XGL+ Project Charter

1. General Problem Statement

The sustainability Problem

• Sustainability has been a growing trend among companies and consumers due to a growing consciousness of an ecological imbalance that is threatening human existence.
• This trend has been communicated across different categories or products without a clear guideline “dissolving” the impact and importance of the message.
• There is a fraction of population that has been adopting sustainable behavior but there are still a lot of people that haven’t embraced this trend.

The baby-boomer component

• The current average age of the world population is continually increasing. Consumers age fifty plus are quickly becoming the largest consumer segment and will have a significant impact due to their high volume of consumption.
• It is important to understand how baby boomers are relating themselves to sustainability trends.

2. Goals for the Project
Produce a knowledge tool to help companies:

---Understand barriers and motivations to be sustainable for the 50 plus market

---To help Communicate sustainability to 50 plus market through products and services
 ---To help Engage the target in sustainable practices 

Sustainability meaning

1. What does sustainability mean to the fifty plus consumer? (language, lifestyle, value system)
2. What current things are fifty plus consumers doing to be sustainable?
3. What sustainable options are fifty plus consumers ignoring?
4. Through what channels of communication do fifty plus consumers learn about sustainability?
5. What institutional barriers exist that deters fifty plus consumers from being sustainable?

Sustainable products perception

6. What sustainable products do they see currently in the market?
7. How they differentiate sustainable product from not-sustainable ones?
8. What marketing initiatives are companies currently employing to communicate sustainability to fifty plus consumers?
9. The impact and efficiency of these marketing initiatives

3. Scope and Boundaries

1. Consumers between ages 44 to 63
2. Focus on consumer package goods and food/beverages
3. We will center on Sustainability and not in other trends that may be related to the “green movement” like organic/natural food, fare-trade etc.

4. Action Plan

Week 3 – Expert Interviews and secondary research
Week 4 – Discussion guide preparation; secondary research; retail visits
Week 5 – In home interviews and secondary research
Week 6 – Preparation and development of Presentation
Week 7 – Presentation and analysis of data
Week 8 – Data analysis and Knowledge tool development
Week 9 – Knowledge tool development and refinement; Prep and develop presentation
Week 10 – Presentation

5. Critical Milestones

January 22 – Interview with Anne Gray from Rumpke
January 23 – In-store visits
January 26 – Interview training and General Mills Phone Interview
February 4 – In home interviews
February 9 – In home interviews
February 18 – Team Presentation
March 16 – Final Presentation