- Further Research:
- Continue deepening knowledge in bio-synthetic fur technology.
- Explore emerging trends and advancements in the fur industry.
- Sample Expansion:
- Widen the fur sample collection for more diverse insights.
- Investigate the potential for collaboration with experts in biosynthetic technology.
- Refinement of Stakeholder Engagement:
- Identify new demographics for engagement.
- Consider expanding engagement to international markets.
- Pitching and Presentation:
- Continuously refine pitching presentations based on ongoing feedback.
- Explore innovative ways to present the transformative impact of biosynthetic fur.
- Business Proposal Enhancement:
- Iterate on the business proposal, incorporating feedback from investors and experts.
- Align the proposal with market demands and investor expectations.
- Strategic Partnerships:
- Explore potential partnerships with organisations and influencers in the fashion and luxury industry.
- Assess opportunities for collaboration with environmental and ethical organisations.
- Marketing and Awareness:
- Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy to increase public awareness.
- Leverage various channels, including social media and events, to promote biosynthetic fur.
- Regulatory Compliance:
- Stay updated on regulations related to fur production and ensure compliance.
- Address any ethical concerns proactively to maintain a positive public image.
- Continuous Learning and Adaptation:
- Stay agile and adapt the intervention strategy based on evolving market dynamics.
- Continuously learn from feedback, market trends, and technological advancements.
- Investor Relations:
- Maintain open communication with investors.
- Provide regular updates on project progress and milestones.
Author: Hongbin Gu
Challenges
Micro-Sidelights
Initial Street interview
Frankly, it was a bad experience, and in the square I tried to make conversation with five passers-by, but without exception they rejected me. This outcome did somewhat exacerbate my stranger communication anxiety, but regardless, the event was memorable and forced me to look for other ways to perhaps localise the perception(British base) of bio-synthetic fur.
Overall
My project is generally going well. At this stage, the challenges are still mainly in the areas of impact and commercialisation.
In terms of impact, the project’s market research, such as sample collection, did not achieve its initial objectives as planned, which was due to the limited impact of the project and the fact that my personal publicity did not result in a substantial response outside of the course.
The other issue was the slow progress of the commercialisation and uncertainty of the project. This new R&D project was controversial and the uncertainty of the success of the project led to a lot of resistance such as funding, technology and mass production.
New Knowledges
Bio-synthetic fur is a research and development project that can be recognised as the first application of stem cells and immortal cells in the development of fur materials and even in the fashion industry. This innovation is a new expansion of three dimensions: theory, practice and commercialisation.
On the theoretical level, stem cell and immortal cell technology has mainly focused on the development of the medical field. Bio-synthetic fur is a project that combines existing theories with the theory of animal fur structure, and pioneers the basic idea of using cellular synthesis in fur, which establishes the unrivalled technological and methodological advantages of bio-synthetic fur.
Some Details on Secondary Research:
On a practical level, although this is an academic project and my academic background is more oriented towards fashion marketing. Through this research and intervention journey, I successfully collaborated with authoritative laboratories and participated in the process of realising the theory of bio-synthetic fur. Moreover, I learned a lot about experimental planning and cell culture.
On the business side, from establishing the business model to filing the patent application to setting up the company, all the contents are new to me personally. This level of knowledge is based on academics but higher than academics. The business model has evolved into my systematic thinking of a bio-synthetic fur business model through learning from previous business proposals and investor advice. Patent application is more about learning from lectures and the feedback I got from activities such as Dragon Den & Guest Speaker, and it is deepened from the initial knowledge of IP protection.
Overall, this learning journey has been very rewarding, enriching my background and elevating me from an academic to a researcher. The new knowledge has helped me to make the transition from academia to business in a better way.
Reflection & Learnings
Weekly Tutorial 1
This time it was a demonstration and feedback on Hotroom and Richard’s advice was in two main areas, evidence recording and the size of the interview sample.
Admittedly I have done a lot of primary research in this summer and my blog reflects this as well, however one of the mistakes was that I carried out a lot of paraphrasing rather than conscious voice/video recording of interviewees, this is evidence and a more objective way of presenting it. Therefore, I need to tighten up evidence recording in the future course of my research.
The second aspect is about my current questionnaire that I have collected a sample of around 300 by the end of summer presentation, however 1000 questionnaires is a later goal in order to draw more convincing conclusions.
This is the first tutorial of the semester, it is a summary of the feedback from the summer research as well as a look ahead to the rest of the study.
Weekly Tutorial 2
theoretical level about commercial and ethical significance bio-synthetic fur, those two are my my deepest insights into this tutorial. Essentially those two are also what I’m delving into later for primary and secondary research respectively.
In respect of primary research in Unit 4, besides the scale of investigation I done in summer. My future stakeholder investigation is supposed to target more on creative industries where people give more professional and targeted opinions about bio-synthetic fur.
According to tutor’s combing, I found that during my preliminary study, the positive proportional influence of animal/environmental protection on the decline in demand for fur products was rarely argued i.e. whether the current decline in demand for fur is largely due to the pressure of ethical public opinion or whether it is no longer favoured by consumers as a fabric in its own right, which is a major question about the significance of the development of bio-synthetic fur. Both in terms of theories and questionnaires, that this one logical hole needs to be perfected in rest of research period.
Weekly Tutorial 3
The second tutorial with George was very rewarding and he gave me three main pieces of advice based on the progress of my research over the last week.
Firstly, he said that in the process of collecting opinions from experts and intensive stakeholder, I could try to contact fur companies in Russia, Canada, China and Scandinavia because these northern hemisphere countries still have a large amount of fur production and consumption due to various reasons such as weather and traditions. This suggestion instantly enlarges the target group that I can interview for the research and the diversified geographic backgrounds of the potential respondents can provide better support and suggestions for bio-synthetic fur.
In terms of stakeholder interviews and questionnaire questions, George made the suggestion to add visualisation in process. In fact, before George’s suggestion, I had made a video explaining the principles of bio-synthetic fur, but I did not use or reflect this in either the stakeholder interview or the questionnaire. Therefore, I will need to utilise this video in the rest of the research process to help those who participated in the interviews and surveys to better understand bio-synthetic fur and provide more accurate and targeted feedback.
Finally George talked about my street interview, which I have to say was a difficult task as it required me to step completely out of my original comfort zone. George advised me to adjust both, timing and location, in light of last week’s failed experience. I went to Piccadilly Circus last week and on reflection, in such a busy area of central London and at the weekend, the sea of tourists and pedestrians really wasn’t a great choice for a pick up visit (Bringing in my ego, I definitely don’t want to be disturbed by a street visit when I’m in the middle of a busy rush to get to my destination). I’m sure casual people would be a better choice for interviews than hurried pedestrians. Therefore, this week I should try to go to Camden or nearby our school to find people who look like they have nothing better to do, in order to increase the success and efficiency of my interviews.
Weekly Tutorial 4
George’s advice this time is based on the three main sections of my assignment from last week: the new questionnaire, secondary research, and stakeholder interviews.
For the new questionnaire, George continued his view on my previous questionnaire, which was to focus on people within the industry and the quality of the sample was more important than the quantity. Therefore, this week I will be focusing on the school in order to get feedback from the creative industry when I release the new questionnaire.
In terms of my secondary research, George encouraged me not to get hung up on academic theoretical research as there are some areas where there are gaps or imperfections in academic research. He confirmed my theoretical knowledge of bio-synthetic and also suggested that if I want to expand my current secondary research I could communicate student from material future in our school, which is not only a communication path to increase my professional knowledge, but also may provide more possibilities or cooperation for bio-synthetic fur.
Regarding my expert interview last week, George expressed interest in Miss Zhang’s opinion that in order to better develop bio-synthetic fur, given the subtle relationship between bio-synthetic fur and genuine fur. It is indeed necessary to emphasise the advantages of the commonalities between the two in future research and marketing to differentiate synthetic fur ( improve the positioning and pricing of bio-synthetic fur), while at the same time highlighting the advantages of bio-synthetic fur’s characteristics (ridding it of ethical constraints) with strengthening endorsement and accreditation.
Coincidentally, the extended reflection suggested by Ms Zhang above is linked to some of the points made during the street interviews (advertising), which George adds is a good and important tool to differentiate between faux fur, bio-synthetic fur and genuine fur, to highlight the innovations and various advantages of bio-synthetic fur, which ultimately lead consumers to believe in the value of the synthetic fur and the concept of synthetic fur, and to pay for it. It has to be said that bio-synthetic fur’s growth path cannot be separated from faux fur and real fur, but it is necessary to jump out from both of them in the future development, and this balance seems to be the key to determine the future of bio-synthetic fur.
Last but not least, George left me to my own thoughts on the conflicting issues of sustainability and industrial care raised by a street passerby. It was a good point of debate. Therefore, I decided to do a comparative analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of two in further study.
Weekly Tutorial 5
It is time to gather all resources together! That’s the topic of this tutorial. It’s true that as George said I’ve done a lot of research and got a lot of feedback, but how to translate that into outputs for my own projects is the focus of my next work.
My marketing strategy development as one of the two main focuses of my work needs to be clear in two aspects, the first aspect is the purpose of the marketing strategy, by this year as the deadline, whether my marketing strategy is to better increase the public awareness or to help get the investment, I need to make a judgement on the basis of the next two weeks of investor meetings. The second aspect is the details of marketing strategy, specialisation and presentation, whether this may need to be in line with the financing strategy in the next two weeks. Whether it’s an investment plan or a PowerPoint presentation, this may need to be integrated to some extent with the finance strategy, the size of the investment, the prospect of a return on investment, and the content up to this point needs to be translated from academic to a more commercial and investment-attractive conveyance.
Clarifying the audience of the project output is another focus of the work, consumers, investors, expert team, three of my largest audience for my project’s output is not the same requirements, consumers need to see is the marketing campaign and the product, the expert team needs to see is the methodology and funding. While investors can be subdivided into different categories such as brand-base or finance-base. Brand investors may need some sales data as consumers do, financial investors may need the expected return on investment. Overall, some outputs may apply to all targets, some do not, therefore, my final outputs need to be categorised, according to the requirements of different targets to provide different outputs.
Weekly Tutorial 6
This week’s tutorial focused on revisions to the DRAFT EVALUATION REPORT.
The first issue is the naming of the report, Unit4+Evaluate Report+Name would be a standard format combination.
The second issue I had was that my research question needed some grammatical structuring and the tutorial suggestion was, How can we reduce the impact of future fur products on animals and environment?
The third point was to adjust the formatting to make the whole report look clearer, using empty paragraphs and highlighting each section to make it clear to the reader.
Finally on content, George suggested that I should add more foresight on future plans based on the original personal reflection.
Overall, George approved my report, but the grammar and the results of the following weeks still need to be updated continuously.
Weekly Tutorial 7
In this week, George gave some advice based on my debriefing on a brand new technical direction for immortalised cell lines.
Firstly, for the investor group, whether this new technology of realising bio-synthetic fur needs to be specifically reflected in the investment plan or just mentioned, and also the specific meaning of distinguishing between immortal cell line and stem cell transplantation technology are what I need to think about next. My personal opinion is to describe the technology in a simplified way, because not all investors know the technology or are interested in the technical details, but it is still necessary to emphasise that this technology is a strong addition to the realisation of bio-synthetic fur. Moreover the two technological routes can enrich the technological colors of the bio-synthetic fur while improving the efficiency and success rate of the research and development.
Another point is for the exhibition at the festival, how to show the final form of bio-synthetic fur and the characteristics of the two technologies, George suggested me to use the existing fur samples for imitation since visual presentation is easier to get attention than text description. I very much agree with George’s suggestion, indeed, for a technology product that has not yet been realised, just using words to describe it will be very abstract. Therefore I am going to make a comparison booth with genuine fur sample, bio-synthetic fur(natural one to imitated) and faux fur, through this comparison and technical description, to help the audience to understand the product, and at a glance to explain the product’s selling points and advantages.
Weekly Tutorial 8
This is the last section of the tutorial,George based on my investor meeting last week, emphasised the systematic learning of business proposal, which can help me to better write bio-synthetic business models. In addition, he also emphasised the importance of patent application and some guidance on writing business proposals in the UK(agree with Will’s advice). Moreover, I could seek help from my school’s career development department. Thanks to George’s practical advice, I intend to read the relevant materials and communicate with the relevant department in our school in the following days. I summarise and write my business model and patent documents for subsequent use.
In addition, for my blog, George would like me to keep the content and adjust the structure, according to the structure of the journal in the email. I have to admit that my original weekly journal does not have a systematic structure, and using George’s structural proposal, I can better present my research journey.
Overall
The weekly tutorials chronicle the progression of a research project on bio-synthetic fur. Feedback includes enhancing evidence recording, expanding questionnaire samples, and refining stakeholder investigations. The significance of balancing marketing strategies for bio-synthetic fur against genuine fur is highlighted. The evolution involves theoretical exploration, global stakeholder outreach, and adjustments to interview strategies. Suggestions encompass adding visualisation, emphasising quality in questionnaires, and integrating marketing with financing strategies. Tutorials also address report revisions, foresight incorporation, and considerations for a new technical direction involving immortalised cell lines. The holistic approach encompasses refining project outputs, clarifying target audiences, and systematically learning business proposals for future endeavours.
Intervention
Summer Intervention
The intervention phase involved leveraging the insights gathered from the research phase to strategically integrate the theoretical prospects into tangible outcomes. This Intervention involved having an innovative way of obtaining fur material from animals by minimising the discomfort and cruelty while maximising efficacy. That aligned with the ethical concerns of this report, which encourages the humane treatment of animals. The project produced a genuine mink find sample, which provided a tangible basis upon which the revolutionary Intervention was anchored to show the transformative essence of the project. For instance, the sample indicated how traditional fur production processes were inferior to biosynthetic fur production. The intervention phase also incorporated gauging the interaction with many stakeholders in the fur industry market, such as Fashion enthusiasts, luxury consumers, and investors, converging to form an engaged audience primed for exploration. The engagement of these stakeholders involved inviting them to experience the biosynthetic fur narrative and contribute their experience. This audience was from the Chinese urban landscape, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Chongqing, and Chengdu. The overarching aim of these interventions was to gauge the reactions, acceptability levels, and perceived value of biosynthetic fur material. That was achieved through structured inquiries and dialogues, which provided insights that could shape the project’s trajectory. The engagement part of the Intervention was unique because it transcended from mere data collection upheld by conventional interviews because it aimed at creating a real-world impact because it offered a tangible testament to its contribution and feasibility. This Intervention made the project realise bridge theoretical promises unearthed during the research phase and the pragmatic realities of the market landscape. As fashion enthusiasts, luxury consumers, and investors engaged with the bio-synthetic fur material, the synthesis of theory and practice converged, forging a pathway toward meaningful innovation.
Intervention Iteration
From the summer to today, my INTERVENTION has been optimised in three dimensions: knowledge deepening, sample widening and audience refinement. I’ve taken efforts on market research, pitching, and business proposal and worked on each to varying degrees.
I expanded the sample for market research and added a logical questionnaire to refine the legitimacy of my project. By the end of 21 October 2023, primary research including questionnaire, experts investigation and pitching had garnered nearly 400 participation reports with dozens of in-person reports, 8 interview from creative industries practitioner and several interests from investors.
Following the feedback from the market and the suggestions from my team of experts, I re-edited a new version of my pitching presentation.
Moreover, I have also rewritten a more professional and systematic business proposal based on the pitching presentation, with advice from investor, Will Medd.
Overall
- Intervention Strategy:
- Leveraged research insights for an innovative, ethical fur production intervention.
- Produced a genuine mink fur sample, highlighting biosynthetic fur’s superiority.
- Stakeholder Engagement:
- Engaged fashion enthusiasts, luxury consumers, and investors in Chinese urban areas.
- Aimed to gauge reactions, acceptability, and perceived value of biosynthetic fur.
- Market Realities:
- Bridged theoretical promises with market realities.
- Demonstrated the transformative essence of biosynthetic fur through tangible impact.
- Intervention Iterations:
- Optimized intervention over time in three dimensions: knowledge deepening, sample widening, and audience refinement.
- Conducted market research, pitching, and business proposal refinement.
- Primary Research:
- Gathered nearly 400 participation reports by the end of October 2023.
- Conducted in-person interviews and engaged creative industries practitioners.
- Expert Collaboration:
- Incorporated feedback from both market responses and a team of experts.
New Edition of Business Proposal
Secondary Research
Theory about animal welfare and cruelty-free
Theory about Causes of Industry Declining
According to Anneke Ball, Noah Lewis, and Mark Adam Miller(2022), the factor leading the declining of real fur consumption are mainly animal rights campaigns, government regulations, and changing trends. In their report, they look at decades of traditional furriers’ experience in the industry, convey the impact of various factor nodes on the fur industry, and end with a quote from the makers of faux fur, pointing to potential future trends in the fur industry. This story focuses on the history and current state of real fur industry in the United States. It also testifies to the logic that moral constraints(animal right campaign and policy making) on public opinion have a negative impact on the fur industry today.
In Jaye’s theory(2018), in addition to hitting the nail on the head about the shrinking consumption of fur due to issues of ethical opinion, she makes a completely new point: it is pure economics and the high margin greed of today’s luxury industry. it ‘s the same reason many restaurants are pushing vegetarian and vegan options: the margins are higher and therefore the profit.This new way of thinking is both supportive and important demanding to my implications for bio-synthetic fur in the future. Admittedly it is true that researching bio-synthetic fur is a perfect attempt to transform the fur industry in suffering of the current ethical pressures. However, it seems that, according to Jaye, the most important indicator of the fashion industry’s favour is low cost of alternative materials.
Reference
- Anneke Ball, Noah Lewis, and Mark Adam Miller(2022), The rise and fall of the real fur industry in the US, Retail, Video, Business Insider[Website], Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/rise-and-fall-fur-industry-faux-mink-2022-2?r=US&IR=T (Accessed on 13th October 13, 2023)
- Marcus Jaye(2018), What is the real reason brands are ditching fur? The Industry Fashion[Website], Available at: https://www.theindustry.fashion/what-is-the-real-reason-brands-are-ditching-fur/ (Accessed on 13th October 13, 2023)
Theory about Immortalised Cell
Based on expert advice from Jason Zhou, bio-synthetic fur gained a completely new theoretical direction in technology, immortalised cell lines(Science Direct 2006), which are populations of cells isolated from multicellular organisms that do not normally proliferate indefinitely, but due to mutations, they bypass normal cellular senescence and can continue to divide. As a result, these cells can grow in vitro for long periods of time. The mutations required for immortality can occur naturally or can be intentionally induced for experimental purposes. Immortalised cell lines are important tools for studying the biochemistry and cell biology of multicellular organisms.
Unlike the stem cell transplantation techniques proposed in previous methodologies, immortalised cells divide indefinitely through genetic mutations, and stem cells are a normal part of multicellular development. Moreover, immortalised cells can have an unlimited lifespan, while stem cells as primary cells have a limited lifespan but bigger physiological relevance (Cook 2022).
Overall both methodologies can achieve the end effect of bio-synthetic fur, but different theoretical foundations can enrich the scientific and technological means of bio-synthesis, meanwhile, according to Jason’s description, immortalised cells are more feasible and effective for achieving the ultimate goal of bio-synthetic fur. Therefore, this technique will also be included in theory learning and R&D process.
Reference
- Thomas Mayer, Bernd Jagla, Michael R. Wyler, Peter D. Kelly, Nathalie Aulner, Matthew Beard, Geoffrey Barger, Udo Többen, Deborah H. Smith, Lars Brandén, James E. Rothman(2006), Cell‐Based Assays Using Primary Endothelial Cells to Study Multiple Steps in Inflammation, Methods in Enzymology[Online], Science Direct, Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S007668790614015X (Accessed by 5th November 5, 2023)
- Cook Myosite(2022), Immortalized versus primary cells: considerations for optimal application in cell cultures, RegMedNet[Website], Available at: https://www.regmednet.com/immortalized-versus-primary-cells-considerations-for-optimal-application-in-cell-cultures/ (Accessed by 5th November 5, 2023)
Theory about Business Model
In Ovans’s journal(2015), she paraphrases views from Michael Lewis that business model is “a term of art.” And like art itself, it’s one of those things many people feel they can recognize when they see it (especially a particularly clever or terrible one) but can’t quite define. In simple, it is “All it really meant was how you planned to make money”. While book from Osterwalder(2010) define business model as rationale of how an organization creates, delivers and captures value.
Different people and reports have taken different approaches to categorising business models, but basically they include factors such as consumers, costs, channels and revenue sources. Personally, I appreciate 9 Building Blocks from Osterwalder, Customer Segments, Value Propositions, Channels, Customer Relationships, Revenue Streams, Key Resources, Key Activities, Key Partnerships and Cost Structure. The business model of bio-synthetic fur will also underlying through those 9 dimensions.
Here are three business model classifications that I have seen during my research, the first is provided by Ovans:
| Analogy | How it works | Example |
| AFFINITY CLUB | Pay royalties to some large organization for the right to sell your product exclusively to their customers. | MBNA |
| BROKERAGE | Bring together buyers and sellers, charging a fee per transaction to one or another party. | Century 21Orbitz |
| BUNDLING | Package related goods and services together. | Fast-food value mealsiPod/iTunes |
| CELL PHONE | Charge different rates for discrete levels of a service. | SprintBetter Place |
| CROWDSOURCING | Get a large group of people to contribute content for free in exchange for access to other people’s content. | WikipediaYouTube |
| DISINTERMEDIATION | Sell direct, sidestepping traditional middlemen. | DellWebMD |
| FRACTIONALIZATION | Sell partial use of something. | NetJetsTime-shares |
| FREEMIUM | Offer basic services for free, charge for premium service. | |
| LEASING | Rent, rather than sell, high-margin, high-priced products. | CarsMachineryLink |
| LOW-TOUCH | Lower prices by decreasing service. | WalmartIKEA |
| NEGATIVE OPERATING CYCLE | Lower prices by receiving payment before delivering the offering. | Amazon |
| PAY-AS-YOU-GO | Charge for actual, metered usage. | Electric companies |
| RAZOR/BLADES | Offer the high-margin razor below cost to increase volume sales of the low-margin razor blades. | Printers and ink |
| REVERSE RAZOR/BLADES | Offer the low-margin item below cost to encourage sales of the high-margin companion product. | KindleiPod/iTunes |
| REVERSE AUCTION | Set a ceiling price and have participants bid as the price drops. | Elance.com |
| PRODUCT TO SERVICE | Rather than sell a product, sell the service the product performs. | Zipcar |
| STANDARDIZATION | Standardize a previously personalized service to lower costs. | MinuteClinic |
| SUBSCRIPTION | Charge a subscription fee to gain access to a service. | Netflix |
| USER COMMUNITIES | Grant members access to a network, charging both membership fees and advertising. | Angie’s List |
Second one provided by Elearnmarkets(2023):
Last on is from Adam:
- The Entrepreneur Support Model
- The Market Intermediary Model
- The Employment Model
- The Fee-for-Service Model
- The Low-income Client Model
- The Cooperative Model
- The Market Linkage Model
- The Service Subsidization Model
- The Organizational Support Model
Overall, three different categorizations are either detailed orgeneral, but the three categories and the business cases mentioned can help me understand the structure and key point of business model, enrich my thought about bio-synthetic fur and finally help me build the business model for bio-synthetic fur.
Reference
- Andrea Ovans(2015), What is a business model? Business Model, Harvard Business Review, Available at: https://hbr.org/2015/01/what-is-a-business-model (Accessed by 15th November 5, 2023 )
- Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). “Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers.” John Wiley & Sons.
- Elearnmarkets(2023), Business Models – Example, Types, Importance & Advantages, Fundamental Analysis, Available at: https://blog.elearnmarkets.com/what-are-business-models/ (Accessed by 15th November 5, 2023 )
- Adam G. Force(Unknown), 9 BUSINESS MODEL EXAMPLES FOR SOCIAL ENTERPRISES, Impact Model, Change Creator, Available at: https://changecreator.com/9-business-model-examples-social-enterprises/ (Accessed by 15th November 5, 2023 )
Primary Research
Questionnaire about Genuine Fur Product
The supplementary questionnaire for this genuine fur artefact was based on George’s suggestion to focus the interviews on creative industry insiders, therefore, I restricted the release of the questionnaire to the school’s platforms, and by the time of writing feedback, a total of twelve creative-related students’ comments had been collected.
More than 90% of people have no aversion to fur products (like them or have no feelings about them), and more than half(58.3%) of these respondents have used fur products before. The biggest barriers to people using fur products are ethical and price factors, with the majority of them(66.7%) acknowledging that ethical opinion, indeed, influences their fur consumption, but this logic does not mean that people would use fur more if they did not have ethical opinion concerns (the majority of people are not sure).
By analyzing and summarizing the questionnaire above, it can be seen that the industry’s acceptance and perception of fur is higher than the overall evaluation of public opinion, and the reasons for restricting the development of fur consumption power are also diversified and refined.
Result Details on:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1f185mEnvPHp_yf4NttS2BNtcb2DcV5PHRHLkb_HUpig/edit#responses
Questionnaire about Bio-synthetic Fur
This is essentially a market research questionnaire with questions that focus on samples and descriptions to test public’s reactions to the concept of bio-synthetic fur.
By the end of 20 August 2023, the Intervention had garnered nearly 300 participation reports, including around 100 entity reports. Through hundreds of interviews, it can be seen that people are generally supportive of new fur material; at the same time, the vast majority of people’s perception of bio-synthetic fur is a more cost-effective alternative material than genuine fur, and only a tiny portion of the people can accept the premium price of this kind of scientific and technological material, which is high reference significance for the future pricing and positioning of the project(different from initial proposal prediction).
Result Details on:
https://www.wjx.cn/report/230890397.aspx?sat=1
Street Interview
This street interview interviewed four passers-by, one of whom was a set designer and the remaining three were students. Through interviewing them it was clear that the intention of bio-synthetic fur was still supported, but one of the interviewees questioned the sustainability of the whole process of bio-synthetic fur. Admittedly the process of Woolization could save many animals as well as jobs in the current industry, but it seems that sustainability issue is another major contradictory challenge. This potential controversy could affect the financing and development of bio-synthetic fur, therefore, the necessaries and advantages of the process need to be more clearly articulated. Two of four interviewees asked for bio-synthetic fur to be cheap and affordable as opposed to genuine fur, one design student from CSM said he would accept a slight premium, and the set designer said she would be willing to pay a huge premium if the product was available for the interview. From the different attitudes of these interviewees, it can be seen that people have different expectations of the new product. Therefore, the future pricing of bio-synthetic fur needs to be analysed in relation to the cost of the product, the target audience and so on.
Research Tour
Audiences & Stakeholders
Customer & Marketing Base
Yuqian Ma
The interview with Miss Ma is brief overall. As a jewellery designer, Objectively speaking, she doesn’t know much about fur products, but the two opinions she talks about are worth taking into account. Diversification of products and expansion of product applications. Miss Ma’s first opinion, to a certain extent, can solve the problem of product positioning, diversified products can correspond to different markets, bio-synthetic fur is not simply a single product, instead, it can manufacture according to the price flexibly. In term of product application, Miss Ma inspired my confidence in cross-border and extended co-operation. Bio-synthetic fur, as a new material, can be used in various fields including but not limited to fabric industry, such as accessories and home furnishings. This point also extends my potential financing channels.
Mengyu Zhang
The conversation with Miss Zhang was based on the questionnaire questions. From an objective point of view, she is not an enthusiast and intensive user of fur products, her knowledge of fur mainly focuses on the use of her parents’ generation and media reports. This partly reflects the fact that at least in the Chinese Mainland market, fur consumers may be aging and marginalized. Regarding to the concept of bio-synthetic fur, Miss Zhang’s views are thought-provoking and she is very supportive of the attempts to synthesize fur, however, when alternatives will be successful as expected because they are totally identical to real thing, it is hard to avoid that some people will reverse-sell the real thing as a substitute due to it is as good or even better in trend as it gets. This potentially awkward dilemma has created a potential need for authentication system about bio-synthetic fur. Alongside the development of this material, it may be that in the future attention needs to be paid to the importance of promoting and controlling the authenticity of the material, i.e. traceability, and the importance of a strong endorsement. In term of the fur consumption declining, Miss Zhang pointed out that consumerism is an important addition, which in the future development of bio-synthetic fur, in addition to the consideration of moral opinion, should not pay more attention to the positioning and pricing close to the public’s perception of the trend, or to re-enforce its status as a symbol of wealth. Overall, Ms Zhang’s interview went well, and many of her views were objective and multi-faceted.
Lucy
Lucy, as a fashion compiler of a luxury company, seems to have a deeper understanding of fur and leather compared to the previous interviewees. She points out a few pioneering brands in the field of faux fur such as Stella Mccartney, etc., which, as practitioners and beneficiaries of the concepts of fashionable and environmentally friendly and sustainability, have a strong demonstration significance of bio-synthetic fur, and can even explore possibilities of co-operation and learning in the future development. Lucy herself is a firm leather and genuine fur user, she pointed out that the majority of leather and genuine fur in the fashion industry is essentially the residual value of the food industry, thus, there is no fundamental contradiction between demand and supply. In addition to the hazards of faux fur under the slogan of environmental protection, she is also abhorrent. It is true that Lucy’s point of view is indisputable in the eyes of fashion or professionals, but the winds of public opinion and the disadvantages of publicity have actually led to the misunderstanding and even aversion of the mass consumer to fur. Finally on the development of bio-synthetic fur, Lucy provides two ideas: one is to ensure the cost advantage of the product through the scale of the product, to control the whole market with the posture of universal technology products, and the other is to focus on the research of rare species of leather, to ensure that bio-synthetic fur’s high-end positioning and pricing advantage. These two different market strategies can be flexibly decided through the specific circumstances of the research and development process, and even the combination of the two strategies in order to develop different directions of the product is also a means of bio-synthetic fur can be used in the future.
Molly & Winey
Winey, as an famous influencer in China, is open to the concept of faux fur as a relatively low-cost alternative to real fur that can be styled in a variety of ways, but she has trouble accepting the price of real fur and scoffs at the idea of it being a symbol of wealth. Her acceptance of bio-synthetic fur is therefore very much dependent on how well the concept is advertised and priced.
As Molly is a fashion technology student, she has a natural affinity for new materials and is more receptive to them. However, as she is not a fur material user, she is unable to differentiate between natural and faux fur. Therefore she is also concerned about bio-synthetic fur publicity, as a good publicity can result in a significant premium for many preliminary consumers. One final piece of advice she gave was to look for an established benchmark for new products (Zhihe). In addition to cost-led pricing and positioning strategies, competitors can also be a good benchmark. Competitors is indeed for next stage as more indicators and reference, can ensure that the future of bio-synthetic fur become more certain and planned.
Expert & Industry Base
Jason Zhou
This is my second conversation with Jason Zhou and it focuses on some exchanges about the progress of bio-synthetic and ideas for solutions to current problems.
I have to admit that the progress of the cooperation with Columbia University has been rather slow, the reasons for which I have analyzed through the conversation are the following two points, the first is the launch of the new semester, which leads to a certain degree of lack of energy input from the university parties involved in the bio-synthetic fur project, and the second is the problem of efficiency caused by the involvement of multiple departments. In response to the above problems, I feel that independent co-operation with the core departments on the basis of real-time follow-up may be a little more realistic and effective.
The second is the handling of animal blood samples in an experiment, which is the most sensitive part of the whole project at the ethical level, and also the most difficult step in communication and sample acquisition. Therefore, we decided to find a third party scientific research organization to help us solve the problem (reprogramming of progenitor cells into pluripotent stem cells), a stem cell science and technology company in mainland China with qualifications and capabilities, which, on the one hand, can eliminate the red tape of cooperating with the university to enhance the efficiency, on the other hand, it can avoid the moral risk of the project itself.
Finally, Dr Zhou also mentioned the issue of project funding, given the lack of funding and impact of the project, a segmented project model would be most appropriate. This is a good proposal, in this way, the project will not be completely stagnant due to the lack of funds, and also according to the constant changes, the project will have more windows and time for financing.
Investor Base
Will Medd
This was my second meeting with Will, throughout the meeting I described to him all the progress made in the bio-synthetic fur project since the summer holidays and the problems that exist now. Will gave me a lot of affirmation, and at the same time, also on the future progress of the project, he provided three aspects of constructive advice.
The first one is about intellectual property rights and patent protection. Will suggested me to apply for patents in regions other than mainland China at the same time. It is true that the application in China went smoothly and was relatively easy for me personally, but as the subsequent financing and promotion of the project will be centred on the UK and the US, it is more urgent and meaningful to apply in these countries. As Will said, the initial patent application in a country like the UK is not a very expensive affair and I will have a window of one to two years to raise the funding or get the approvals to set the stage for the high cost of maintaining the patent.
The second most important point of the conversation was that I had to give a clear and complete account of the business model for the bio-synthetic fur project, which is the key to transforming the project from an academic level to a business model. As my current materials do not clearly articulate the structure of the project such as mass production plans, R&D relationships, profitability of the project, etc., which will be important in the future financing process, I will add a section to my new pitching presentation and investment proposal dedicated to the model of the project. Overall, it is time to shift project materials to a completely commercialize narrative.
Lastly, Will hopes that we can communicate frequently about the progress of the project. As an investor who is very important for my project, communicating with him can help me understand the messages and ideas of the investor side, as well as help the project to commercialize more efficiently.
Dragon Den
Makumbe and Barker, the guests of Dragon Den, each gave their own advice.
Makumbe mainly talked about pricing and prospects, it is true that as a brand new product it is difficult to predict its cost, but uncontrollable cost may also be like some other ultra-new materials such as cannabis clothing because of the high price it is difficult to popularize and ultimately difficult to realize the original purpose of the creation. This is indeed a point to be aware of, but I always believe that fur material as a symbolic material, it is easier to be accepted by the consumers than the premium price of other materials, because it is a precious fabric in the first place. As for Makumbe’s concern about the difficulty of realization, I have to admit that this is a long lead time and full of uncertainty, but the professional team and the growing theoretical support have given me confidence in the final realization of bio-synthetic fur concept.
Barker was more critical of the process, advising me to be aware of the ethical risks of obtaining animal blood/hair samples during the process, which was an important reminder that as a project built on solving an existing ethical problem, it is important to avoid the creation of new ethical pain points. Therefore I need to communicate with the laboratory that more regulation and support is needed in animal experimentation to ensure the welfare of the animals as well as the transparency of the process.
Executive Summary
The traditional fur industry has been accused of killing too many animals for raw materials by humanitarians. From 2020, under the influence of COVID-19, there is a huge shortage of animal fur objectively. Moreover, increasing number of countries such as Norway and Ireland introduce fur farming bans that are accelerating the demise of the traditional fur industry.
Therefore, artificial fur is still the most effective way to maintain the fur industry’s sustainable development. However, there are some obvious disadvantages of artificial fur. First, there is still a huge gap between current products and animal fur regarding biological properties, just like its warmth retention and breath-ability. Second, the current production of artificial fur is mainly made of fossil materials, which have a huge impact on environmental pollution due to their non-degradable and biologically harmful nature. These two key sticking points have contributed to the slow growth of artificial fur industry: in 2020, artificial fur exports decreased by -25.8% compared with 2019, while July of the same year, artificial fur price per ton dropped by -85.2% against the previous month(Gitnux 2023).
Hence, bio-synthetic fur development will focus on environmental protection, bionic performance, developing its recyclable and biodegradable characteristics. As a pioneering raw material for garments, it will address the main existing pain points of the fur industry and rekindle customer interest in this oldest garment materials.
Key point
- The fur industry is in urgent need of change due to environmental and animal protection concerns.
- We are using iPSCs & Immortalized Cell Line technology to create a revolutionary new product: Bio-synthetic Fur.
- Bio-synthetic Fur is an alternative to both genuine and faux fur.
- This new ecological and ethical product will address the main existing ‘pain points’ of the fur industry, and rekindle customer interest in this oldest garment material.