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Post by Ajarn on Jul 18, 2006 14:58:26 GMT 7
Next semester I will be teaching marketing; international program, English medium.
I plan to have the students undertake market research, and design a marketing campaign, for products chosen by me.
My idea is that the products will be unique, and a little off-the-wall (and therefore challenging to market), but absolutely possible / feasible and, ultimately, marketable.
So far, I have only two products:
Black toothpaste - a herbal toothpaste the active ingredient of which is 10 times better than fluoride but has a deep black color and cannot be tinted
Vegetable flavoured ice-cream - Natural, healthy, vegetable flavored ice-cream - tomato, celery, carrot, zucchini, potato, etc
Your ideas / suggestions will be very welcome.
Thanks.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 18, 2006 18:18:41 GMT 7
Try Cheez Whiz! They don't have it in China, and the Chinese aren't naturally all that crazy about cheese anway... Not like there's really any cheese in Cheez whiz, of course, but hey...
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Escaped Lunatic
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Civet Burger? Sounds tempting. Can I get fries with that?
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Post by Escaped Lunatic on Jul 19, 2006 1:56:45 GMT 7
Let's see.... how about chunks of raw fish being sold as a ready-to-eat food? Oh, wait, the Japanese already managed to trick everyone into buying that. "I used to go away for weeks in a state of confusion." - Albert Einstein
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 19, 2006 2:03:49 GMT 7
Boy, look at the typos in my last post. This...THIS...is what happens when you post sober. I'm damn lucky to have avoided terrible injury. Sorry, kids.
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Post by Dragonsaver on Jul 19, 2006 3:50:51 GMT 7
There was an item on TV about new research using the discarded material from sugar cane to make into a charcoal equivalent to be used to replace wood for heating. This was in the Caribean where the destruction of trees is causing mud slides etc.
Have them do something like that to save the environment.
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teleplayer
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Post by teleplayer on Jul 19, 2006 3:56:50 GMT 7
Processing plastic garbage into usuable materials like how plastic shopping bags and bottles are porcessed into "plastic lumber" for making park benches, patio chairs. This would also help promote recycling. and help get rid of garbage everyone talks about.
Biodiesel. Brazil has programs requiring cars that can run on 100% biodiesel or gas. It can be done, would help with some pollution, get rid of what food or vegetable matter and animal fat waste there is.
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jul 19, 2006 16:15:02 GMT 7
Um, no herbal ingedient is 10 times better than flouride at preventing tooth decay, that just isn't practical/feasable, which your stated goal was. (funny I just read a detailed article on that while I was blacked out.)
And they already have ice cream with corn and beans. Dunno if vege flavours would be much of a jump.
I like the idea of something that will save the environment, though.
How about a solar powered water recycler?
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Post by Ajarn on Jul 19, 2006 23:51:01 GMT 7
Thanks for the efforts guys, but ......
Toothpaste, ice-cream ... everyday consumer products; nothing hi-tech but products that would require a formidable market campaign to sell the concept to the general public.
Um, no herbal ingedient is 10 times better than flouride at preventing tooth decay, that just isn't practical/feasable
It was discovered on the slopes of Mt Hagen, Papua New Guinea about a month ago!
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gengrant
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Post by gengrant on Jul 20, 2006 1:25:40 GMT 7
How about Post GrapeNuts tm Cereal...contains neither grapes nor nuts...how's that for product naming?
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teleplayer
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Post by teleplayer on Jul 20, 2006 5:52:52 GMT 7
Toothpaste, ice-cream ... everyday consumer products; nothing hi-tech but products that would require a formidable market campaign to sell the concept to the general public. Um, no herbal ingedient is 10 times better than flouride at preventing tooth decay, that just isn't practical/feasableIt was discovered on the slopes of Mt Hagen, Papua New Guinea about a month ago! Sounds like the "Pet Rock" to me. Pick 'em up, wash 'em, box 'em. Oh, that tootpaste discovery, perhaps natural, but isn't there a lot of high-tech human consumption testing involved with that toothpaste? Or do you ignore that part?
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Escaped Lunatic
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Post by Escaped Lunatic on Jul 20, 2006 22:42:59 GMT 7
>Processing plastic garbage into usuable materials like how plastic shopping bags and bottles are porcessed into "plastic lumber" for making park benches, patio chairs. This would also help promote recycling. and help get rid of garbage everyone talks about.
I showed a video to middle schoolers about fabric for clothing made from recycled 2 liter bottles and I was very surprised when they got fixated on "those people are wearing garbage". This might be an interesting thing to see if your students can come up with ways to overcome this perspective.
Old episides of Saturday Night Live have commercials for products that could be challenging to market. Things like the Bass-O-Matic, and another product that was both a desert topping and a floor polish.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...' " - Isaac Asimov
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Post by teleplayer on Jul 20, 2006 23:45:22 GMT 7
Down in "Teacher Must Haves" I think Lotus has the simple answer. Needed product, actually, needed improvement on product already available. More really good throat lozengers. The Chinese ones just don't seem to be as effective for 4 classes in a row of straight lecturing and following up with activities.
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gengrant
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Post by gengrant on Jul 21, 2006 0:53:54 GMT 7
Down in "Teacher Must Haves" I think Lotus has the simple answer. Needed product, actually, needed improvement on product already available. More really good throat lozengers. The Chinese ones just don't seem to be as effective for 4 classes in a row of straight lecturing and following up with activities. I do believe that's why God invented booze.
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jul 21, 2006 7:06:51 GMT 7
Goes down in history with the discoverer of Fire as one of the great unforgotten geniuses of history.
Herbal better than fluoride: Searched for it, found nothing. According to my understanding of chemistry, also not physically possible. Plus, just read a bunch of studies, the tooth decay rate in New Guinea seems worse than places without fluoride.
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Post by Ajarn on Jul 21, 2006 10:12:59 GMT 7
I showed a video to middle schoolers about fabric for clothing made from recycled 2 liter bottles and I was very surprised when they got fixated on "those people are wearing garbage". This might be an interesting thing to see if your students can come up with ways to overcome this perspective.
Thanks! I'll use that one.
Biodiesel. Brazil has programs requiring cars that can run on 100% biodiesel or gas. It can be done
Yep! They're doing it in Thailand. Another of Taksin's pet projects. But, as for my marketing assignments, I don't think it's really a mass market item here in China. And, I understand, there is no such thing as 100% bio fuel. It's a mix of about 15% bio and 85% diesel or petrol.
the tooth decay rate in New Guinea seems worse than places without fluoride
It's because betel nut juice is so acidic.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 21, 2006 11:22:44 GMT 7
I was under the impression that cars in Brazil have been running on 100% methanol, which is a biofuel, for many years now. It doesn't quite have the pep of gasoline, but in Brazil that's probably a good thing. They're not wearing garbage. They're wearing stuff that would have become garbage if it hadn't been recycled.
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Post by Dragonsaver on Jul 21, 2006 18:47:32 GMT 7
I have 2 T-shirts here made of 'recycled' pop bottles. If you want I can bring 1 to China and mail it to you. It has all the information about the recycling on the back and 'Laidlaw' (a recycle company) on the front.
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Escaped Lunatic
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Civet Burger? Sounds tempting. Can I get fries with that?
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Post by Escaped Lunatic on Jul 21, 2006 20:33:19 GMT 7
>Yep! They're doing it in Thailand. Another of Taksin's pet projects. But, as for my marketing assignments, I don't think it's really a mass market item here in China. And, I understand, there is no such thing as 100% bio fuel. It's a mix of about 15% bio and 85% diesel or petrol.
Depends on the vehicle - Pure biodiesel and other veggie oils have gelling problems as the temperature drops. You can install pre-heaters in the bio-tank and run on pure diesel while the other stuff warms up. Commercially available biodiesel is often partly diesel (10-50% diesel, depending on the blend) and can be run with no problems. I'm told that some mercedes engines can be run on pure veggie oil with no mods (as long as the temperature is high enough). Other diesel engines require small modifications to prevent the injectors from getting clogged up.
Methanol isn't used as fuel much in USania (but we do ship lots of it to Raoul's - ask him for a bottle of "Blind Drunk"). Ethanol is showing signs of catching on. Flexfuel vehicles can run on E85 which is 85% ethanol, 15% gasoline. Some states have already mandated that all fuel sold at the pump be at least E10 (10% Ethanol, 90% gasoline), formerly known as gasohol.
>They're not wearing garbage. They're wearing stuff that would have become garbage if it hadn't been recycled.
That's what I said, but the majority of them were stuck in "it's garbage" mode. If I'd known they'd freak like that, I'd have worn a t-shirt I have that's 50% recycled plastic/50% recycled cotton.
"I'll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure." - Mae West
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woza17
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Post by woza17 on Jul 21, 2006 21:39:42 GMT 7
What about rainwater tanks made from recycled plastic.
I haven't seen any water tanks here but I think some places do this. My idea would be to have the runoof from the tanks go through a filtering system a bit like in your fish tank stones charcoal and other stuff . I just thought of this so, I can't go into detail. But clean water is a big problem here.
Just to go off topic a little, What do you think about those 100 dollar laptops for kids in underdeveloped countries?
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jul 22, 2006 0:07:21 GMT 7
I still want to know if this 10X better than fluoride is real. Sorry to beat about the head, but this is an interest of mine. Is it fiction? that is OK, of course, but your post suggests it is real, AJ. So, wassappnin?
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teleplayer
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Post by teleplayer on Jul 22, 2006 0:36:48 GMT 7
I was under the impression that cars in Brazil have been running on 100% methanol, which is a biofuel, for many years now. .... They're not wearing garbage. They're wearing stuff that would have become garbage if it hadn't been recycled. What about rainwater tanks made from recycled plastic. I haven't seen any water tanks here but I think some places do this. My idea would be to have the runoof from the tanks go through a filtering system.... But clean water is a big problem here. quote] I'll have to pipe in w/Raoul on this. Saw recent report that Brazil requires all cars made there be capable of running on 100%. So in US it's just the auto makers and "big oil" holding out. Understand about pep and yes, "Willie Diesel" is a blend. Ethanol plants are springing up. Two planned for here in Norht Carolina. I'm sure Ohio, Iowa, other grain producing states going to do same. Downside of this is that the ethanol is in as bad or worse for your lungs (I work with Environmental Scientists). Woza's rain catchment idea really good. China needs clean water. Much of water in SE Asia is contaminated with naturally occuring arsenic. OUr Engineers W/O Borders group is building a rain catchement system for a school in Cambodia. With cement storage tanks it's supposed to provide 1200 liters of water/day. www.unc.edu/ewb-usa/ (click "Projects") Cambodia, like Bangladesh is one of the worst places for this arsenic problem. With water being predicted as one of the leading causes for war for this century, a water catchment system would be good thing and possibly ways to make from recycled plastics, wouldn't last as long as a cement/steel.... FYI and for others Point of use biosand filter being tested here and on location in Dominican Republic www.unc.edu/sobseylab/ (Click "research" then click "Point of Use Water Treatment" near the top.)
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Post by Ajarn on Jul 24, 2006 1:09:09 GMT 7
Saw recent report that Brazil requires all cars made there be capable of running on 100%. [/b][/i]
In Brazil, by law, all gasoline contains a minimum of 25 percent alcohol. Yet ethanol is so popular it actually accounts for 40 percent of all vehicle fuel.
Its stunning success with ethanol has encouraged Brazil to begin displacing diesel fuel with vegetable oils from its vast soybean crop. Within 15 years it expects to substitute biodiesel for 20 percent of its conventional diesel.
As for water-tanks, I read a report that 77% of Chinese nationals live in cluster apartments so I don't think they would be marketable to the average Chinese consumer.
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Post by The G-Stringed Avenger on Jul 24, 2006 7:00:30 GMT 7
How about a dandruff vacuum? Or a mini armpit hair electrolyser - stings but works!
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Post by con's fly is open on Jul 24, 2006 16:46:07 GMT 7
Old episides of Saturday Night Live have commercials for products that could be challenging to market. Things like the Bass-O-Matic, and another product that was both a desert topping and a floor polish. My favourite was Pussy Whip: the dessert topping for cats. Low tech? Environmentally friendly chopsticks. Theft-proof phone holders Dental floss- you'd deserve a Nobel Prize if you could make that stuff popular! Beehive hairstyles- China's the last habitat, but they need help before the style dies out Thong underwear Cabins in the countryside/timeshares I'm out.
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jul 25, 2006 0:48:40 GMT 7
recycled plastic chopsticks?
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