Optical Distortion Case Summary

Optical Distortion, Inc (ODI) is a company that has developed special contact lenses to harmful impact the eyesight of egg-laying chickens. The reduced vision from the contact lenses helps preserve the life of chickens, increase the productivity of egg laying and reduce costs for farmers using the lenses for their flocks. At the end of 1974, ODI’s owners and management were finalizing a strategic marketing plan to introduce the lenses commercially early in 1975 and work towards nationwide penetration within 5 years.
The poultry and egg production industry began as a form of family barnyards and backyards. Innovations in the housing and care for egg laying hens lead to the consolidation of commercial egg laying farms from over 5.8 million in 1935 to only 471,284 in 1969. The trend of
Compatibility – This is the degree where the new product matches the values and experiences of the consumers. There would be a relatively small cost to retrain the debeaking crews to insert the contact lenses, probably not enough to discourage the adoption of the lenses itself. The biggest problem facing the adoption of the lenses is that the thought of buying contact lenses for chickens seems ridiculous to most people, and more so to the farmers raising them. 3. Complexity – The degree to which the new product is difficult to understand or use. As identified above, the idea of chickens wearing contact lenses would pose a serious problem for people understanding the reason why. Most farmers are used to a simple way of life and doing things their way. This will be lessened the larger the farm is and can be reduced even more if ODI can provide technical support and training. 4. Divisibility – The degree to which the new product can be tried on a limited basis. The lenses have a very high divisibility as farmers can select as large or small target population of chickens to test the lenses on. This is very attractive because they can try them out with minimal