Client description: PPE manufacturer

Practice area: Market Research and Analysis

Geographic scope: Germany

Industries involved: Automotive, Industrial Equipment, Metals, PPE.

Services applied: Voice of Customer, New Concept Testing

Business challenge: PPE manufacturer identified a new business opportunity for cooling hand protection in several industries. The client was interested in presenting a precept and conducting research to understand protection needs, path to purchase, PPE usage and satisfaction with current PPE.

Methodologies: 50 telephone in-depth interviews (IDIs) with pre-qualified buyers and users of PPE. Research was conducted on a hidden-identity basis.

The result: Client was delivered a complete report with insights on current PPE needs per work hazard & task, types of PPE used, trends in PPE usage by industry, performance of competitor products and user satisfaction level. Also delivered, was an assessment of the path to purchase, key decision makers and primary influencers.

Study indicated most participants were skeptical of precept, as similar PPE used in the past had not lived up to cool hand claims. For users, sweat abatement was clearly an unresolved issue but it was accepted as a minor inconvenience. In contrast, decision makers/influencers were concerned about worker productivity and obtaining PPE at the best cost. They would swap brands for cheaper products as long as they complied with mechanical/chemical protection specifications. Based on findings, client was advised not to proceed with product development.