Start where the chemical ends up
When I took my first full-time role at BASF as a Market Segment Manager for Architectural Coatings, I was completely clueless about the subject matter. My job was to market acrylic polymers, colorants, and formulation additives into paint.
Starting a new role with no chemistry background, I definitely didn’t look at any of the following first:
The science
Our products
Our business fundamentals
Our customers
What an idiot, you might think. If you didn’t think about these main elements of the business, how did you survive?
I may not be a chemist, but I know markets. And the most important place to start in understanding a chemical or science-based business is market context.
As chemical leaders, individual contributors, or founders, it’s easy to get very caught up in our specific contribution. In the case of that first role, we had a new polymer for paint + primer products. We wanted to talk about how great it was at stain resistance, sell it to the (then) big 4 paint manufacturers, and eke out a profit on this innovation in a commodity land.
The first thing I recognized was, great, this product might work in paint and it might be better. But what IS the overall situation for paint? And how could that decide our success (or failure)?
There’s a halo that operates around the market for science. It consists of factors like consumer behavior, regulation, retailers…entities we often overlook as we focus on the science, our competitors, and our customers.
In this case - and it also applies to science that ends up in any consumer markets - understanding the end user was the most important, foundational step. I caught a lot of flack in the beginning for spending my time on consumers. They don’t know what a polymer is and they don’t buy it, so why did they matter?
They mattered because their decisions, wants, needs, what they read, the social media influencers they view, their financial situations, and so on…all of that rolled into a purchase decision. And that purchase decision directly impacts paint suppliers – and their decision to work with and buy from us.
How did I go about researching consumers?
Walk store aisles: I frequented the paint section at Lowes, Home Depot, and Benjamin Moore to observe customer behavior and experience.
I used the product myself. It never hurts to form your own opinion even if you’re a sample size of one.
I read consumer-friendly publications like HGTV magazine and popular design websites.
I perused social media to look for comments, both good and bad, about paint and the painting experience.
It was a short survey process that helped me establish a baseline understanding of what my customers’ marketing groups were thinking about daily. It then became the underpinning of my marketing strategy and plan.
Lots of colleagues thought it was irrelevant, but here are some outcomes that my initial research led to:
Joined marketers from my customers in an industry group to analyze sales data. These networking connections paid off in joint projects down the line.
Created our own R&D projects to ideate and pursue technical ideas we saw originating from persistent consumer challenges.
Educated the team about consumer needs, got them thinking through a consumer lens, and ultimately strengthened our bonds and shared goals.
I eventually got around to the science, the business, and our customers. Understanding my product’s end destination, however, was the best foundation I could’ve built. Regardless of your chemical’s or material’s end use, understanding its final destination is the best way to first set yourself up to be successful in that market.
