It’s hard to read the news without finding some sort of scary story about home security needs. With all the turmoil in the world, what products can consumers use to help protect their property?
Enter one solution: Ring, a Santa Monica-based smart doorbell that brings new meaning to the phrase “Internet of Things (IoT).” The Ring video doorbell uses a Wi-Fi enabled camera for a live video feed showing who is ringing the doorbell. The video doorbell alerts the user’s smart phone, allowing the user to keep an eye on what is happening on her front porch, and in her yard.
Formerly named DoorBot, the company launched in 2013. While it was featured on an episode of Shark Tank, it did not receive any funding from the sharks, but saw an uptick on sales immediately after the show. Recently, Ring had another round of funding, gaining $28 million from entrepreneur Richard Branson. Branson invested soon after seeing the product in action on a guest’s smart phone as he communicated with a delivery person in San Francisco.
How do you answer your doorbell?
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Start by viewing the Shark Tank episode: https://youtu.be/eUJoBtvt9VE
- Next, bring up Ring’s Web site and show its video and product: https://ring.com/
- Discuss the importance of clearly defining a target market.
- For this product, what is the target market?
- Divide students into teams and have each team develop a profile of a target market. Include demographics, psychographics, behaviors, values, attitudes, etc.
- Based on the target market profile, what makes this product unique for these customers?
- Debrief the exercise.
Source: Brandchannel.com, Ad Age Daily, New York Times, other news sources
