CamMcD Technologies,

12th Avenue, New York City, NY

10112

TO: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

SEBASTIAN MORGERNSTERN

FROM: CAMERON SUTTON, PROJECT MANAGER & RESEARCH

ANALYST
MCDANIEL TODD, PROJECT MATERIALS COORDINATOR

SUBJECT: PROPOSAL FOR STIGMA FREE HEARING AIDS

DATE: MARCH 22, 2021

CC: MS. MCDONALD

Purpose

The purpose of this proposal is to request approval to research and test the Eargo Max
hearing aid in order to determine if this product will bring more profit to the company by
increasing the company’s profits per year and starting the process to eliminate the harsh
stigma that surrounds people wearing hearing aids.

Introduction

On March 22, 2021, Sebastian Morgernstern, Chief Executive Officer of CamMcD

Technologies asked us to develop a way to bring more revenue to the company and fix
the displeasing design and harsh stigma of our company’s hearing aids, by researching
and testing the Eargo Max hearing aid.

Presently, CamMcD Technologies is one of the world’s leading companies in hearing

aids. CamMcD Technologies designs and owns hearing aids for the use of the public.
Recently, the purchase of our hearing aids and customer satisfaction have declined
severely, causing problems for CamMcD Technologies. The big issue is that many of our
consumers have stopped purchasing our hearing aids because of the design and the
standard stigma that surrounds people who wear hearing aids. In 2019, over 4 million
hearing aids were sold (Strom 1). Many of these people are subject to daily prejudice

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 because they are wearing a hearing aid. The many common phrases that people with
hearing aids hear often are that "they are old", "less intelligent", "mentally ill", or "they
only hear what they want to hear" (Hear It 1). People tend to buy hearing aids, but they
sometimes choose not to wear them (McCormack and Fortum 1). There are many
reasons why people choose not to wear them. One reason is that their expectations of the
hearing aid is too high. When those expectations are not met, people stop using the
technology all together (Betkowski 15). Another reason is that people feel that wearing
hearing aids make them look old and that no one can understand what it feels like to
need a hearing aid (Betkowski 19). When people don’t take advantage of hearing aids,
they miss out on connecting with other people (Betkowski 10). Experiencing hearing
loss and having no one to connect to can lead to depression (Burry 1). This is not only a
problem for our company, but not wearing hearing aids is hurting our society’s mental
health as a whole and depression is a big issue that could impact the lives of our
customers.

CamMcD Technologies has been impacted by the depression and unsatisfied reviews by
our customers in all areas of the company, translating into loss of profit. There are very
few aestically pleasing and stigma free hearing aids on the market than generic hearing
aids, which means less people use and buy from our company. Just testing the market for
aesthetically pleasing and stigma free hearing aids will prove it’s worth the time and
investment. CamMcD Technologies will have to spend more money annually, by hiring
and training new employees, as well as purchasing and developing new equipment in
order to make advances and upgrades to the hearing aids in the future. These new hearing
aids could decide the future of the company, with it expanding further like we have
proposed. If our sales continue the trend they have shown, the company would be
bankrupt in a couple of years.This does not only hurt the head of the company but all the
employees in it. We would have to fire employees or reduce their paycheck. Another way
that would affect our employees is that their talents and skills would be wasted designing
generic hearing aids that are not needed because no one buys them.

Proposed Tasks

With Mr. Morgernstern’s approval, we would like to complete the following tasks to help
determine how to test and bring some more revenue to CamMcD Technologies.

Task 1: Contact hearing aid companies and manufacturers about their opinion on the
Eargo Max hearing aid

By contacting companies that produce and manufacture hearing aids, we will gain a
better understanding on how this product will boost our company’s sales and improve
our customer satisfaction rates. Companies such as Beltone who produce hearing aids
can provide us with valuable information on hearing aids in North America. The reason
behind this is that Beltone has a strong retail presence in North America (Beltone 1).
Hearing aid manufacturers can also help our research by answering our company’s

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 questions on what materials are needed to manufacture the hearing aids and how much
it would cost to manufacture them. There are many questions CamMcD has for the
hearing aid manufacturers. Some of the questions are how much will it cost to
manufacture hearing aids, how long will it take for hearing aids to be ready to release to
the public, etc.

Task 2: Survey teams of experts on their opinion of the Eargo Max hearing aid

One of our biggest priorities at CamMcD Technologies is making sure our employees
are safe and happy. In order to achieve this, we will interview a wide variety of experts
including but not limited to: audiologist, acoustician, electronics engineer, mechanical
engineer, industrial designer, algorithm programmer and product manager (Jespersen 1).
These surveys will include questions concerning their knowledge of the information
included in our proposal, experience with the technology, the things they have seen
completing similar projects and how CamMcD Technologies can make our future
employees experience the best employment they have ever received.

Task 3: Interview people on the stigma behind hearing aids

CamMcD Technologies will be asking people that wear and don’t wear hearing aids to
describe the stigma that hearing aids present. We want the input of people who wear
hearing aids to paint the picture of what it is like to wear them everyday. In addition,
we want the input of people who don’t wear hearing aids to give a better idea of how
they perceive people with hearing aids.

Task 4: Interview people who don’t wear hearing aids to see if they would buy the
Eargo Max hearing aid

CamMcD Technologies will be asking people who don’t wear hearing aids because of
stigma if they would consider buying the Eargo Max. During the interview, we will try
to gather information on why they choose not to wear hearing aids. Also during the
interview, we will present to the people all of the benefits of the Eargo Max hearing aid
and how the design helps eliminate the stigma behind hearing aids.

Task 5: Contact video editing companies about creating advertisements to help

eradicate the stigma of hearing aids

CamMcD Technologies will be contacting video editing companies in order to help create
infomercials or advertisements that show people with hearing aids are just like everybody
else and should not be treated differently. Companies such as Ruckus can provide us with
excellent video commercials conveying our message. Ruckus is a video editing company
based in New York and “it mainly focuses on creating and editing videos from a marketing
perspective that can help its clients to brand and campaign their products/services”
(Wadhwa 5). We will want to make infomercials that are applicable to every type of person
in the world. This includes age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc.

Task 6: Understand how these hearing aids will work

In order to fully comprehend and produce the Eargo Max hearing aid, we must be well
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prepared. CamMcD Technologies will do extensive research on how to correctly and
safely make the design of the hearing aid. If necessary, we will contact other organizations
or companies that have a similar idea to see if they can give us any tips or guidance that
they deem helpful.

Task 7: Research marketing companies that would advertise our product correctly

CamMcD Technologies will be reaching out to various marketing companies to correctly

market our product the way we want it. Many advertisements around the world do not
contribute to the process of eliminating the stigma around hearing aids. They still use very
old cliches or offensive stereotypes. CamMcD Technologies wants to do the exact opposite.
We want to market the Eargo Max as a hearing aid meant for every type of person on the
planet. We want our infomercials to show that wearing hearing aids isn’t embarrassing or
shameful but something to be encouraged. We want every person wearing a hearing aid to
feel comfortable out in public. In addition to marketing by infomercials, we also want to
market by creating posters and waiting room materials since it is also effective in getting
attention (Oliver et al. 30).

Schedule

Figure 1.0 shows the tasks we have proposed to complete for this project

Tasks Completion of tasks (by Days)

Task 1- Contact hearing aid

companies and manufacturers Figur e 1.0
about their opinion on the
Eargo Max hearing aid ● ● ●

Task 2- Survey teams of exerts

on their opinion on the Eargo
Max hearing aid
● ●

Task 3- Interview people on

the stigma behind hearing aids
●

Task 4- Interview people who

don’t wear hearing aids to see
if they would buy the Eargo
Max hearing aid
● ●

Task 5- Contact video editing

companies about creating ● ● ●
advertisements to help

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eradicate the stigma of hearing
aids

Task 6- Understand how these

hearing aids will work ● ● ●

Task 7- Research
marketing companies that ● ● ● ● ●
would advertise our
product correctly

Task 8 - Prepare Report

● ●

10 15 24 26 6 12

May June

Budget

Personnel: $ 800,000.00

Laboratory Supplies
$ 5,000.00

Computer Supplies
$ 1,500.00

Computers
$ 8,750.00

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 Equipment
$ 5,000.00

Marketing
$ 2,000,000

Video Editing $ 1,000,000

Travel $ 20,250.00

- Airfare $ 13,500.00

- Hotel and per diem $ 6,750.00

expenses

Total Direct Costs $ 3,840,500.00

Experience

With the detrimental view associated with hearing aids in this time frame of the 21st century,
the lack of innovation in this sector has been little to none except with small sudden changes
such as bluetooth. This mind blowing spectrum of technology has been limited. As a result of
that, the team at CamMcD Technologies is going full throttle into research and development.
One of the leading experts in this field, Mr. Sutton, a business analyst and engineer, is fully
indulged in the research and technology, in which this quantum leap of data collection,
sleakness, affordability and comfort will all play a major role in our final product. Assisting
Mr. Sutton will be Mr. Todd, a manufacturing engineer and sales representative, who plays a
major role in building customer relationships and who also oversees the manfucturing
process. As these two forces join, the company is projected to sell over two million units in
the first year of this product’s launch.

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 Works Cited

“Beltone Hearing AIDS: MODELS, Features, Prices, and Reviews.” Retrieved April 01,

2021,

https://www.hearingtracker.com/hearing-aids/beltone#:~:text=Beltone%20is%20a%2

0leading%20global,top%20five%20hearing%20aid%20manufacturers.

Betkowski, Bev. “Why Most People with Hearing Loss Don't Use Hearing Aids.” Medical

Xpress - Medical Research Advances and Health News, Medical Xpress, 22 Aug.

2018, medicalxpress.com/news/2018-08-people-loss-dont-aids.html.

Burry, Madeleine. “What's the Connection Between Depression and Untreated Hearing

Loss?” 21 September 2020,

https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/52437-The-complex-link-between-depression

-and-hearing-loss

Hear It. “Stigma about Hearing Loss.” 1999, www.hear-it.org/stigma-about-hearing-loss.

Jespersen, Charlotte.“How It's Made: The Development of a Hearing Aid.”, August 20,

2020, https://gnresoundblog.com/2014/05/28/the-development-of-a-hearing-aid/.

Retrieved April 03, 2021,

McCormack, Abby, and Heather Fortnum. “Why Do People Fitted with Hearing Aids Not

Wear Them?.” International Journal of Audiology vol. 52,5 (2013): 360-8.

doi:10.3109/14992027.2013.769066

Sheena D, Oliver M, et al. “Attracting First-Time Users: An Insight-Based Marketing

Approach”, January 2, 2012, Retrieved April 05, 2021,

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 https://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/attracting-first-time-users-insight-789

Strom, Karl. Hearing Aid Unit Sales Increase By 6.5% in 2019. Hearing Review, 2020

January 14,

https://www.hearingreview.com/inside-hearing/industry-news/hearing-aid-unit-sales-i

ncreased-by-6-5-in-2019#:~:text=Hearing%20aid%20unit%20sales%20in,Industries

%20Association%2C%20Washington%2C%20DC. Accessed March 29, 2021.

Wadhwa, D.“Top Video Editing Companies You Need to Know About.” Retrieved April 05,

2021, from https://www.webdew.com/blog/top-video-editing-companies