Friday, October 29, 2010

JEAN PILLOW

JEANS Mind dump:
·         Skinny, flare, boot style jeans
·         Usually blue but can be any color
·         Can be very expensive for example True Religion but can also be inexpensive like Wranglers from Wal-Mart
·         I hate the feeling when jeans are wet; they are cold and stick to your skin… When the jeans dry they become hard
·         Denim material is great for working outside and it also last a very long time
·         Can be cut to make them into shorts
·         Can be torn or frayed for style as well as stretchy
·         There’s various different washes
·         My favorite jeans are from American eagle because they fit the best and are very soft and comfy.
PILLOW Mind dump:
·         They are comfy, fluffy and soft
·         They are white usually but can be any color, patterns or fabric.
·         The stuffing can be goose down feathers or cotton
·         Goose down pillows usually scratch my face because of the hardness of the feathers
·         There are Tempur pedic pillows which are super comfy and conform to your sleeping style
·         I think of sleep and counting sheep
·         I usually cuddle with pillow; I don’t really use it for my head
·         I have one for my dog that has a cover with the character domo as a cover
·         Pillow fights
Pillow and Jeans
1.       Jeans stuffed with pillows to make a fat suit costume
2.       Pillows with covers that have pockets like jeans
3.       Pillows made out of denim material
4.       Jeans that have butt pads to increase size of booty
5.       Jeans that have fabric from the pillow covers as patches for the holes or frays for style
6.       Jeans that have pockets made out of fabric from pillow covers
7.       Pillow that uses denim and is shaped to look like jeans ( jean pillow)
8.       Jeans that are half fabric material from the knee down and from the knee up be denim for a new style
9.       Jean material mixed with cotton to create really soft jeans
10.   Jean toy stuffed with cotton for dogs to play with
I think that pillows that have pockets like jeans would be a good idea. I sleep with my phone under my pillow so that I can feel it vibrate when the alarm goes off.  It would be good for my pillow to have a pocket for my phone. I also think the style aspect of using fabric to cover up jean holes could be a good fashion idea. Instead of patching it up with denim material why not spice it up with some pattern or color. The denim toy I think would be good for dogs since I know that my dog destroys anything we give him for a toy.  Denim is a pretty tough material so I think my dog would be very entertained as he keeps trying and trying to get to the cotton stuffing. 





Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Green Bars

One of the reasons why I signed up for Customer Insights and Brand Management was because I knew that what I would learn could help in me in my future career aspirations.  I have various business ideas but my biggest goal in life is to own a bar. I have always liked being a hostess and trying to think of everything for guests to have an awesome time.  I want to be able to convey that same affect in my bar. I want to keep people coming back and not be affected by the bar hopping sensation in Austin. This city is obviously where I think I would start off but my goal goes beyond that.  I don’t want to just own one bar, but a chain of bars something like Senor Frogs. This bar and night club is found around the world and has been in business for years. This is something that is rarely achieved in the industry because there are high barriers for entry and the life span of one is short lived.  I would like to achieve what Senor Frogs has but also do something that no one else has been able to do before.  That’s why I think that in researching for this paper I can find the innovation that will help me to differentiate myself from others and begin the process of creating my business idea.  One aspect that I believe would help achieve this and that I would like to focus on is the new trend of eco-friendly bars. 
Almost everything nowadays there’s a greener alternative for and helping our planet is becoming one of our highest values.  I can see why this would be a logical move in the bar business. The bills for electricity and water are probably the highest ones since we see that there are many bathroom visits, washing of hands, cleaning of glasses, and the various lights that decorate the place.  These two details have already been tackled by providing low flow toilets, and led lights that save energy. There are some bars that use recycled or recyclable materials like for example recycled glass for tables and there are also sustainable materials like bamboo that are used for the floors, ceilings, and walls. This is just in the building of the bar but some have gone as far as become organic. They serve organic spirits, fruits, mix ingredients and even staff uniforms are made from fair-trade sustainable fibers.  It seems as we have thought of everything already but since this is a new industry there is more room to grow and think of other exciting energy savings ideas. This is where my research will hopefully gain new insights on customer and eco-friendly ideals that may also enhance the bar experience. I would like to know what problems customers experience or what customers don’t like about bars. Also what customers wish they would see at bars and what could make their experience any better.  If green bars would be something that Austinites would welcome and if there are any environmental problems that bars may be having and do not know they are contributing to.  
The connection to gathering and identifying insights will help in designing the ideal bar that will create a valuable customer experience.  The idea that people can party and still be helping reduce a carbon foot print could go a long way.  There is a growing group of customers that only will participate in green activities and this will be the niche I would go after. I would also educate those who don’t really follow this trend in order to try to change their habits. In an article of the Nightclub and Bar magazine the owner of the U.S’s. first eco-friendly club Greenhouse, Jon Bakshi foresees environmentally sensitive design as a growing industry and the response from customers has been very supporting. After reading about his success and how he achieved his goal I believe that this can be something worth researching in order to find the best mix of eco-friendliness design and still serve a rewarding customer experience through insights.
Greenhouse
New York Night Club