Foretelling The Dispersal of Different Items

Sliced Peanut Butter

• L-low complexity, just unwrap and put on
• T-very high divisibility, anyone can try it
• A-relative advantage is low, applying peanut butter isn’t that big of a problem
• C-pretty high compatibility, anyone who makes PBJ would simply buy this product instead of a jar of PB
• O-low observability, not many people will notice if you have a slice of peanut butter as opposed to a spread

For the sliced peanut butter invention, the biggest problem that I see with it is that spreading peanut butter isn’t really a huge problem that needs fixing. Also, different people might prefer different amounts of peanut butter on their sandwich, which the prepackaged slices would not fulfill. This invention has a very low complexity. Customers simply have to unwrap the slice and place it on their sandwich. There are no complicated steps involved in using this product. The peanut butter slices also have a high divisibility, as anyone can try using a slice and see how it tastes. However, the relative advantage of the peanut butter slices is low, since applying peanut butter from a jar really isn’t that much of a hassle. This product has a high compatibility. Since it is such a basic product, it wouldn’t be difficult for customers to assimilate it into their lives. Finally, the observability of the product is low, since it would be difficult for others to notice that the peanut butter in your sandwich was sliced instead of spread.

A target market for this product would be parents with young children. Since they would be the ones preparing the sandwiches for their kids, having an easy method of preparing them would be appealing to them. However, overall, I don’t think that scooping out the peanut butter from the jar and spreading it on a sandwich is all that difficult. I don’t believe that this product is a huge breakthrough in sandwich preparation methods. Also, in order to get the peanut butter to not stick to the plastic, more chemicals must be added to the food which customers would not find appealing. One possible solution would be to come up with a way to squeeze peanut butter out of the jar, similar to the squeeze bottles for products such as jelly and mayonnaise. Overall, I think this product is ranked 3rd out of the four products in regards to how rapidly and widely it would diffuse in the marketplace.

• Polytrack Horsetrack surface
• L-low complexity, simply replace existing track with new Polytrack
• T-low divisibility, costs $5 million to install so track owners have to make the investment
• A-high relative advantage. Less downtime means more races, less horse injuries means more customers
• C-high compatibility, the tracks would be used a lot during races and would easily be integrated into the racing process
• O-high observability, horse owners have already indicated that they see the benefits that the new tracks have on their horses and also there are more viewers at events

I think this product has a very high potential to be successfully adopted into the marketplace. Firstly, the Polytrack has a low complexity. Since it is a pretty basic technology, there are no special instructions needed to use it. However, it has a low divisibility since it cost about $5 million to convert the existing tracks into the new Polytrack. This product isn’t something that you can sample or try, it’s all or nothing. The relative advantage of this technology is very high. Horses are getting injured less often and are in much better shape after each race if they run on Polytrack. Since the horses are able to run more, the racetracks benefit because of the increase viewership and thus more revenue. Since the material on the tracks is used anytime there’s a race, there would be no issues with compatibility with this product. Finally, this new Polytrack has a high observability. Trainers and racers can quickly tell that this new material is extremely beneficial to their horses. Racetracks can quickly see that there is a much larger audience because of the new material.

The target market for this product would of course be the owners of the horse racetracks since they’re the ones that have to make the purchase decision and install it onto their properties. This material might even be spread to other markets such as human racetracks, providing the same benefits to humans as it does to horses. Overall, I think this product would gain quick acceptance, as seen in the article where it mentions that racing executives are going to Turfway to check out the new material. As a result of the high diffusion for this product, I rank it as number 1 out of the four products.

• QR Code on headstone
• L-low complexity, codes can be placed anywhere and are simple to use, just scan with an app
• T-high divisibility, anyone can just find one of the codes and test it out
• A-low relative advantage, no one goes to a cemetery to look at other people’s graves
• C-medium compatibility, this QR code can be placed on many different structures
• O-low observability, have to have the specific app downloaded

To me, this product doesn’t seem like an invention of any sort. Nowadays, QR codes can be easily generated online. It seems like the only service they provide is printing the code onto a placard and affix it onto a headstone. Considering that only about three dozen have been sold in the last several months, the success of this product has been extremely limited. The QR codes have a low complexity to them. They can be placed in more locations than just tombstones such as benches, sundials, and urns. All you have to do is scan them with an app on your smartphone which will lead you to the proper website. This product also has a very high divisibility. If anyone wants to test the product, all they would have to do is find a code and scan it. This would allow them to see exactly how it works and what type of information is provided about the deceased. The biggest problem with this device is that it offers no relative advantage. People don’t often go to cemeteries to learn about the lives of random deceased. There is no problem or need that this device solves, so it won’t be readily accepted. This device also has a medium level of compatibility. While it seems like a simple device, it also requires the need for a smartphone and a specific app to utilize. Although a high percentage of the population has a smartphone, there would still be some that don’t and thus can’t use this invention. Finally, this QR code has a low observability. Not many people go to cemeteries and look carefully at other people’s tombstones. Also, even if they do happen to see the code, they might not know what to do with it.

The target market for this product would be relatives of the deceased. It seems like $65 for a QR code is an extremely steep price for a service that anyone can do online. One way to improve this product and help with its market diffusion would be to decrease the price of the service. Overall, I would rank this product as number 4 out of the four products as it seems like there wouldn’t be a high demand for this product and service.

• • Newton Running shoes
  • L-low complexity, just wear the shoes like normal and run like normal
  • T-low divisibility, can’t really run with shoes in the store, can’t try before you buy
  • A-high relative advantage, running coach says it saves energy, triathlon champion was winning with the shoes
  • C-high compatibility, runners just need to buy the shoes and put them on, there’s no difficulty in integrating

O-high observability. Can’t readily see the advantages that the shoes provide, but people can see that winners wear the shoes

I feel like these Newton Running shoes will see pretty good success in the marketplace. First of all, they have a low complexity aspect to them. Runners only need to put on the shoes and run like they normally would. However, the shoes have a low divisibility because you can’t take the shoes out for a test run before you buy them. Also, it’s not really feasible to borrow shoes from someone you know and test them, thus making this purchase risky for consumers. There is a high relative advantage to this product, as the article states that these shoes making running 30% more efficient. There is no extra steps or difficulty in assimilating this product into the lives of runners, as they would simply replace the shoes that they currently use. Finally, there is a high level of observability with this product. Even though spectators can’t easily see the benefits that the runners get from the shoes, Newton Running shoes have already been proven to be beneficial to runners, since the triathlon champion has won races in them.

The target market, as stated in the article, is forefoot runners, which make up about 20% of all runners. This product would appeal to the forefoot runners because they provide a much higher running efficiency with no extra work. They’re simply shoes that make you run better. Overall, these running shoes rank 2nd out of four in regards to how quickly they will diffuse through the target market. In order to increase the diffusion rate of this product, it would have to be offered for purchase through means easier than trade shows and the one shop that it is currently being sold at.