What's Next?

Existing Market

When I think about what's next for my product, I think of increased customization as far as more sizes and ability to create designs goes. I also think of different types of cups/water bottles, including a coffee mug, a sports-size jug cooler, and a recycled glass bottle/cup. There's a lot of room for customization such as this because there are many types of water bottles and accessories that accompany them.

While I'm not able to interview customers for this assignment, I think they would agree with me. They would probably like to see more sizes available, different styles of cups, and various accessories for the base water bottles I have designed. This could include different styles of lids, handles that fit over the body of the bottle, and a line of water bottles specifically designed for sports.

In terms of growth within my existing market, expanding into accessories would be my best bet I think. Once people own one of my water bottles then they will likely want to customize it to their needs and wants. Like I said before, one accessory that comes to mind is a different style of lid. There could be the standard lid that just screws on and you drink from the mouth of the bottle. There could be another lid that comes with a nozzle from which to drink out of. Another possibility is a nozzle that is not free-flowing and would require sucking. To make this customization accessible for customers, I would build a "lid option" into the individual websites where each of these items is available for purchase.

New Market

When I was asked to describe my stereotypical customer I placed their age somewhere in the "young adult to middle-aged" section. One radically different market I could target is young children, specifically, the market for sippy cups for young children. I could use the same materials that I currently plan on using for my traditional water bottles, except make them smaller and designed for a baby.

I don't see any sippy cups or small water bottles designed for children that focus on being environmentally friendly. While everyone else advocates using a sustainable bottle, sippy cups don't really get thought of, so maybe there's something to exploit in that.

While I'm once again not able to conduct any interviews, I think the issue at the forefront of every parent's mind is the safety of their child. I believe they ould want to make sure the sippy cup is safe for their child since it is made from different materials than they are used to seeing in typical sippy cups. To make my product and company credible to this market I would likely have to do research on the safety of recycled plastics and BPA-free plastic, although I believe their completely safe because water bottle companies are already using those materials.

I was kind of shocked when I first thought of babies or young children as being a potential market, but it makes sense because of everyone, no matter your age needs to be able to drink water, or the liquid of choice. This market is unique because my target market isn't directly who the product is for. I have to focus on the needs of the parents of young children instead of the children. This market doesn't appear as attractive as my primary market because it's not as broad and seems like it would be hard to market to.