2. 1 BABSON | STABILITY BAG
PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT CLASS PROJECT
3. CONTEXT/CHALLENGE > For our Product Design and Development class, our sponsor
company Essential Design, tasked us with creating a luggage solution for the disabled
population.
IDEA/PROCESS > During our preliminary research, after many hours of observation and
interviews, we identified several pain points for travelers with disabilities. The one that
stood out most was how hard it was for people with arthritis and limited mobility to move
around airports. According to our calculations, this group composes approximately 11%
of all leisure travelers in the U.S. and yields a market of about $300 million. Early on, after
intense brainstorming sessions, we started sketching and doing some rough prototyping
for possible solutions, which we then took to senior homes to uncover new insights and
reveal improvement areas for our original designs. Our most challenging idea turned out to
be the most promising: create a carry-on that could double as a walker. The question was:
can we add stability without adding too much weight or taking up too much space and
still comply with airline regulations?
RESULTS > We built a carry-on bag with pop-up wheels and adjustable handles that met
every requirement we had, including an increase of less than 8% in weight. Additionally,
we calculated our production costs (including a new bill of materials and manufacturing
requirements), estimated willingness to pay from informal interviews, and benchmarked
competitor’s products, to finally price it only $10 higher than comparable carry-on bags.
With his, we were also able to reach our 20% profit mark.
8. 2 PREVIA | PREVIA MAGAZINE
CREATION OF A FREE, AD-SUPPORTED MAGAZINE AND PUBLISHING HOUSE.
9. CONTEXT > In 2002 I realized that everybody attending major sporting events in Chile
spent 30 minutes to two hours waiting for the match to begin, with nothing to occupy
their time. At the same time, brands were eager to find new touch points with the young
adult male demographic.
IDEA > The pre-match period presented an opportunity to deliver relevant and contextual
content to reach this population. From our research this 90%+ Male audience highly valued
engaging information about the match they were about to see. Statistics, interviews and
editorial comments in short visually attractive articles mixed with tailored advertising,
would prove extremely effective. One of our biggest challenges was to deliver fresh
information to thousands of people during a short period of time.
RESULTS > For the first issue of PREVIA, the company I co-founded thereafter, we sold
50% of available ad space, distributed 50,000 copies and made a small profit. By the
end of year one, we where selling 100% of the available ad space and created some
additional branded sections resulting in almost 50% quarterly net income growth. Over
time we distributed more than half a million magazines. Eventually, we added new editorial
products to our portfolio including licensing EL GRAFICO and GOLF DIGEST for Chile, and
expanded to adjacent businesses such as free outdoor movie events.
12. 3 LECHE2 | MG
ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN FOR THE RELAUNCH OF AN AUTO BRAND.
13. CONTEXT > SKBergé, one of the largest automotive holding company in Chile, was
planning to relaunch British car brand MG. They approached Leche2, the Advertising
Agency where I was CEO, to help them develop their marketing strategy and
corresponding advertising campaign. At the time, MG cars were made in China and
perceived by Chileans as less glamorous and of inferior quality – a sizeable problem for
cars targeting the affordable luxury market. We commissioned an ethnographic study and
the results led us to the realization that in general, people were more concerned with the
design of the car, its features and the brand reputation, than manufacturing considerations.
Still, when China was mentioned, interest in the car fell drastically.
IDEA > We created a value proposition that completely disregarded where MG cars were
manufactured and instead appealed to what Chileans wanted. The brand essence had to
capture both the traditional irreverence of the British and the modernism of the Chinese.
That is why we introduced an oxymoron as the tag line: “New Classic”. One of the biggest
risks we took was to advise our client that during the introduction stage we would not
showcase the cars. In terms of media channels we recommended targeted Out of Home
locations and strategic print advertising in selected magazines.
RESULTS > The campaign was praised for its boldness and striking graphics.
Reception from dealers and customers was exceptional, and sales outperformed
expectations by roughly 30% during the first year. In addition, neither the media nor the
public focused on the origin of the car.
16. 4 U. DE LOS ANDES | DIGITAL TOOLS
ELECTIVE COURSE FOR BUSINESS STUDENTS
17. CONTEXT > While teaching New Business Creation – a fifth year undergraduate seminar
course- I realized that business students had very limited knowledge of technology and
employers were increasingly expecting them to have this expertise. I approached the Dean
of the Business School of Universidad de los Andes with the idea of helping our students
leverage technologies for their professional future.
IDEA > After I offered the School a lecture on Crowdsourcing (or Mass Collaboration),
the Curriculum Committee encouraged me to create a course on the implications that
technology and the web 2.0 had on business and innovation. Since it wasn’t my area of
expertise I had to teach myself first. My biggest challenge was creating a comprehensive
framework to include everything from social media to new business models. As a way to
complement my own views I invited several industry experts to give short presentations
and share their experience with the class.
RESULTS > After teaching it twice, students graded the course with an overall 4.5 out
of 5 as well as a 4.8 on my performance as a teacher, instantly becoming one of the
most popular electives. Moreover, faculty requested that I conducted a one-day seminar
on the matter, and coach them on how to use online tools to enhance their teaching
methodologies.
19. SLIDE FROM THE MASS COLLABORATION CLASS
“I`m doing a (free) operating system… I`d like to know what features most
people would want”
Linus Torvalds in an online message board
20. RAMÓN SALINAS
82 Saint Paul St. #4, Brookline, MA, 02446 | 617-893-8986 | rsalinas1@babson.edu
