Students are eager consumers of technology and are looking for more advanced means to find, analyze and select further educational opportunities. Propose a new product or service for our company that addresses the needs of a student seeking further education. It should complement our existing array of services that serve the higher education market, capitalizing on our position and reputation within this community.Background:
Educational Directories Unlimited, Inc. (EDU) produces computer based resources that connect students with higher education opportunities. It's two core markets are currently study abroad and graduate school.
StudyAbroad.com is an online resource for those seeking an international educational experience. It includes a wealth of information about academic programs and their destinations. These programs range from high school through graduate school and offer students both inter session and full term options. Study abroad can be for academic credit or for life experience, both options can be explored through StudyAbroad.com.
The web site is also supported by an opt-in e-mail based newsletter titled StudyAbroad.com Express. This is a weekly academic "classified ad" style method of distributing information.
Gradschools.com is an online resource for those seeking post baccalaureate education such as Master's, Ph.D. and Medical Doctor degrees. It contains directories of academic programs in a yellow pages type format. Everyone offering a degree program receives a Free Listing. Those schools may choose to advertise, purchase banners, buttons or web links to their school web sites so that prospective students can further explore their options.
Gradschools.com now allows students to register on the site so their information can be easily relayed to schools. Soon schools will be able to search this database of prospective students so they can recruit the ones most meeting their needs. Gradschools.com will soon offer links to an online application service, passing the profile information directly from a student application to a specified school.
Recruiting students through personal interaction is very important. EDU is launching GradSchoolFairs.com which merges the best features of a school recruiting fair with the Internet. It centers on a live event, held in a major convention center, that allows schools to present themselves to students in person and on the web. It takes a popular recruiting medium and applies Internet technology to meet the needs of the modern student.
EDU produces all its content internally using our research, as well as data provided by schools. All online information is entered into databases which are used to produce our web directories, our search features and our data gathering mechanisms. Data put into these databases can be presented in static form (such as with the Gradschools.com directory pages) or active as in our free form search (http://www.gradschools.com/free_search.html)
EDU has technical staff and computer resources to deliver a wide variety of web based solutions to market. To date, all its products and services have all centered around Internet access, either through the web or e-mail.
EDU looks for products and services to become profitable in their second year. We have the support mechanisms (accounting, marketing, sales) necessary to launch new lines of business.
The Internet has revolutionized many aspects of selecting products and services. It creates an open platform for information exchange, streamlined many manual processes and increased competition among providers. This has the potential to effect education in as revolutionary manner as book selling or music distribution. Future educational delivery and management will be dependent on technology. Those that embrace technology and innovate will succeed in the market, those that don't will begin to fail.
For competition in the educational market to flourish, educational opportunities need to be promoted. Our business has thrived through disseminating information about schools. Students are able to use this information in their selection process. This comprehensive data provides a vital tool in the selection of programs. We are looking to expand our offerings to include more focused and more powerful tools for the educational shopper.
To successfully introduce a new product to market, a company should leverage its strengths to create a competitive advantage. Inevitably a new product will compete with an old product, as well as other new or soon to be released products. Success comes when a new product builds on the previous successes of the company. Innovation can become an attribute of a company (3M for example) and can be a huge factor in the success of future product launches.
EDU has a strong history of innovation in academic marketing and online academic directory publishing. Our marketing campaigns and our sites have been student oriented, focused on giving the power of choice to the actual consumer. As the products have developed and grown, we have taken a leadership position within the academic community in advocating for growth and modernization.
Using this solid reputation in the student recruiting field, help model a new product that will help students further their education. The product (or service) should have a means to generate income and should be designed to make a profit by the end of the second year of operation. The product does not have to be technology driven, but each of the previous products have been. The company would anticipate hiring additional people for the new venture and has limited investment capital to launch the product. Sub-contracting or partnering with related organizations is possible in new product launches.
To successfully introduce a new product or service, market research should be done. The concept of this product should be reviewed by potential consumers through vehicles like a focus group. The demographics of the market should be evaluated to develop a pricing scheme for this product. Sales channels should be detailed. Is the product sold retail or wholesale, direct to consumer or through distributors, is franchising an option? How is the brand established? Will it harm or benefit the other "branding" the company has done? What is it's effect on the entire product line? Will selling the product be a problem to the other aspects of the company? Can the sales efforts be combined with the existing sales efforts? Does the new product need a new marketing campaign, combined with the other campaigns or accomplished on its own?
Another consideration is production. Is it possible to produce the product internally or externally. Should vendors handle all or some of the production or should staff be added for the project. If the product/service is technological, should it be only distributed over the web, by subscription, or supported by an external source of revenue?
The new product or service should be described in detail. A case for consumer demand should be made, ideally substantiated by an analysis of current products and sales trends in the industry. Comparison with competitive products should be included with both cost advantages and market advantages analyzed. Estimates of the items cost, its sale price should be measured against production costs across variable unit sales.
If you are selected to give an oral presentation for this problem, the presentation will be held at StudyAbroad.com headquarters in Chester, Pa. You will be given directions and notified of the exact date and time later.