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Putting Our Research to Work

How many times have we as company representatives and as NIA members asked ourselves these questions?

1. Are we sure we "know" our customers and end users understand the true value of insulation?

2. Do we really know how they want to get information these days?

  • Are brochures still doing the trick?
  • Are they going more and more to the internet?
3. Does the NIA website have the information users outside the membership would find valuable?

4. How many kinds of decision makers are involved in a typical insulation project?

  • Do we need to communicate to each of them differently?
5. What messages encourage decision makers to really think about their insulation system?

6. What can we do as an association to raise the level of awareness of insulated systems?
During the 1999 Committee Days, the Marketing Outreach Subcommittee spent nearly 3 hours debating the issues and the answers. Despite the fact that the group was fairly confident in their opinions, they weren't certain that key decision makers would come to the same conclusions. So - the group recommended that a professional market research survey be conducted to ensure that the Foundation programs have the right focus, contain messages that will have an impact on various decision makers and be delivered in the medium that will command their attention.

In the Spring of 2000, the Allegheny Marketing Group, a market research company out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania completed nearly 250 phone interviews with decision makers that impact our business. Each were interviewed for the purpose of:

  • Determining the level of knowledge regarding the benefits of insulation systems.
  • Determining the relative importance of insulating or insulation projects to their job function.
  • Defining the marketing communication programs required to meet their information needs.
Two surveys were developed; one for individuals in the architect/engineer firms and one for individuals in industrial facilities. Table 1 shows the breakdown by industry segment. (Click graph for larger image.)

Research Highlights
The research verified that some of the activities we had already initiated are indeed what the marketplace needs. The research also provided insight into what is most commonly misunderstood about the cost-saving and payback benefits of an insulation system.

We now have a better understanding of what kinds of things our industry is competing with when an energy management or process improvement decision is being made. We hope to use this research to better direct our future communication activities. In the mean time, we thought you might be interested in some of the research highlights…

Respondents could give multiple answers here. Routine maintenance is the #1 reason for insulating - something which we already know. This tells us that we don't have to work too hard at communicating to the maintenance engineer. In the industrial sector, we should, instead, focus our efforts towards those charged with plant expansion projects and or reduction of energy consumption or emissions.

While 69% of the people surveyed said there were places in their plant that were not insulated, 77% of them said it was because it wasn't 'required'. As we all know, insulation has many benefits other that just to control heat loss or heat gain. This 77% represents an opportunity to re-educated on the many cost, energy and environmental saving benefits of insulation.

This information validates the role of the Foundation for Education, Training and Industry Advancement Program in the NIA organization. NIA has been membership-driven and focused for many years. The Foundation is about focusing outward and taking our message to the masses in the mechanical and industrial construction community. The ultimate objective is to become the primary information resource on insulation to industry.

The responses from the architect and engineer firms were also enlightening. As you can see from these responses, our messages to the architect and engineering firms should be quite different than those we direct to the facility audience.

The problem we have had in communicating with the architect and engineering firms in the past is that we weren't really sure what they needed help with and who they turned to to get the information from. While "insulation" isn't necessarily a 'high-interest' area for this segment, energy savings, payback and low maintenance are critical in their specification and design criteria. Our future messages about insulation must focus on the benefits of insulation in these critical areas.

One can see some trends in message delivery. The use of printed materials is still an important way of communicating, however, a growing number of architect and engineer firms want to receive information via the internet.
Market Research Conclusions and Observations
The complete report is quite extensive. We asked that the data be cut several ways to help us better understand what we can do differently to put 'insulation' on the radar screen of our customers, specifiers and end users. The following conclusions are what we're working with to begin our 2000 communication efforts:

  • Industrial facilities can benefit from the energy savings message. They generally do not equate insulation with 'dollar' savings or return on investment or reduction of emissions.

  • Routine maintenance/plant retrofitting vs. new capital expenditures is currently the major reason for insulating.

  • Maintenance & engineering departments are heavily involved in the decision to buy insulation.

  • Most have no idea how long the pay back period is regarding the purchase of insulation.

  • Time and cost are the primary reasons why there are under-insulated areas in a plant.

  • Cost-benefit of insulation needs to be better emphasized.

  • For A/E Firms, sales reps play an important role in transmitting information.

  • For plants, the contractor is the most important information link for getting information on insulation.

  • The internet is a growing source for providing information.

  • NIA is not known-nor is any other insulation association.

  • "Insulation Outlook" is not known as a magazine they read
So What's Next?
Already a small working group has thoroughly reviewed the report and prioritized activities based our overall Foundation objectives and budget. In addition, the Foundation has already spearheaded or contributed to activities like the Certified Insulation Energy Appraisal Program, new brochures, content development for the website and a new Insulation Outlook magazine all of which the research shows will help build awareness to key audiences. Additional initiatives will be discussed at the next full Marketing Outreach Committee meeting scheduled for this November at the Committee Days meeting. If you are a Foundation supporter and want to participate on the Marketing Outreach committee, please call Michele Jones at NIA for more information.