Client description: Global glove manufacturer

Practice area: Market Research and Analysis

Geographic scope: US

Industries involved: Personal protection equipment, aerospace and automobile manufacturing, metal fab

Services applied: Voice of the Customer (unmet needs study); competitive intelligence

Business challenge: Glove manufacturer needed to gain a baseline understanding of the marketplace in order to determine unmet needs and identify opportunities for and barriers to market entry

Methodologies: We conducted 6 focus groups (in Wichita, KS and Detroit, MI) with end-users and gatekeepers from automotive and aerospace companies. During these focus groups, we not only covered unmet needs, but also explored competitor gloves and introduced a new glove concept from the client.

The result: The client gained a deep understanding of the welding space in the aerospace and automobile manufacturing industries—with knowledge of glove usage/habits, unmet needs, purchase decision drivers, competitor glove benchmarking and feedback on their new glove concept. From this, the client was able to refine their new glove concept and marketing approach to more effectively define their value position and differentiation from the competition.