Essays

BUS 082 Final Project

Oh looky here, I wrote a thing for my Intro to Business class. This is basically a glorified review, but I thought I'd share it anyway. The purpose of this final project was to research an item and write a paper including the date the item was made & who made it, the patent number of the item, and the location of where the item can be purchased. At the very least, I hope this can convince you to purchase a Loopy® because I think they're really cool.

Final Project: The Loopy® and LoopyCases® LLC

One of the most widespread tools that we use in everyday life is the smartphone. It does not matter the brand—Apple, Samsung, or Google—we use smartphones to connect us with the immediate people in our lives and even strangers around the world. However, over the past few years, these ever-essential items have become larger, more expensive, and easier to slip through our grasp. One family in Indiana, after facing a disastrous cracked screen right after upgrading to a brand-new phone, opted for a case. But the cases they found did not fit their needs—bulky cases that prevented damage but were expensive and impractical for everyday use. So instead, they asked themselves, "why drop it in the first place?" (LoopyCases®, "Everything About Loopy"). Their simple yet effective product—a phone case with a loop on the back titled the Loopy® makes a smartphone easier to use and impossible to drop.

The Loopy®, and its various predecessor prototypes, were developed by the Wangercyn family in Schererville, Indiana. The company, LoopyCases® LLC, and product were spearheaded by the eldest sons, JT and Jim Wangercyn, when they were still attending Purdue University and Indiana University respectively. Inspired by their father's handmade duct tape loop attached to his phone case, they developed and patented the technology for the product they sell today, along with the help of their youngest brother Joey who is currently a student at Purdue University (LoopyCases®, "About Us"). The Wangercyns patented the Loopy® in August 2015 (Wangercyn, et al, "FINGER LOOP . . ."). Soon after, they launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise capital for the release of their first patented cases. The motto for this campaign, and for the company to this day, is StoptheDrop®, easy one-handed use (of devices), and multi-grasp abilities (LoopyCases®, "Everything About Loopy"). Although LoopyCases® aims to pioneer "Proactive Protection" with their products, they did not skimp on actual phone case in their build. As of 2021, their website listings boast protection for up to eight-foot drops and additional resources detail their procedure for meeting and exceeding military drop-test standards ("Military Drop Test Information"). All this protection, and "Proactive Protection," have been bundled into a slim, sleek design. This, paired with the soft and fully adjustable loop, make the product comfortable to use compared to other phone cases (LoopyCases®, "About Us").

Another goal listed on the LoopyCases's® website is to "create the best case out there at a reasonable price" (LoopyCases®, "About Us"). The Loopy® is sold exclusively online. In fact, they warn potential customers to be wary of "cheap knockoffs" since their product is only sold through the LoopyCases's® official website (LoopyCases®, "Where can I buy a Loopy Case?"). As of 2021, LoopyCases® sells the Loopy® for Apple, Samsung, and Google phones supporting over fifty versions across the three brands. They also sell individual loops, tempered glass screen protectors, AirPod cases, charging cables, and face masks (which happen to match many of their Loopy® designs). The Loopy® Original cases retail for about thirty-nine dollars and include the case and a matching loop. They're available in over thirty designs, a third of which are their Loopy for a Cause™ cases. When these designs sell, a portion of the cost goes to the associated group. Along with the original case, LoopyCases® recently released the Loopy® Max which offers even more protection. This newer case retails forty-nine dollars, however, it has fewer design options and phone models available to consumers (exclusive to iPhones 11 Pro Max and older). Both the Loopy® Original and Loopy® Max fall within the average price range for phone cases—between twenty-four and fifty dollars ("Best Phone Cases of 2021"). Of course, they're on the pricier end of the spectrum for what one could argue as simple protection compared to other "full coverage" cases. Despite this, the Loopy® is marketed as a life-long product with a matching "Lifetime Guarantee" from the company (LoopyCases®, "Everything About Loopy"). With this, and the fantastic customer service if any complications were to arise, the price for either Loopy® case is fair.

Beyond the Wangercyns's firsthand experiences, it has become obvious in recent years that this is a product that people have been looking for. According to a New York Post article, a study of two thousand Americans showed that over half of them had anxiety over dropping their phone, and about a third of them had cracked their phone screen. Furthermore, seventy-six percent reported that "they'd be completely lost if their phone suddenly stopped working" (SWNS, "Americans drop their phones . . ."). Although there is no precise research on the impact on consumers and society, there is an obvious need. Additionally, LoopyCases® intends to stay true to their supporters by continuing to connect with them and improve their product (LoopyCases®, "About Us").

Currently, there is nothing that I can think of to improve LoopyCases's® base product functionality-wise. The only forms of advertising that I have personally seen are from social media. This is fine since it connects to their target audience: smartphone users. However, much of their informational and demonstration material on the LoopyCases® website dates to the original Kickstarter campaign. Although the product and functionality have not changed, it is obvious that they have not updated their resources in a while. Their presence on their social media (specifically Instagram) is much more current and features all their recent releases. I hope they continue this to their main website soon. In the next five to ten years, I believe that LoopyCases's® growth will be slow. As stated above, there is clearly a market for it. However, there are many other alternative cases and phone accessories to protect your smartphone and make it easier to hold such as the OtterBox® and PopSocket® case ("Best Phone Cases of 2021"). Additionally, as with all phone case companies, they are dependent on other products, in this case, smartphones. They are going to see some problems with the types of phones released recently, most notably, the Samsung Fold and Flip phones which are not compatible with their current style of cases. However, if LoopyCases® can keep up and adapt to the demands of the market, I believe they will go far.

Works Cited

"The Best Phone Cases of 2021." In Touch Weekly, 17 Sept. 2021, https://www.intouchweekly.com/posts/must-haves/the-best-phone-cases-of-2021/.

LoopyCases®. "About Us." LoopyCases®, https://www.loopycases.com/pages/aboutus.

LoopyCases®. "Everything About Loopy." LoopyCases®, https://www.loopycases.com/pages/everything-about-loopy.

LoopyCases®. "Where Can I Buy a Loopy Case?" LoopyCases®, https://www.loopycases.com/blogs/loopy-blog/where-can-i-buy-a-loopy-case.

Military Drop Test Information – Team Loopy. https://loopycases.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360059532691-Military-Drop-Test-Information.

Swns, SWNS. "Americans Drop Their Phones at Least Four Times a Week." New York Post, New York Post, 15 Nov. 2019, https://nypost.com/2019/11/15/americans-drop-their-phones-at-least-four-times-a-week/#.

Wangercyn, John T., et al. "FINGER LOOP FOR PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE CASE." Appft.uspto.gov, http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=3&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=Google.AANM.&s2=mischief&OS=AANM/Google+AND+mischief&RS=AANM/Google+AND+mischief.