Rewarding Leadership Journey About Our "Luffa Scrub" Development

As a marketing students, one of the courses that we need to take is Product Management and Marketing Management. It is only two of our five majors, and I still don't know how I survived this semester without sleep and planning. I don't mind if I still maintain at the top. All I thought about was how I would remain on the Dean's List and pass the program. Sometimes, I want to cry about time-draining our program, but I can't because my passion still precedes the times I want to shift.

Groupings

Since I was the top student during the preliminary in three majors, our subject teacher tasked me to lead the first group for the upcoming Product Plan. My teacher said my groupmate would be the Rank 4, 7, and 10. Sadly, my cousin is in the 6th spot, but it is good that I had the freedom to choose my members. I selected my friends; the rest are random according to their contributions. I never regret picking them since they're all cooperating, and I visualize it will turn out well.

First Product Idea Rejected

Sample of loofah

It always starts with rejection, right? Our professor asked us about our update on our product a month ago, and we told him that our product would be Luffa Soap. We were almost in the middle of the paper when he said he would not fail us if we pushed it. It was our groupmate's idea before in GEN 009, where they made a soap from Luffa. Maybe he misunderstood them when he said it was a scrub with a soap container. Of course, we pushed his idea and revised it.

Conflict With The Marketing Plan

Since I was the group leader, I oversee my members. I ensure we continually meet the deadlines and guide them to provide a good output. But then, there was a sudden conflict where my co-member took my humor seriously (sorry for that), and it was also my fault that I didn't foresee her sensitivity. I know it's not my only fault since we made both mistakes. Despite that conflict, it's good that we're now on good terms, and I hope it will serve as a lesson for everyone. Sometimes, I want to rant on our group chat about some members not passing ahead of deadlines or copying it directly from the internet.

Conflict With The Product Plan

Aside from the marketing plan, I'm responsible for the scrub's production and how we will defend it. Fortunately, I had no problems monitoring their parts since I was able to fix them as early as possible. Maybe there are some groupmates where you need to mention them to respond, but that's not a big problem. I also prepared our presentation for the Product Plan, and we discussed how we will prepare our product defense. Unfortunately, there was a time conflict, and I feel bad about messing up.

Product Defense

Sorry if I can't find something nice photo together with my other groupmate😭

After sleepless nights and exhausting responses to our chats, we presented our product to our teacher. I forgot my laptop but had a link and used my professor's temporarily. My classmate who contributed to the idea injured her leg and couldn't do the packaging. Back to the defense, our professor commented a lot on our presentation, and here are the following:

• Eco-friendly. How would we assume the product is eco-friendly if our product is 50% plastic and the rest are only natural ingredients? We want to defend that it is eco-friendly since we use natural ingredients for the scrubber, and our plastic can still be utilized longer. However, I think we could not counter his claims.

• Our usage of rugby. Since we lacked time to study our innovation, my classmate used rugby to attach our Luffa to the plastic. Our professor critiques that the stick of the adhesives would not last long, especially since our product will be soaked in water. He added that even the stickiest glue, especially soaking in water, won't last long. In the end, he's not satisfied with our product.

• Luxurious. The initial name of our product is Luffa Luxxe Scrubs. He complimented us about the sense of Luxxe on our product was if it looked cheap, and my classmate who thought about it tried to defend it. Looking back on that scenario, I can't help but boost my laughter.

He also made several suggestions, and I'm still happy that we can resubmit with improvements for our product to be pushed into the exhibit. He liked the idea significantly when we added an aromatic scent to our Luffa, but we still need a few modifications.

Product Exhibit Cutie Achieved

Since it's our only alas, we have no choice but to brainstorm how to improve our product. I tasked my groupmates to help them do the product while I excused myself that I would not go as I was revising our overall marketing plan. Meanwhile, I told my two classmates who had already donated the aromatic scent and the capsule they were already excused. They can go, but they failed to attend due to personal matters. One is absent, but I said she would be our product's star for the trailer, where she needed to expose herself by bathing. By that, I guess that it's already fair.

If you are curious about the improvements, here are those.

Name

Before: Luffa Luxxe Scrubs
After: Luffa Scrubs

We removed the "Luxxe" because it is not yet aesthetically pleasing.

Logo

Before: It has an eco-friendly factor
After: Focused more on the violet theme and aromatic factor

I already had the trauma about the "eco-friendly," so I changed the logo and labeling. My classmate spent a lot on the stickers, but we must replace them to align with our product's features and benefits.

Features

Before: It is non-detachable, small pieces of soap can be applied only to the container, used rugby, and our scent is only suitable for one-time use.
After: We made our Luffa smaller to fit regular soaps, detached it from the case, and replaced the rugby with silicone sealant to hold the Luffa and prevent the soap from falling. The silicone sealant is waterproof that lasts for more than 20 years. For the additional convenience of our customers, we added lace to the soap container and used gelatin capsules with lavender-infused oil for a long-lasting aromatic scent.

When it was our time to present the product, my classmate and I explained the feature individually about our massive improvement. He asked if we could attach the soap, and I gave him the video of my classmate using it. He recommended changing the packaging, and that's it. Surprisingly, our product has already pushed to the exhibit, and I'm grateful since all our efforts were paid off.

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