Breaking Into a New Market: How an Exterior Building Products Company Discovered Its Next Big Opportunity

The Challenge: Declining Market Share & the Need for Innovation

An established exterior building products company was struggling to maintain market share as its flagship products aged and competitors gained ground. They needed to identify their next major revenue driver but lacked clear direction on where to innovate.

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The Solution: Engineerovation™ & Jobs-To-Be-Done for Offsite Construction

Traditional building product manufacturers had overlooked modular construction, considering it a niche market. However, based on my industry insights, I identified offsite manufacturing as a high-growth, underserved customer segment and proposed targeting the job of “protecting a building from water intrusion”—a critical unmet need.

Using qualitative JTBD & Engineerovation™ research, I:

• Conducted in-depth interviews and process observations inside modular factories.

• Uncovered nearly 50 specific, validated customer needs for moisture protection in a factory setting.

• Identified previously unknown pain points that had never been addressed by the industry.

 

The Results: A Blueprint for Industry-Changing Innovation

• Revealed multiple unmet needs that opened the door for entirely new-to-the-industry products.

• Positioned the client to lead in a rapidly growing market with innovations tailored specifically to modular construction.

• Provided a clear, data-backed innovation roadmap, de-risking R&D investments and increasing the likelihood of commercial success.

 

The Competitive Advantage: First-Mover Leadership in a High-Growth Market

By leveraging deep industry insight and customer-validated data, my client gained a head start in an untapped market segment, securing new revenue streams and long-term competitive advantage.