TEI 069: 4 reasons you should expand to an educational market

Global Product Management Talk is pleased to bring you episode
069 of... The Everyday Innovator with host Chad McAllister,
PhD. The podcast is all about helping people involved in innovation
and managing products become more successful, grow their careers,
and STANDOUT from their peers. About the Episode: If you want
your own BB-8 droid, you can buy one from Sphero, a company in
Boulder, CO. BB-8 is the adorable droid in Star Wars, The Force
Awakens. Sphero fuses robotic and digital technology into an
immersive entertainment experience. They make other droids besides
BB-8. The original product is named after the company – Sphero. It
is basically a white sphere a little lager than a pool cue ball
that you control with your smartphone to roll around the room and
play games with. I bought one after seeing it in a Discovery store.
In 2014 the company did something really smart – they started
creating education curriculum that teaches kids how to code using a
Sphero device. What started as a meetup for kids to learn about
robtoics and coding is now an expanding library of free lessons for
teachers and students. And, in the process of learning how to code,
the lessons also teach about music, engineering, math, science,
art, writing, and more. They have found a way to bring learning and
playing together. This educational program is called SPRK (spark).
The product manager for SPRK is Bill Cullen and I had the pleasure
of talking with him about the SPRK program. In this interview, you
will hear the benefits of incorporating an education market into
your product plans, including… expanding the overall
market,creating passionate customers,increasing speed of innovation
through community involvement, andadding community-generated
products.