CASE STUDY
Helping a Market Leader Make the Right Call - Avoiding a Bad $5M Investment
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.
OUTCOMEImpact Highlights
$5M Investment Avoided
Research validated there was no product market fit and prevented an underperforming launch.
Strategic Pivot
Identified stronger opportunities in adjacent customer segments.
Smarter Innovation
Set a new internal standard for developing an innovation product pipeline.
Market Readiness
Research showed what needed to happen in the market for customers to be ready.
Unmet Category Needs
Insights uncovered unmet needs in a nearby product 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
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.
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.