How we helped a nylon producer break market barriers with unbiased customer insights

The Challenge

Lack of broad market reach to validate value of innovative renewable nylons

A specialty chemical company developed nylons with renewable content, intending to increase their production capacity within the following 2-3 years. However, the company faced significant challenges in gauging the interest and value attributes of potential customers across a range of applications.

Although they had successfully confirmed interest in one specific application, their understanding of broader market opportunities was falling short. Limited access to target companies and difficulty identifying key players with active projects were hurting the commercialization of the material.

To address these challenges, the company partnered with SpecialChem to leverage our expertise and network to identify top applications for their renewable-content nylons. With SpecialChem’s extensive industry connections and market insights, the company aimed to gain a deeper understanding of customer needs and preferences, ultimately facilitating a more strategic and informed expansion of their production capacity.

SpecialChem Insight Solutions

4 to 6 months to assess the market potential and needs

To gather market feedback in a short timeline, we created unbranded material concepts (properties, benefits, usages, etc.) that we shared with our broad community via digital channels. Targeted professionals had the possibility to answer a first set of questions online then to connect with us for a deeper technical discussion.

We collected insights through online feedback, behavior analysis, promotion performances and phone interviews with carefully selected contacts. We built a detailed report based on the learnings with recommended next steps for the client.

The Results

In just four months, we effectively validated the value of renewable nylons. Here's what we accomplished:

• Engagement with over 600 targeted contacts:
  Over 600 contacts interacted with our dedicated material content, allowing us to run a detailed analysis of open rates, reads, and shares, providing initial insights into industry interest and application or geographical segmentation. 

• Capturing unbiased feedback of 70 key prospects:
  70 lead contacts from a diverse range of industries shared valuable feedback into their applications, challenges and needs. This provided a clear path for refining and aligning value proposition with the market.

• Conducting 27 in-depth interviews:
  Our connected and interviewed 27 professionals from various markets gain a thorough understanding of user requirements and expectations. This allowed us to identify users interested in collaborating and evaluating the technology and connect them with the supplier.
  
  
• Ranking the key technology benefits:
  Through the analysis of feedback gathered, exchanges with industry partners and analysis of latest industry trends, we ranked the most valued benefits of the technology, including:
  
  • Heat resistance
  • Mechanical properties
  • Dimensional stability
  • Low water absorption
    
    
• Understanding interest and demand:
  We analyzed the interest and demand for bio-based compounds in key regions. This included benchmarking applications where customers had unmet needs and helping the company position the technology against other high-performance materials.
  
  
• Validating key applications:
  Detailed discussions with users helped validate key applications within targeted industries such as mobility, industrial, and E&E sectors. This confirmation was crucial for the company’s strategic planning.
  
  
• Advancing market and technology certainty:
  The insights and connections we facilitated significantly advanced the company’s market and technology certainty. Within just a few months, they minimized risks and gained a clearer understanding of their market position—achievements that would have been unattainable otherwise in such a short timeframe.

These efforts provided the company with actionable insights and a strategic edge, positioning them for successful expansion and adoption of their renewable-content nylons.