A new legislation has been introduced by the Dutch government, requiring the outdoor units of ACs and heat pumps to produce no more than 40 dB at your parcel border. In many cases, sound reduction is needed to meet this new requirement.

To reduce this noise, a sound reducing enclosure can be placed over the unit. Van Cappellen Sound Solutions has developed such a product called the Brockx. This company offers products for noise and vibration control. At the core of their business however, the company provides services in the maritime sector. They measure, model and predict noise and vibrations for luxury yachts. Their expertise in the acoustic area, combined with their innovativeness and the new development of the sound legislation has led to the development of the Brockx.

The problem that this project tries to solve, is how to continue with this product. No strategy has been developed yet, and not much is known about the market or how to conduct marketing. Van Cappellen can be classified as a small-medium company (SME), which also needs to be taken into account. To solve these problems, a structure has been created which is shaped by three chapters: SME marketing, 4C-analysis & marketing mix.

The chapter SME Marketing is intended to find out whether the situation of Van Cappellen is unique, what characterises small companies such as Van Cappellen, and how marketing is conducted. Through literature research and primary research it was found that similar situations are recognised among other SMEs. Three themes were also found which characterises SME marketing: networking, customer engagement & digital marketing.

The 4C-analysis consists of competition, company, context and consumers. The main conclusions are that the Brockx can differentiate from its competitors by being the enclosure that is of high quality while offering the perfect balance between sound reduction and size and weight. Next, the company should use its reputation in creating a brand image, to differentiate among other acoustic companies. Context factors such as the growing market of ACs and heat pumps and the sound legislation indicate that the market for sound reducing enclosures will increase. Finally qualitative and quantitative research has been conducted to find out what consumers find important. Selling the Brockx in cooperation with a wholesaler is considered the most viable option, as they have all the required logistical resources. Consumers' attitudes towards the Brockx are positive, as it provides the most sought after benefits. With this information a market positioning has been determined.

Continuing with these findings, the marketing mix is determined by filling in the 4P’s: product, price, place & promotion. The ‘product’ chapter describes the Brockx in more detail. Manufacturing the Brockx can be done in the Netherlands first, and later in Central Europe as this will be cheaper. The price of the Brockx is determined through a competition-oriented method. The place of the Brockx is in the Netherlands, and made available through channels of a wholesaler. For the promotion, offline and online marketing methods have been proposed, together with an implementation plan.

The Dutch agricultural sector needed to increase its production over the years. Production increased as a result of new technologies, growing amounts of pesticides, and government policies. Although these changes were fruitful, it is currently provoking environmental concerns. This is causing pressure for farmers to be more sustainable in the last few years. Therefore, farmers are embracing technology to produce more efficiently and sustainably. To increase sustainability, farmers need other organizations who help them with achieving more sustainable production. To make the biggest sustainable impact, all stakeholders of the supply chain need to collaborate to make the sector more sustainable. Therefore, it’s needed to create an ecosystem for continual innovation, to eventually be a more sustainable sector. IoT can be applied to automate the horticultural processes, which leads to reduced usage of resources, such as water, electricity, and pesticides, to increase the sustainability potential. Monitoring Service is developed to automatically fulfill the need of the crops. To be able to develop this solution, an ecosystem is needed to realize the Monitoring Service. The most important partner is a current horticultural technology supplier. This partnership has the benefits to easily enter the horticultural market, create more market knowledge, and makes it easy to contact the first prospects. Within the ecosystem, KPN provides the connectivity to connect all technologies with the platform. Besides the connectivity, KPN also sells its service as data safe. This data safe is a service that guaranteed the safety of the data, which keeps the data collected within the ecosystem.

An essential step on the way to a circular economy is utilizing recycled materials for new products. Even though the use of recycled plastic has been increasing for the past decades, electronic products have been largely overlooked in this context. Currently, there are no design strategies on how to use recycled plastic in electronic products. Therefore, this master thesis aims at investigating consumers’ perception of recycled plastic, and based on the findings, create recommendations for designers on how to implement the material in their products. According to the aim, the following research question was developed: How can a designer stimulate a consumer to opt for an electronic device made from recycled plastic? In a first step, the available literature on sustainable behaviour, the factors influencing the behaviour-intention gap as well as existing findings on the overall perception of recycled plastic were reviewed. Additionally, consumers of Generation Z, who have been deemed to have strong, pre-existing environmental values, were determined as the focus group of this study. An analysis of e-products on the market provided information on how the share of recycled plastic is currently communicated. These different communication strategies were subsequently investigated through qualitative interviews. Seven participants were interviewed as to how different product aesthetics and communication strategies influence their perception of the product in question. Insights from these interviews yielded four clusters: aesthetics, trust, sustainability, and quality. Together with the findings from literature, these research outcomes provided 20 insights into the consumer perception of recycled plastic in electronic products, thus concluding the research phase of this project. The ideation phase commenced with brainstorming sessions on the detected insights. Eight design students participated and generated over 300 as to how the underlying research insights could be applied in practice. The majority regarded the product directly, but other ideas were related to a product’s “surrounding”, such as promotion of the product, its price or place of purchase. In an iterative process, these ideas were transformed into 10 product-related design recommendations and 8 additional, price-, place-, promotion-related recommendations. The total framework of insights generated throughout the research process can support designers in creating well-perceived e-products from recycled plastic. The three distinct types of information are relevant in different phases of the design process: • The 20 key insights may be seen as an enriching source of background information for designers, who are getting started on a project and are yet to build their knowledge on the overall topic. • The 10 recommendations provided may be used in the case, where a designer needs concrete tips and action points for developing a product’s design. • The 8 additional recommendations can be valuable when the design of a device is already finalized, yet it should still be enhanced in terms of consumer perception. To transfer this study’s research findings and make them readily available for product designers, a website was deemed to be most suitable means of presentation. This format allows for a structured displaying of the previously mentioned findings and recommendation categories.

This graduation project researched how the consumer acceptance of products made of recycled plastic could be enhanced. It provided a great understanding of how products made of recycled plastic are perceived by consumers. Through the process of a pressure cooker, literature review and qualitative user research resulted in eight design recommendations: Inform about product detail, make it tangible, make it attractive, make it fun, create social influence, stimulate try-out, stimulate familiarity, and build trust. These design recommendations were translated in a roadmap for the specific case of the municipality of Almere and Save Plastics, both key partners of the TRANSFORM-CE project of which this graduation project is part. The roadmap provides them with a detailed process on how they can enhance the consumer acceptance of products made of recycled plastic and grow into leaders in the transition movement towards recycled plastic as the standard norm for production by making the benefits of products made of recycled plastic tangible in a fun, informative experience for people. They will be the living example of a circular municipal plastic waste stream.

This thesis makes a contribution to Goal 12, ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, and goal 13, take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by all United Nations Member States. By enhancing the consumption of products made of recycled plastic, the production of virgin plastic is limited, reducing the impact on the environment. Hopefully, it will make the world a better place!