Durable Goods

Worthington Industries

Project Objectives

Worthington Industries is the manufacturing market leader for 20-pound propane cylinders used to fuel products like gas grills, fire pits, and outdoor heating lamps. They partnered with Insights In Marketing to plan a new product development strategy and to introduce marketing communications directly targeting consumers.

The Challenge

Define Product Uses by understanding consumer attitudes, needs and uses for 20 pound propane cylinders

Identify Consumers by defining market segment, customer profiles and shopping behavior of people who use propane cylinders

Understand Category Drivers to attract new consumers and drive product sales based on consumer needs, attitudes and uses for propane

Our Tools

  • Ethnographic Video
  • Online Surveys
  • Segmentation Research
  • Attitude & Usage (A&U)

Customized Approach

By blending qualitative and quantitative research to listen to the voice of consumers in the U.S. and Canada, Worthington gained actionable marketing insights:

Qualitative Research: Using in-home video we learned how consumers use propane cylinders and consumer focus groups in the U.S. and Canada enabled us to define questions for an online survey.

Quantitative Research: An online survey of North American consumers across the U.S. and Canada defined category drivers based upon consumer habits, needs, usage and attitudes about propane cylinders.

Segmentation Research identified a new target market in the durable goods category, and consumer profiles were created to optimize marketing and growth strategies.

An Attitude and Usage study (A&U) evaluated what the brand means to consumers, usage drivers and identified an opportunity for branding and messaging to emphasize fun experiences outdoorsy people enjoy while using propane — beyond grilling.

Key Insights

Brand Identity: There is a clear opportunity to create a brand that is meaningful and relevant to consumers

Product Uses: Understanding consumer needs, habits, and uses for propane is a springboard for innovation and new product development

Target Segment: Go-to-market strategies, branding, and communications resonate with more people when they echo the voice of the right consumers

Category Drivers: Learnings informed a direct-to-consumer strategy (DTC) in the durable consumer goods category to complement the clients’ existing business-to-business strategy (B2B) in the commercial propane category

The Results

Through our customized research approach, our client was able to:

  1. Understand consumer needs to innovate and develop new products
  2. Develop a go-to-market strategy, branding, and messaging echoing the consumer’s voice
  3. Drive growth with a new direct-to-consumer strategy in the durable consumer goods category, in addition to their market-leading business-to-business position.
Download Case Study

Blending attitude and usage studies with segmentation strategies cranks up the volume of the consumer's voice, creating a springboard for new product development and consumer-centric marketing.

- Caroline Roe, Director of Quantitative Services

Team members who worked on this project

Jackie Short

Director of Quantitative Research

jackie@iimchicago.com
847-853-0500
Connect

Meet Jackie