Problem
Case: Nanda Home
The business proposition: Part iRobot and part Kate Spade, Nanda Home creates cute, clever products that are intended, in the words of its founder, to "humanize technology." The company already has one hit: Consumers have snapped up more than 9,000 units of a $50 plastic alarm clock. Set the alarm for 6 a.m. When the time comes, the clock wheels itself off your bedside table and rolls around the room, emitting R2D2-like squeaks. Dubbed Clocky, the little robot is manufactured in China and sold online and in design boutiques. The company also has a line of handbags designed to accommodate laptops.
The founder: Gauri Nanda designed Clocky as a graduate student in MIT's Media Lab. The daughter of entrepreneurs--her parents recently sold their small weekly newspaper in Detroit--she aspired to become a designer at a large technology company. "I was opposed to the idea of starting a company," says Nanda. "I saw the hours my parents worked."
After presenting Clocky to her class in the fall of 2004, she threw it in the back of her closet. She'd almost forgotten about it until the next spring, when several tech bloggers stumbled upon a photo of her invention online. Suddenly, Nanda was getting contacted by reporters and TV producers. Good Morning America called. She scrambled to fix the buggy prototype in time for its debut on network TV.
Nanda, now 27, left MIT with a master's degree that fall and began considering her options. Licensing the clock seemed like the easiest move, but she couldn't bring herself to give up control. "I had all these ideas about how it should look and behave," she says. After finding a manufacturer on AliBaba.com, a Chinese business-to-business website, she went to Hong Kong to oversee production. The first run of 500 clocks sold out almost immediately online.
I. If you were hired to handle B2B operations, what would you do to make Clocky available to consumers in time to capitalize on the big PR boom that is coming?
a. What sales channels would you start in and why?
b. What would be your B2B marketing strategy?
II. Once Clocky was available, what would you do to keep the company top of mind with consumers?
a. Develop a strawman plan to create brand loyalty for Nanda Home by diversifying its product offering.