Tweaking the Innovation

For this next assignment, I am going more in depth with conceptualizing my product. My product will be an app that allows users to scan their products to determine if they are recyclable or not. Users will press a button that takes them to a page with all of the different recycle symbols. The user will then press the recycle symbol that matches the one on their item and will be brought to a page where they scan the barcode. After scanning the barcode, a blurb will pop up instructing them of whether their item should be recycled or not. As a user reaches a certain number of scans, they will be presented with a "reward" consisting of either a tailored coupon based off the items in their scan history or in-app credits that can be put towards donations or bigger "rewards". The app will also feature screens that provide users with local-based recycling info, such as where the nearest recycling centers are, as well as general recycling information.

Since I am planning on this app being free, I have to come up with alternative ways to generate revenue from it. I am hoping that I would be able to get local or national charities and foundations to pay a small fee to sponsor the app. In return their logos and organizations would be featured for donations on the app. This would also "legitimize" the app and hopefully draw in more users.

***

A large component of conceptualization is determining the product/service mix. As I've thought more about what I want my app to accomplish, I've come up with some potential revenue drivers their corresponding items. I provided a list below,

*I color-coded my items to represent the product/service levels: core, tangible, and augmented*

Revenue Drivers:

1. In-app advertisement sales

Items:
       - Bottom(standard) banner ads
       - Hyper-local targeted ads
       - 1 month ad subscription
       - 3 month ad subscription
       - 6 month ad subscription
       - 1 year ad subscription
       - Ad upgrade fee
       - Subscription extension fee

Offering purchasable advertisement slots gives different types of companies the opportunity to increase their brand awareness. I am planning on offering two main types of ads and a subscription service. Companies interested select a banner type and then a subscription. The fee is composed of the actual cost of the banner selected plus the subscription cost.

The bottom banner ads will appear at the bottom of select pages and would be the cheapest to purchase. Hyper-local targeted ads would cost a bit more and allow for more precise and tailored ads based on a user's location. These ads may take on the form of banner ads or full screen ads, but I want to limit the number of full screen ads my app features. I personally find full screen ads to be a turn off and I am sure many other people feel the same way. To me, user experience is more important than the extra cash I would make from selling more full screened ads.

For all of the subscriptions, a company selects which ad size and location they want. The subscription acts as a placeholder for the specific ad location and the company may update their ads as they please. I wanted to include a small ad upgrade fee to allow companies already in subscriptions to change their ad size and location. The subscription extension fee is self-explanatory.


2. Selling consumer data

Items:
       - Basic consumer data package 
       - Advanced consumer data package 
       - 3 month data subscription (Basic)
       - 3 month data subscription (Adv)
       - 6 month data subscription (Basic)
       - 6 month data subscription (Adv)
       - 1 year data subscription (Basic)
       - 1 year data subscription (Adv)
       - Reduced extension fee for existing subscription

I plan to collect consumer information such as basic demographics, location, and product consumption data. When users scan their barcodes, we learn about what products they consume, what store they were purchased from, when they were consumed, etc. This information can be very valuable to retailers and can be used to provide a more customized experience for the individual customer.

The app will only offer two data packages. The basic package includes basic demographics such as age, location, gender, email address and the advanced package include the basics plus product consumption data. Both of these packages will be offered on a subscription basis, and subscriptions can be extended for a reduced fee.


3. Selling "reward" placeholders to companies

Items:
       - 1 month subscription 
       - 3 month subscription
       - 6 month subscription 
       - 1 year subscription
       - Subscription extension fee

Companies can purchase subscriptions to have their discounts and coupons circulating in our rewards library. The company can update the coupons at any time or add new ones, and the app's data will assign rewards to users with matching consumption patterns. Through the reward system, users will be exposed to more products and coupons, which in turn can really increase brand awareness and sales for a company. I am still deciding how to split up the subscriptions and toying with the idea of creating packages based on the number of coupons/discounts a company wants in circulation at a time.


4. Charities and foundations pay to sponsor app

Items:
       - 3 month subscription
       - 6 month subscription 
       - 1 year subscription
       - Subscription extension fee

My last revenue driver involves finding charities and foundations to sponsor the app. These organizations would pay a small fee to have their logos featured on the app and to have their organizations included as options to make a donation to. As users rack up rewards and/or in-app credits, they will be given the opportunity to put those credits towards donations. Organizations benefit from this revenue driver by getting their name out their and also earning donation money. The organizations are offered subscription choices for their sponsorship.

***

The next part of this assignment involves describing my innovation. Two ways to introduce my innovation would be either by appealing to foundations/organizations or companies. My app has three types of customers: app-users, companies and corporations, and organizations and foundations. Since the app is free, there are only two customers I can generate revenue off of.


Choosing to focus on foundations first, an example of the the product/mix levels may be as follows:

Core: Foundations benefit from increased awareness and donations
Tangible: Foundation logos are featured on the app visibly and foundation names are listed under donation options
Augmented: The foundations are offered varying sponsorship subscriptions.


Looking at the other customer, businesses and companies, an example of the product/mix levels includes:

Core: Businesses benefit from brand awareness and increased sales from advertisements and coupons
Tangible: Coupons and discounts are displayed on the screen as users reach certain "checkpoints"; Ads are also displayed on various screens
Augmented: Companies are offered different subscriptions and choices for ad purchases and coupon placements.

***

If you made it this far in my post, congratulations! You've finally reached the end! This blog post was a bit longer than I was expecting, so thank you for sticking around and reading my full post. I hope you've enjoyed what you've read!