cadenza uses a special support material for jelly rolls that enables a closely packed jelly roll configuration. Novel and proprietary, non-combustible ceramic fiber material can be repurposed or recycled after being worn out. Repurposing or recycling of this ceramic battery case will be a selling point to manufacturers since a major part of the battery will be used.
The recycling will depend on the nature of the material used in making the fiber. The cases could be used for making driveways/walkways in a house, the structure of the case allows water permeability moderately, which makes it suitable for such a use.
Sustainable battery wrapping
The main purpose of plastic wrapped over a battery is to protect it from metal on metal contact, which is very important for safety. After the batteries are worn out, the plastic wraps are a waste. Recycled plastic can also play the role of battery wraps in a much more efficient way. Plastic bottles and polyethylene can be recycled into sheets, which can solve the same purpose and will also add to the corporate social responsibility of the company. Cadenza as an innovator can use recycled plastic packaging to promote the brand visually and also encourage the manufacturers to do the same. Recycled plastic on batteries is a unique selling point for the producers too.
Coca-Cola has made sustainability their crucial marketing tool by recycling most of their significant plastic waste into useful products. Companies like Rothy’s shoes have created shoes from recycled plastic. Nike utilized over 3 billion plastic bottles to create soccer kits. Hamilton Perkins Collection has made bags from 100% recycled plastic products and the list goes on. There are many companies who are manufacturing recycling plastic sheets to make films, which can be used in wrapping the batteries.
Become a client: IDEO
The electric vehicle industry is expected to leave 11 million tonnes of spent lithium-ion batteries in need of recycling between now and 2030. Manufacturers and producers will be held accountable for recycling the batteries and with no prominent technology to recycle batteries exist. The recycling of lithium-ion batteries is not yet profitable. Looking at this problem from a design perspective might be helpful.
IDEO is an international leading design and consulting firm, the company has become increasingly involved in management consulting and organizational design. The company has a community of designers, entrepreneurs, engineers, teachers, researchers, and more, who collaboratively brainstorm solutions to problems with the help of the design process. IDEO is actively working with research and development clients in the field of innovation and technology contributing to the role of consumers in energy industry innovation in developing strategies for Europe’s biggest smart energy company.
Arushi Sharma 