Coffee Dispenser

Hamilton Beach Brew Station 12 Cup Coffee Maker

The Hamilton Beach Brew Station 12 Cup Coffee Maker is unique amongst coffee makers. This coffee maker has no carafe, instead the coffee is self contained within the unit and is released into your cup by pressing on a dispenser. A great idea it is, but Hamilton Beach needs to engineer this product as it failed ten days after we purchased one. Please continue reading for all the details.

Our Braun coffee maker served us well for over six years. Thousands of coffee potfuls later, it failed to work one morning and we knew it was time to shop for a new one. As we strolled the aisles of our local BJ’s we realized that Braun was not a brand that they carried. Nevertheless our attention was drawn to a unique looking product, the Hamilton Beach Brew Station 12 Cup Coffee Maker, and we soon carried it off and brought it home.

What is so special about this particular product? No carafe! Yes, coffee brews within the main unit and then is released into your cup by pressing on a dispenser, much like the type you find at some coffee stores. The advantage is obvious: you can get coffee with one hand while not worrying that you will break the carafe. An excellent idea!

This particular model holds standard sized coffee filters and has an internal warming tray to keep the coffee warm. Indeed, we felt that the unit kept coffee hotter longer than most units we had owned in the past. For several days we enjoyed hot, fresh brewed coffee and we believed that we made a wise decision in purchasing the product.

Our interest in the product was short-lived, however. One of the oddest features about the unit was the double push of the on/brew button to get the unit started. Much like the double click of your computer’s mouse to open a file, users must do the same thing to the round push button located on the front of the machine. No toggling on/off switch to deal with here!

Unfortunately, one recent morning the switch did not work. Sure, the light came on, but coffee was not dispensed. My wife and I redid the process at least a dozen times before we realized that the machine was not going to work. The water was in the unit, the coffee was seated properly in the filter, and the light switch came on. Still, no coffee was brewing.

In summation, the Hamilton Beach Brew Station 12 Cup Coffee Maker is an excellent idea, but the button is a bad idea. It would be better to replace the switch with something that works the first time and everytime thereafter. Fortunately for us we were able to return the item to BJ’s where we received a full cash refund. Hamilton Beach has a great idea, but their engineering leaves something to be desired.

About the Author

Dominic Milner is a well known cyber chef with over ten years experience in the catering industry. Learn how to cook today with his top collection of online free recipes! Whether you want to cook up a meal for the family or bake with the kids he has the recipes for you.

Proctor Silex 44301 BrewStation 10-Cup Dispensing Coffeemaker $47.99 Affordable BrewStation(TM) Technology for Coffee Drinkers Who Demand Great Taste and Ease of Use. Millions of coffee drinkers have enjoyed BrewStation(TM) brewed coffee. This new Proctor Silex(R) BrewStation(TM) Coffeemaker is the affordable alternative to the traditional coffeemaker providing fresh-tasting coffee cup after cup: The Proctor Silex(R) BrewStation(TM) Coffeemaker has signature one-ha…

ProctorSilex 42114 Single-Serve Pod Coffeemaker $24.99 Brews with pods or ground coffee. Pod holder fits all coffee & tea pods – even 2 pods at once. Permanent filter included for ground coffee. Dishwasher safe removable parts. “On” indicator light and automatic shutoff Model: 42114….

How to Write an Essay on Innovations in Marketing

Most people fail to come out with good custom essays not because they lack talent or brainpower but because they lack a reliable guideline. By following a few simple guidelines, you can score high marks in writing a custom essay/dissertation writing. Here is an essay on Innovations in Marketing.

Marketing of a product or a service centers round what are called 4Ps (Product, Price, Place and Promotion). Innovation is possible in each of these four Ps. A new packaging can change the look and feel of a product. An innovative pricing strategy might help bring in a new set of customers. A new venue of distribution like a chemist shop for consumer or a novel use of promotional tools can make a difference in the market. This article is about how innovation in 4Ps helped some companies make a mark in the Indian market.

Product-related Innovation

Sachet shampoo is a classic example of product innovation in the nineties. Sachet shampoo delivered a large pool of untapped consumers to the hair wash market through low unit price and convenience. A similar innovation helped the up gradation of an LCV (Light Commercial Vehicle). Tata Sierra is really Tata Mobile with a hard cover and a few modifications. This switch from b2b consumers (LCVs) to b2c consumers (cars) helped Tatas launch more upgraded versions like Indica later. Tanishq’s Karatmeter is an innovation that measures the purity of the gold. This information empowers consumers. Now they need not go by the claims of the jeweler. In a market dominated by central and window air conditioners, Carrier Aircon successfully carved a niche for itself through split air-conditioners. “Colorbank” which enables a consumer to chose the exact shade of color he or she wants is a big leap in the paints market. Spartek successfully sold the concept of floor tiles to the Indian consumer (Before that ceramic tiles were confined to bathrooms.) 100 c c vehicles dethroned scooters as the largest selling category of two wheelers thanks to their fuel efficiency and style. In a similar manner quartz watches are edging out mechanical watches. Thus there are several interesting illustrations of product innovation in the Indian market of 1990s.

Price-related Innovation

Nirma is usually seen as a pricing innovation but it is more than that. It was a success of pricing, communication and overall marketing strategy. Dr Reddy’s Labs skillfully used gaps in Indian patent laws to bring down the price of pharmaceutical products. Videocon for long used the protection of backward area manufacture to aggressively price its products. Bajaj’s “Boxer” promises a high mileage at an all too affordable price of Rs. 29,000. The success of Tata LCVs is largely attributed to their ability to price competitively. Though there are more successes in India on low price promise, there are some from the premium segment as well. By providing a lifestyle product Titan not only got a premium but also convinced consumers to buy multiple watches. Whisper and Pantene, despite their high unit price, have not lagged behind in market share.

Place-related Innovation

The word “place” is used here roughly to connote distribution. Paint companies have achieved real-time connectivity with their dealers through wide-area-networks. This helps them stock optimum quantities with the dealer. Several multinationals and Indian companies are making use of VSAT connections to reduce information gaps. Many companies use video vans loaded with stock to sell in rural areas. These vans go to melas and shandies and are used as promotion as well as distribution vehicles. This distribution vehicle is significantly contributing to rural sales. Gujarat Ambuja transported cement through ships to the Kerala market and tried to improve the reach of the brand. ATMs have revolutionized banking. Recent entrants like ICICI bank are investing in ATMs rather than brick-and-mortar branches. The Bombay tiffin carrier service is probably the best illustration of providing high “place utility”. The service delivers tiffin carriers from homes to offices. (Their service standards are supposed to be better than six-sigma, which means the probability of a tiffin carrier being delivered to the wrong address is less than 3 in a million).

Promotion-related Innovation

The promotional tools at the disposal of a marketing manager are typically advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing, public relations and Internet marketing. Onida (”devil”), Ujala (”just four drops”), Titan (”Mozart’s symphony”), Amul (”utterly butterly delicious”) have found a place for themselves through innovative communication. Tata coffee and tea have made a name through innovative event marketing (e.g., “walking” posters, huge coffee mug in front of the Bangalore Palace etc.). Cello thermal ware effectively used sales promotion to trigger high brand awareness (”When they ring up, if you say “Cello” instead of “Hello”, you get a gift”). Arun announced a scheme wherein ice cream is delivered free to your residence if you dial a number. Videocon used several innovative promotion schemes like “Money back Policy”, “Gold Coin scheme” etc., to increase market share. Madura Garments did an extensive direct marketing campaign with tailors for their sewing thread. Reader’s Digest successfully practiced direct marketing much before the word became fashionable in marketing lexicon. Maruti used Public Relations effectively by recalling a large number of defective cars from the market. Different organizations therefore, use different tools of promotion depending on their objectives.

Not all innovations work, however. Note that the sachet that worked in shampoos failed in toothpastes and talcs. In toothpastes, the provision of the dispenser to the sachet might help. In talc, however, sachets are unlikely to take off because freshness is lost once the sachet is opened. Detachable bristles for brushes did not work. Neither did coffee bags. Ruf-and-Tuf’s product innovation of jeans stitch kits though welcomed initially could not be sustained because tailors used the Ruf-and-Tuf label on spurious material. Though all innovations might not work in the market, it is important to keep trying.

There is another important observation to make. Most product innovations in the Indian market are incremental. They are not discontinuous innovations that mark a paradigm shift (e.g., email). Contrast this with what happens in the more competitive markets abroad. Gillette spends millions of dollars to upgrade its blades. Its Sensor-Excel was voted the product of the decade in 6 European countries. Sony repeatedly introduced path breaking products like Walkman, solid state tape recorder, Trinitron picture tube etc., and revolutionized entertainment. Multinationals spend a lot more money and effort on research than Indian companies. That is the key to bringing out great products. Thus, if Indian companies want to make a mark, not just in India, but globally as well they need to pursue discontinuous innovations. These can be brought about only through targeted and coordinated efforts in R&D. That, as Churchill said, might mean an epic struggle of “blood, sweat, toil and tears”.

The author is a custom essay writer at essayacademia.com. He has proved his expertise in custom essays and dissertation witting.

About the Author

Petro Philips is one of the senior staff writers at EssayAcademia. She has been working with the firm for over three years. She specialized in essay writing for college and university students. EssayAcademia provides you with professionally prepared free draft for your all academic writing needs. You need to place order for completed paper once you are satisfied with draft, for which you need to make no payment at all. To avail this unique service visit essayacademia now and place order for the professionally prepared free draft

Thermos Vacuum-Insulated 2-qt. Beverage Pot with Pump Dispenser $15.99 Glass vacuum insulated for maximum temperature retention, hot or cold. 360 swivel base allows you to redirect pour without lifting the pump pot. Easy lock top keeps lid secure and guards against spills. Convenient carrying handle. Easy to clean metallic f…

West Bend 33600 100-Cup Commercial Coffee Urn $119.67 Standing handsomely on its stay-cool base, this big coffeemaker is ideal for a buffet line, office, or any other situation where a lot of people drink a lot of coffee. It percolates up to 100 cups at a cup-a-minute rate and then automatically switches to keep-warm, serving-temperature mode. That’s when the light goes on and the spigot shows off its no-drip capacity, perfect for spotless cup-and-sa…