CASE STUDY
Helping a Market Leader Make the Right Call—Before Spending $5M
A $2.4B manufacturing leader was preparing to launch an innovative product in a saturated category. With $5 million budgeted, the executive team needed clarity—not confirmation—before moving forward.
WHY PATHBuilt for the Complexities of Growth
PATH has over four decades of experience helping growth-focused companies reduce risk and increase impact through customer insight. We specialize in aligning product, strategy, and sales teams around what the market actually wants - before investments are made and momentum builds in the wrong direction.
For companies facing high-stakes innovation decisions, our Competitive Advantage System offers three modular programs - Voice, View, and Validate - to help align teams, clarify decisions, and protect growth trajectories.
THE CHALLENGEHigh-Stakes Innovation in a Low-Growth Segment
Leadership faced a critical crossroads:
“Are we solving a real customer problem—or chasing something the market isn’t asking for?”
Despite internal momentum, signals of fatigue, unclear demand, and pricing confusion suggested potential risk. The team needed clarity around:
Whether meaningful appetite for innovation actually existed
Which segments - if any - would adopt early
How to measure risk and ROI with confidence?
Sales, Product, and Strategy needed to align around a single truth:
Is this product worth pursuing?
OUR ROLEValidation for Confidence, Not Confirmation
PATH applied its Competitive Advantage System - built to de-risk high-stakes decisions by aligning internal teams with external market truth. This wasn’t about pushing forward; it was about knowing when not to.
Validate
Solution
APPROACHEvidence, Not Assumptions
We applied a layered research model to expose risk early, align teams around truth, and inform confident decision-making.
Stakeholder Alignment
Synthesized input from Sales, Product, and Strategy to clarify assumptions and unify priorities.
Secondary Research
Evaluated macroeconomic forces, saturation points, and competitive threats to pressure-test internal assumptions.
Customer Focus Groups
Facilitated direct feedback from top-tier accounts to assess urgency, demand, and pricing clarity.
National Survey
Captured statistically valid insights on market readiness, appeal, and price sensitivity.
THE BREAKTHROUGHResearch revealed the market wasn’t ready - and helped pivot attention to a more viable segment.
OUTCOMEImpact Highlights
$5M Investment Avoided
Prevented a likely underperforming launch.
Strategic Pivot
Opened stronger opportunities in adjacent segments.
Smarter Innovation
Set a new internal standard for product validation.
Market Readiness
Research showed the market wasn’t ready - saving millions in misaligned spend
Unmet Category Needs
Insights uncovered unmet needs in a nearby category
New Standards
Product validation became a new standard for decision-making
PATH helped us avoid a costly mistake and, more importantly, shifted how we think about innovation. Their insights changed the conversation in our boardroom.
“
VP of Strategy, National Manufacturer
CONNECTWant to Increase the Success Rate of Your Product Investments?
PATH helps companies validate high-stakes decisions - before time and money are on the line.