Reflections for whole project process

1. Understanding the brief:
Problem: Read through the brief but not detailed enough, so I jumped to conclusions thinking it is a digital catalogue at start, but corrected this later on in idea generation part.

Reflection: Should be careful in reading and understanding the brief. An unbalanced footing at the start will make the whole idea not workable.

2. Market research:
Problem: I did not go to JustLife outlets for interviewing shop assistants earlier, only went to The Gardens JustLife outlet a day before the pitch presentation.

Reflection: Should have visited them earlier to avoid ideas become impractical, did not solve real problems and too many assumptions.


3. Company's budget:
Problem: I did not consider much about the budget offered by the clients and chose the idea that is most different from others but had exceeded the budget.

Reflection: Budget is an important aspect on whether the clients will buy the idea or not. If it had exceeded the budget, the likelihood of clients choosing the idea is definitely lower.


4. Idea's effectiveness:
Problem: Video testimonials are great to boost up a company's image, but a lot of resources and manpower are needed (good director, good editor, cooperative customers). The concept is attractive, but the process to realize the idea seemed daunting/farfetched/scary.

Reflection: A balance of creativity and effectiveness is always needed. In my case, effectiveness is lacking. In the future, I must take into account of the creativity of the idea and how workable it is.
If I were to start again, I will provide them two ideas - video testimonial idea and text & image idea. This is because this video testimonial idea will only work if the client have a big a loyal enough customer base and is willing to put in money and effort to make this idea workable. If they don't have the money, they can opt for a second choice, which is text and images to replace the video as the medium.

5. Storyboard:
Problem: I drew the storyboard in Photoshop. But during the presentation, the least exciting part is when I was presenting my storyboard.

Reflection: Probably making it into an animatics will work better, equipped with audio and music.


6. Interface Design:
Problem: I used black squares and unspecific product titles (Food A, Food B) in the mock-up interface designs. This will be a bad impression to the clients.

Reflection: Show more sincerity by putting in actual product pictures and names. Sincerity is important to boost up the impression to the clients, so that clients will not think that I am not dedicated in this pitch session.


7. Q&A:
Not much problems faced when answering questions, but learnt a few good tips.

Reflection:
a) Be open to suggestions. Clients not only choose the idea, but choose the suitable candidate to work with too. They will prefer to work with people that are open to suggestions yet is able to rationalize ideas and communicate effectively.
b) Understand the questions asked, think carefully before answering back. This is to prevent the answers given out sounding not convincing to the clients.
c) Must able to educate clients on things they did not understand, but must be non-offensive or patronizing. Good and friendly attitude is important.

Pitch Presentation

Today is the day!
I think I had presented quite well, and the clients gave some good feedback too.
Example:
Can add in Facebook share to spread the videos better

What needs to be improved in my opinion:
1) I tend to stutter when pronouncing long words like environmental and revolutionary
2) Stand in better position to have better access to the mouse or laptop, and don't block the screen
3) I cut off one of the client's speech, even if she did not said anything bad about it. But... I SHOULD NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!
4) Don't be so nervous before presenting/during waiting. Don't create unnecessary fear within.

Now just have to wait til next week and see Sweii's comments =)

Preparation for Pitch Presentation

Done the presentation slides and more research to back up my points.
Read a few articles on emotional marketing, effectiveness of video testimonials and a few videos on selling ideas.
http://www.marketingscoop.com/emotional-marketing.htm
http://bigthink.com/ideas/26358
http://biznik.com/articles/video-testimonials-let-your-customers-do-the-talking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-ntLGOyHw4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHtUcTc7zwU&feature=relmfu

Here are the important points in my presentation:
1)State problems and give solution - my solution
2)Main purpose is for education and not replacing store assistants
-educate on products, environment issues and organic lifestyle through video testimonials and documentaries
3) Emotional marketing
-make customers fall in love with Justlife
4) Information is now accessible
-no longer need to memorize all product info, just access the application and all info stored there
-start conversation with customers through these videos, because they have the same access to information like store assistants
5) Customers stay in store longer
-longer in-store time = higher chances of purchasing products
-customers don't just go there to shop, they can now watch videos
-able to have more chances to build bonds between store assistants and customer

The other stuffs like video storyboard, investment calculation, interface designs and full presentation slides can be found in the CD documentation.

Reminder for Presentation

1. Keep it short
2. Make slides highly visual
3. One key point per slide
4. Keep it simple and stupid
5. Make it flow
6. Better to show than tell
7. Presentation slide should not stand alone
8. Be honest and enthusiastic
9. Prepare and practice

First 5 minutes is the golden opportunity to present ideas. Leave the last 10 minutes to demo.

I have to study how Steve Jobs present his new products too, and find tutorials on selling ideas effectively. I believe presentation skills are far more important that the content to be presented, not to say the content is not important, but the way to present is a big deal too. It can affect the clients' understanding of my ideas and influence their final decisions.

I made some rough calculations on the budget too, see in the image attached above.
All actual files and calculation can be found in the CD and presentation slides =)

Work on contents for pitch presentation

After the sharing, I've been thinking about the effectiveness of my idea and made some changes:
1. Now in I-Pad 2, not I-Phone
-bigger screen to watch videos better


-don't need to be mobile, so customers can access whenever they want
2. Canceled online store
-don't need, because the application is now focused on in-store, and for education purposes.

Made some interface designs too, in digital (full set of files can be found in the CD documentation):

Drew the storyboard for clients to get a clearer picture on how the videos will look like. Speaking and explaining alone wouldn't help much, it is better to make them as clear as possible so there is no doubts and assumptions on pitch presentation. Chose to draw storyboard instead of making a full video because I think there is no need to show so much during the pitch. They not necessarily must choose my idea anyway. I think storyboard should suffice to let them understand how the video should be.

Sanyen's Sharing on Creative Effectiveness

Today, the Creative Director of IF Isobar, Liew Sanyen had a nice sharing about creative effectiveness.

Things I learnt:
Creativity 4 survival tips:
1. Seek your voice
-Be disruptive
-Be creative
-Make a statement
-Be 'me'
2. Embrace uncertainty
-Get out of comfort zone
3. Go for quantity
-More ideas = better
4. Break the rules
-understand and break rules
-don't create imaginary rules

4 tips to stay strategic:
1. Be empathetic
-think like consumer
-think like client
2. Uniting data and creativity
-planner > creative strategist < creative director
numbers > unite data and creativity < craft
3. Live the media
-Bought, Owned, Earned media
4. Be simple
-Elevator pitch

Refined Mood Board & Interface

Below is the scanned pages in my sketchbook on the new interface design and the new mood board. This time it follows a fresher feel, more simplistic and less traditional. The interface buttons are not graphical but is typographical approach because it is a video-based application, therefore using graphical buttons will upset the balance of text and images, and end up confusing the user. I used leaves as the main subject because Justlife is a company that is very close to nature, and their logo has a leaf on it, so it makes sense to use leaves too.

Sketches on Interface:

Mood Board:Interaction Flowchart (updated):

Consultation with Sweii for Details in Idea

I discussed with Sweii on the PayPal system and the benefits of M-commerce. Attached below is the scanned page in my sketchbook, interaction flowchart and mood board. I showed Sweii my Gantt chart, interaction flowchart and mood board. Mood board was not satisfactory and needs a fresher look. Interaction flowchart was alright. The comments on M-commerce was that local users have not fully utilize mobile commerce because smart phone usage is not fully penetrated yet, so may still need a web-based online store.

Consultation with Sweii for Refined Idea

After discussion, both Sweii and I agreed that using I-Phone application is the better choice compared with website. It is possible to expand the usage into an online shopping experience too.
Sweii noted an important feature in my idea, which is the video tagging feature so users can search related videos, like in Youtube. I am sure to include that in.

Her comments on last week's presentation is that I was rushing, did not ask questions, passive, and did not present all ideas. She also said that I frequently used the word "roughly", which is a bad habit. She did ask if I was rushing for any events that evening, and I explained my reasons, which she accepted. But she advised me to not assume things and unless requested by clients, I must present everything I have. I will heed her advice, and next time, I'm not going to rush through my presentation. Slow and steady is the wisest choice.

Refine Idea

Below is the chosen idea based on the clients' comments and my thorough thinking, which is the video idea. It will be a video-based website or application that shows customers' lifestyle with justlife products, something like a video testimonial. By referencing to Astro AEC's 老字号 program (a TV program that shows old traditional local brands or products that we, Malaysians have been using until now), hopefully these videos can create emotional attachment to the brand, achieving the effects of emotional marketing.

Initial Idea Presentation to Clients

The clients like the video idea.
Basically today is just showing the ideas I had and explaining to them.
But I had been rushing through the ideas because I was one of the last people to present and I was going to be late for family matters (the time I present was around 6pm already)
I think that was bad for this session because I have a lot to show but was speeding like a racing car, and another concern was that other classmates have almost similar ideas so I skipped through those similar ideas and focused more on the video idea.

Consultation with Sweii

The progress is good, and the important part is to understand my ideas well, then present to the clients next week for the initial idea presentation.

Initial Ideas

Below are the scanned images of the pages in my sketchbook during the brainstorming process. I have some ideas on the system for retrieving & showing info, as well as the form of the multimedia platform (contents, interface, media involved)

A Visit to the Client - Justlife

Today, our class went to a Justlife store located in The Gardens, MidValley Shopping Centre. The purpose is to meet the clients and understand more about the problems they faced so we can come up with creative solutions.

Problem:
A lot of info.
Customers have to read brochures and magazines to understand more on the products.
Shop assistants explain to customers on info, and have to memorize a lot of information to do so.
High staff turnover rate.
Categories of products not clear.

What they need:
A multimedia system that can be updated, contains info on products, organic lifestyle and environmental issues, as well as able to cut down paper usage.

Below is the scanned image of the notes I jotted down in my sketchbook:

Introduction

This is my work blog for Competition, Festivals and Exhibition module in the University of Hertfordshire BA (Hons) Multimedia Design program. The project is about pitching an idea on creating a multimedia platform to solve the problems faced by a local organic products company named Justlife. After the pitch presentation, there will be some reflective work to be done and later presented to the module tutor.

I will post sketches and little notes on the thinking process behind this project.

Chong Eva
08198363
BMM085-1