Prioritising the North American Opportunity For Two Advanced Chemical Technologies

The client was evaluating North America for two advanced crosslinking technologies, one established and one at a later stage of development. The opportunity was broad, spanning numerous potential applications, but commercial resources were finite.

The first challenge was therefore prioritisation. The company needed to narrow a long list of possible use cases into a focused set of applications where market size, technical fit and likelihood of adoption justified early investment.

At the same time, the client needed to understand US regulatory considerations and develop a route to market capable of combining direct customer coverage with small and medium-sized regional distributors. Its existing sales into the region largely flowed through overseas trading channels, giving it limited visibility of end customers and the local competitive landscape.

We designed the research around the decisions the client would ultimately need to make: where to compete, how to position the technologies and which partners could help build the market.

1. 01

   Application prioritisation

   We engaged experts across North American chemical markets to test potential applications and understand technical requirements, customer demand and adoption barriers. We then assessed the opportunity set according to factors including market size, technical fit and adoption likelihood.

2. 02

   Market and competitor analysis

   Secondary research across more than five North American databases was used to assess market volumes, competitive activity, customer feedback and pricing. We also used our network to access non-public intelligence on competitor positioning and market dynamics.

3. 03

   Distributor strategy

   We examined the regional distributor landscape and developed selection criteria covering technical sales capability, market reach and the ability to provide additional value beyond basic distribution. This created a more focused universe of potential partners.

4. 04

   Route-to-market planning

   We translated the findings into a phased commercial plan, helping the client determine how to allocate resources and sequence its North American expansion.

The client gained a ranked view of the applications with the strongest combination of commercial potential, technical suitability and likelihood of adoption. This replaced a broad opportunity set with a focused basis for investment and commercial development.

The work also established an ideal customer profile and ranked prospect universe, supported by competitor pricing, market-volume and supplier-relationship intelligence. A distributor scorecard and shortlist gave the client a practical starting point for building regional coverage.

The client moved from a broad opportunity set to a defined starting point, with a clear view of where to focus, who to approach and how to position the technologies.