C profile

        Inflatable Neck Pillow with         
pneumatic Valve        [pic 1]

Denise Eichhorn        Gonzalo Garcia        Eduardo Schiappa-Pietra

Customer Profile

For our Neck Pillow with a pneumatic valve, we have identified three customer segments, which differ slightly in their needs and attributes. In the following we will first analyze each customer group separately and ask for every group why it is so important for them to arrive rested at their destination, stating the main reason why our product is of value to them.

1. Tourists

The first and most obvious segment is the tourists. We are thinking of the image of a typical Backpacker who wants to experience and explore a foreign country or continent. So the main transport here in Peru is the bus system; and, as he wants to get to know as many cities as possible this is just perfect for him. We suppose that his trip is longer than just one weekend or week. Also, he is travelling with a lot of luggage and does not have any space to waste. If we want to convince him to buy our product we have to assure that the pillow would not take too much space. Furthermore we assume that he is quite young, but not a teenager anymore. This means he (or she especially) is young fashion-conscious but not childish anymore. Besides he is traveling on a tight budget. This has multilayered implication for us: first of course, obviously the price has to be convincing and fair for him. He will probably compare prices, so our price for a neck pillow WITH a pneumatic valve should not be that much higher than the price of a conventional neck pillow. Furthermore, it has to be considered that different bus enterprises offer different comfort at different prices to the bus tickets. As this customer segment is young and on a budget, he will choose the most attractive busses, which means less comfort. So he can justify spending money on a Neck Pillow with saving money from taking a less comfortable bus.

• Why is it important to them to arrive relaxed?

The Backpackers are never staying long in one place. Let’s make an example: Take a night bus from Lima to Arequipa on Monday, the next Bus from Arequipa to Cusco leaves on Wednesday in the evening. We suppose that the last think the tourist likes to see from Arequipa is his hostel room from the inside because he is too tired to explore this beautiful city. So he has to be rested to benefit the maximum from his stay in Arequipa.

2. Business men

The next segment differs highly from attributes that it possess, but not that much from the needs. This segment is characterized by persons that are traveling due to work. So for them, taking a night bus is not vacation but part of their work. He might me a frequent traveler, so he is used to this bus journeys. When he gets into the bus he knows exactly how to behave, where to store his luggage and what he can expect during the night. So we have to get his attention with a good marketing as he would not be searching for our product. We have to convince him that we offer more comfort than what he is used to. Furthermore, as his journey is relatively short he might be traveling only with hand luggage. As he is wearing a suit and a tight, he does not want to look childish by caring a normal white pillow under his arm. For this segment it is also of high value that the Neck Pillow can be deflated so it will suit in every hand bag. This also implies for our optical design that traditional “quiet” colors would suit the needs of this segments, the optical appearance is second/third-rate for them. Considering the budget of this segment, it seems, at first glance, that this group of people might be not that price focused. But their employers only pay for their bus journey, not for additional gadgets. It means that he has to buy our product on his private account, which then makes him price concerned.

...