Lecture Post 1: Social Media & Privacy

Pace Mate is a program that uses motion-sense technology to gauge a runner's stride and pace. The program then selects songs of a matching tempo and generates a playlist. Pace Mate ensures the songs listened too actually match the tempo of the run, creating a more effective, enjoyable workout.

Social media represents a huge business opportunity, especially for new ventures. I think Pace Mate would greatly benefit from its own social media campaign. A Pace Mate Twitter account and Facebook page would help give the product exposure to its target market: young individuals that utilize readily-available technology. The Twitter account could also promote the brand while being a source of feedback from product users. The feedback could then be used to gauge customer satisfaction and make necessary product improvements and adjustments. Similarly, comments on Facebook would help provide a sort of analysis of the product. In addition to this, both avenues (but especially Twitter) could allow Pace Mate employees to monitor and respond to customers as a sort of customer service avenue.

Beyond these popular forms of social media, other sources could benefit Pace Mate. There are many running blogs that would be an excellent way to market and advertise Pace Mate. Introducing the product to various online “running communities” could result in exponential sales growth. It would also be beneficial for Pace Mate employees to read through these blogs to discover common problems encountered by runners and determine any opportunities there may be to improve Pace Mate to address these problems.

 

Many products that utilize technology have a certain risk for privacy issues. Assuming that Pace Mate will be an account-based program, some customer information will need to be collected. While it is not desirable to a customer for a company to collect information or desirable for a company to be responsible for protecting that information, storing certain facts will allow for a better product for the consumer. For example, storing the customer’s music preferences, previous run paces, and recently played songs (perhaps in the cloud) will allow for faster and easier use of Pace Mate and an experience that evolves and adapts with the runner. The user will be able to track their previous runs/paces and listen to new songs on each run.

Entrepreneurial Idea

At present, health and fitness are some of the most prominent trends in the United States. Various forms of dieting and excercise are used by Americans from all walks of life. One particularly common athletic activity is running. It promotes cardiovascular health and provides an actual sensation of exerting effort and having a work out. While going for a run, it is extremely popular to listen to music. The music helps distract individuals from the monotony of running and also provides a beat that guides pace. One problem that arises, however, is that the speed and tempo of the music does not match those of the runner's pace. This can be frustrating and lead to a less-than-optimal workout.

Pace Mate is a program that uses motion-sense technology to gauge a runner's stride and pace. Once the accurate tempo has been collected, the program selects songs of a similar tempo and beats per minute (BPM) and generates a playlist. It can be thought of as a cross between Nike + and Pandora. That being said, there would be the possibility of partnerships with these two entities.

Pace Mate solves several problems associated with running. First, it ensures the songs listened too actually match the tempo of the run. Finding songs that match a running pace while simply sitting at a computer is very difficult to do. Additionally, it broadens the users musical access and introduces them to new songs and artists. Program settings will also allow runners to customize their music types (e.g. select only "Alternative") or leave the song selection completely random. Theses aspects have the combined benefit of creating a more effective, enjoyable workout.

As motion technology improves, the accuracy and capabilities of the program would become more advanced. There is room to include such features as a heart rate monitor that would allow the user to track their heart rate and ensure that they are reaching there target heart rate during a run, and this could be accomplished by playing music of a paster tempo. Currently, the program could be in the form of a smart phone app and/or an accompanying chip that is attached to a running sneaker (giving rise to a potential Nike partnership). The product fills a current need while still having the potential for further advancement.