Every building product brand seeks to launch an innovation so successful… that audiences can’t remember when it was ever new.
The self-cleaning oven. Ice and water in the refrigerator door. The microwave mounted over the range.
We don’t stop to think twice about any of them today.
Yet, every one started as an idea – the kitchen and bath channel – had not yet asked for.
For decades, GE Appliances leveraged first-of-a-kind ideas into new branded features and benefits. The self-cleaning oven arrived in 1963… after more than seven years of development. And over 100 patents just to make the technology safe.
The ice and water dispenser and the over-the-range microwave followed.
GE knew the invention was only half the job.
The greater opportunity… was convincing audiences to change.
To earn a place in America’s kitchens. Convince a skeptical trade. Move a cautious homeowner. And motivate a designer from “never seen it” into “can’t live without.”
Because no matter how groundbreaking the idea – no matter how real the problem it solves – Innovation doesn’t sell itself.
Innovation Is the Price of Admission for Building Products
Let’s be clear. Innovation matters now more than ever.
In a fragmented channel, it can be the opportunity – to differentiate a brand worth specifying — from one worth skipping.
In fact, a survey by Boston Consulting Group found roughly 79% of executives rank innovation among their top three priorities. The highest share in nearly a decade.
Innovation, after all, changes the way tasks are accomplished… which creates value.
In a product. A service. Or in an experience.
A challenger brand launches an innovation to earn a seat at the table. While an established brand leverages it to keep one. In either case – standing still – is the fastest way to watch growth slip to a competitor.
R&D is not the destination. The growth opportunity… is what must happen next.
The Uncomfortable Truth About New Products
Study after study over the past decade lands in the same place. As many as 80% of new B2B products never gain meaningful traction.
Read that again. Four out of five.
And here is what should stop every sales and marketing team cold. Failures are rarely about the technology. Of course, the product usually works.
Rather, the commercialization strategy… simply was not there.
The more innovative the product is, the harder it can be to introduce.
And for the channel to adopt.
There is a clearly defined, behavioral reason for this.
Novelty increases the mental load on an audience. More to process. More uncertainty… and greater internal justification demanded.
So, the instinct – to explain every impressive feature – makes the buyer more hesitant. Not less.
Our industry proves this with its own memory.
Carbon fiber was developed in the 1960s. It took the industry more than two decades to trust it in critical structures… because the consequences of getting it wrong were severe.
Early high-density polyethylene was launched as a superior resin – then triggered a customer exodus – when real-world flaws surfaced. It took two more years of work to win the market back.
“Successful commercialization isn’t about convincing people your product is better. It’s about helping every stakeholder in the buying journey become confident enough to make a change.”
– Mark Abbas, Senior Vice President, Client Success, Kleber & Associates
Architects, engineers, builders, contractors and dealers do not celebrate novelty. Instead, they reward proof. And they will default to what they already know and trust. That is, until we provide a compelling reason-to-believe.
Why Good Building Products Fail
When innovation stalls, it often traces back to a few recognized strategy gaps.
Weak product-market fit. The product was built on internal assumptions instead of validated needs. And when the market does not see it as essential… adoption never accelerates.
Poor differentiation. When the messaging sounds like everyone else’s, audiences will return to the familiar brand name. Even genuinely better products tend to get lost in the noise. A “me-too” position is a slow leak.
No real go-to-market strategy. A launch is an event – and potentially an experience – but not a strategy. Lasting demand takes coordinated, multi-channel engagement. And consistent follow-through.
Sales and marketing misalignment. When the two operate on separate tracks, the message drifts. And lead quality drops… resulting in opportunities falling through the funnel.
Underestimated switching costs. The buyer already has a supplier, a spec and a process. When value does not clearly – exceed the cost and risk of changing all three – audiences will stay put.
The common thread?
A marketplace does not reward the brand with the best technology.
It rewards the manufacturer that makes the best business case for changing.
How to Give Innovation a Fighting Chance
Good news. Every one of these is preventable with proactive commercialization planning.
Start with the job, not the feature. Understand the outcome an audience is seeking to achieve – and the pain points in that path – rather than leading with, what the solution does.
Quantify the whole value equation. Apply metrics to the economics… including the switching costs. Elevate an opportunity-to-change higher, than the reason to stay.
De-risk before you scale. Pressure-test proof-of-concept – positioning and the adoption barriers – early. Validation is how to replace a launch built on hope. With one empowered on evidence.
Speak to every seat at the table. Commercialization is never about convincing a single audience. It is aligning several buying journeys that each demand different proof, language and timing. One generic message can flatten breadth. Narrow focus and relevance beat a scattered approach.
Leverage credibility. New brands are unproven by definition. The editors, designers and trusted industry voices can accelerate belief far faster than shameless self-promotion. Third-party validation – often called earned media – does what a brochure will not. It lowers the perceived risk of changing.
Make the experience the proof. GE’s chief engineer put it plainly… the company is about solving pain points for consumers. The innovation and the experience of it must tell the same story.
One Last Thought
Companies spend years inventing an innovative product.
Then expect the product launch – to do the work – of commercialization.
It almost never does.
Commercialization is not better marketing. It is the discipline of moving innovation from invention to adoption.
It means translating innovation into a reason-to-believe… for each audience that touches the decision.
Across PR, content, thought leadership, digital and sales enablement. In one coordinated voice.
Exactly what a challenger mindset demands. And integral to why PR investment in our channel is climbing.
At Kleber & Associates, we have invested some four decades helping Building Product Brands align sales and marketing. Pressure-testing positioning before the spend. And developing the integrated strategy that carries an innovation to the audiences deciding its fate.
If your team is preparing to launch an innovation – or struggling to gain more adoption after an introduction – we would be happy to compare notes on where commercialization may be breaking down.
(404) 918-5700
