Reference no: EM133184239

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Portable. Rechargeable. Powerful. Lumio unfolds, seemingly by magic, from a book. Simply open the cover to turn on the warm, high-performing LED lamp. Lumio can be transformed into multiple shapes - big enough to light a dinner party, compact enough to fit in a small bag. With its modern, minimalist design, and 500 lumen of high-output lighting (equivalent to a 40-watt bulb), Lumio is striking and discreet.

This lamp is made with environmentally friendly materials, including Forest Stewardship Council-certified (FSC) wood, and is available in walnut, maple, and cherry finishes. The lamp's shade is water-resistant, so it's at home either indoors or out. Plus, it's 100-percent recyclable.

Lumio LLC, the producer of the Lumio lamp is a studio focused on multi-functional, everyday objects that are simple, intuitive and beautiful. The Lumio brand creates modern lighting systems with the simple goal of giving people the freedom to experience beautiful lighting.

Ms. M. Lilienthal, of Digital Trends, writes that this unique lamp which is collapsible, portable, and USB-rechargeable is a modern lighting fixture designed for the tech age. Designed by Max Gunawan, a former San Francisco architect, the lamp emerged out of Gunawan's quest to design a modular, collapsible home. After an extremely successful Kickstarter program (a website dedicated to raising "crowdfunding" for new ideas), Lumio was recently released to the public.

Lumio starts out as a closed "book," and like a book, when opened, Lumio tells a story.

How did Gunawan get started with this lamp? He was inspired after reading "The Lean Startup" and turned to www.kickstarter.com to raise the needed funds to develop his idea. "It dawned on me one day that a book would be a great way to package this idea of a collapsible light fixture," says Gunawan. "It's compact, has that visceral connection with the idea of a 'book that illuminates' and has that unexpected element of surprise." (wired.com).

Max Gunawan, designer of the Lumio, spent 10 years as an architect before launching Lumio, named one of the "Top 10 Most Innovative Crowdfunded Companies" by Entrepreneur magazine in 2013. His work employs minimal and clean-line design, and centers around optimizing the use of small spaces.

Haven't seen one of them in a store? It's no wonder. Lumio sells them exclusively online through their own website www.hellolumio.com. However, they have plans to begin selling them in retail stores soon. They will provide links to the retailers on their website as soon as they become available at retailers. The limited availability of the lamp may explain the limited information available for the product.

Question 1

Using the concepts in the textbook and the information in the case, suggest the company what to do when it comes to Distribution of the product (the Place "P" of the Marketing Mix)

Question 2

Thinking about the lamp/table lamp industry, which stage of the Product Life Cycle is this product at? Briefly describe two things that normally present a challenge to any company in this stage, and in the case of Lumio, provide a suggestion to each one of these challenges