Who are we: The Team and its Organisation
• Structure of the team: Our team currently consists of a biology lab technician, a data science officer, a modeling officer, a secretary, and a science outreach officer.
• Future organization: In the future, our team will be composed of bioengineers, data scientists, big data team, commercial marketing team, consumer feedback and policy interface team, responsible for the whole process of product development from manufacturing to operation and market launch.
Mission and Vision
• Mission: To provide safe and comfortable health care products for women.
• Vision: To become a leading brand in menstrual health products, recognized for quality, safety, and commitment to women's health.
Values
• Innovation: Commitment to continuous improvement and research.
• Health: Safety is our top priority, balancing safety and comfort.
• Sustainability: Use of safe, skin-friendly materials and at the same time, use of materials that are easily degradable and low in environmental pollution.
Business Model Canvas (BMC)
Creating Value
Our novel tampons offer unique benefits:
• Health Benefits: Greatly reduces the risk of TSS (under safe and regulated conditions of use).
• Comfort and Efficacy: Combining safety with industry-leading comfort.
Target demographics include:
- Women between the ages of 15 and 45.
- Emphasis on health and personal hygiene.
We will build relationships through:
• Engagement: Operate official accounts on social media (e.g. Instagram, Facebook, Xiaohongshu) to make the product more social and easier to be known.
• Customer support: Through various ways, such as shopping platform agent after-sales, offline after-sales, online customer service after-sales, hospital cooperation and consultation.
Delivering Value
Our distribution strategy includes:
• Online Sales: By opening online flagship stores on Amazon, Taobao, Jingdong and other e-commerce platforms, and attracting purchases through major online social media platforms.
• Retail Partnerships: By partnering with major shopping mall chains or supermarkets (e.g. Watson's, Walmart, Costco, etc.). By reducing store operating costs in this way, more money can be invested in product optimization and after-sales service.
Key resources necessary for operation:
- We can gain operational experience by learning from new hygiene product companies involving biological products (e.g. BAYA Group, which once launched a sanitary napkin called Freemore, a probiotic sanitary napkin that can balance the microenvironment of women's private parts).
- By learning from the experience of other research transfer companies on campus.
Strategic partnerships to leverage:
• Manufacturers: We can reduce our overhead and operating costs by partnering with other factories and manufacturing plants.
• Healthcare Professionals: We need to establish partnerships with hospitals and researchers to ensure the hygienic validation of our products.
Pricing
Key costs include:
- Preliminary research and development costs.
- Manufacturing cost of the product itself.
- Other expenses such as advertising, office and operation costs.
Expected revenue streams:
- Direct sales from online platforms.
- Wholesale agreements with retailers.
Competitor Analysis
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
1. SWOT
1.1. Strength:
- Safety and hygiene are our impeccable strengths as our products are the first of their kind in this area.
1.2. Weaknesses:
- Other companies' sanitary napkin products may be more comfortable to use because they have been developed for a longer period of time, and they may have an advantage in terms of water absorbency.
- Other companies may have lower cost control and do not need to invest upfront in research compared to us.
1.3. Opportunities:
- Emphasize the importance of the safety of sanitary napkins and tampons to increase the safety anxiety of the target group, which in turn will lead them to choose our products, which are safer.
- Expand into larger markets, focusing first on areas with high tampon penetration, and then move into areas with low penetration after accumulating some customer feedback.
1.4. Threats:
- Competition from established brands.
- Regulatory challenges in different markets.
2. SOR
2.1. Orientation towards strengths:
Continue to optimize its products and after-sales services to strengthen the sense of security it provides to consumers.
2.2. Orientation towards weaknesses:
Implementing cost-effective production methods and building brand recognition through targeted campaigns.
2.3. Orientation towards opportunities:
Exploring collaborations with health organizations to promote awareness and credibility.
Standards and Frames
• China: China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), now part of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) published the GB/T 43585-2023 standard for tampon products, which is mandatory for all selling products.
• US: The US offers FDA-2020-D-0957 Guidance (Menstrual Tampons and Pads: Information for Premarket Notification Submissions) for Tampon products, which documents the device description, risks to health solution, performance characteristics restriction and preclinical toxicology, providing the recommended solution to tampon packaging and production.
• International: ISO/TC 388 standard for menstruation products is used for the production and sale for menstruation products on a global scale. This certification enhances credibility by ensuring that the manufacturing processes comply with regulatory requirements.
Conclusion
The Tampon X project aims to not only provide a superior menstrual hygiene product but also contribute to women's health awareness and education. Through a structured approach to market entry and growth, we are poised to make a significant impact in the menstrual health market.
