Did this Product Get the Market Research it Needed?

Here’s a new product Matt reviews. It’s an inflatable helmet for those who don’t wear one when riding their bikes. Is this a concern most riders have or did this product not get enough market research done beforehand?

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In this series, we look at new products on the market and see if they are worth investing in. Think along the lines of Shark Tank, but with no real money involved just for fun. 

Video Transcript:

Product Promo Video:

Bike accidents can easily happen. Every hour 10 accidents are reported in Germany, still the majority of people are not wearing helmets. Why? They’re too bulky, they’re annoying and not reusable. We at the Inflabi have a solution for this. We give you the flexibility in everyday life with our air technology. We change the image of cycling helmets.

** Music **

To solve this problem we are introducing a new technology. The hamlet is made off of air cushions which absorbs the energy in case of an impact. The cushions are made of a strong textile material which guarantees the safety. We are certified by European helmet safety standards. Our test shows that we have to four times safer than regulations. In case of an impact, you can reuse the helmet as long as it tails to the air. If you want to ride again you just inflate the helmet with a regular bike pump.

** More Music **

We are changing the perspective of helmets forever.

Matt’s Reaction:

So, Inflabi. Okay, I don’t love the name right off the bat. Inflabi, not maybe the best brand, but the concept. So the concept is a bike helmet that doesn’t take up the space of a regular helmet. I think the theory is that the reason people maybe aren’t wearing helmets is because helmets take up too much space. And they’re, I think, talking about people who maybe commute to work on their bikes, not people who ride on the weekend and do long bike rides where you don’t care about storing the helmet. This is for people who aren’t wearing a helmet because it takes up too much space. So I guess my thought on that is, I don’t know how much of the market of people who aren’t wearing helmets are only not wearing helmets because the helmet takes up too much space. 

If I was in their situation before I started all the effort to start a product like this, I would have done a survey of people, find 1000 people who ride bikes to work, and then how many of them wear helmets. And for all the people who mark, no, I don’t regularly wear a helmet, then ask, why don’t you regularly wear a helmet? My suspicion is a lot of people would answer stuff like, I don’t want to mess up my hair. Helmets are dorky. it’s a short ride. I’m not worried about my safety. I don’t think a helmet is going to make a difference if I get hit by a car, I’m dead anyway. And then somewhere on that list might have been people who said, well, I would wear a helmet, but I don’t have anywhere to put it when I get to work because it kind of takes up a lot of space. Those are the only people on that list that are going to be convinced to go from not wearing a helmet to wearing a helmet because of this solution. 

And then you have to find that little slice of the market that applies and make them aware of the option. And then they have to decide that, okay, this is a good solution. That solves the problem. That’s the only reason I’m not wearing a helmet on my bike commute to work. I have a feeling. I’m sure they’ll sell some, but I don’t think it’s going to change the face of people not wearing helmets and whatever their stat was, two out of three people or whatever that don’t wear helmets. I don’t think that most of those people aren’t wearing a helmet just because there’s not an inflatable option. And now that there will be, they’re going to have hundreds of thousands of people, or millions of people, whatever it is, suddenly wearing helmets. So it’s one of those situations where somebody invents a product because of a need that they might think is important. But when you look at the overall reason that people aren’t doing the thing that you’re trying to solve for, it’s not actually because of the reason you’re solving. And a market research survey might have told them that if they’d done one ahead of time. And maybe they would have revised their plans, maybe not. Maybe this was something they wanted to do even if nobody bought it, or even if not that many people bought it. But I don’t see this being a huge game-changer in the helmet market.