Future Ready Business students work on the market launch of New Circle’s biobased adhesive
Introducing an innovative, biobased product to the construction industry takes more than just a good product. The market consists of different players, diverse interests and complex decision-making processes. This prompted New Circle to work with students from the Future Ready Business programme at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences to investigate how its biobased adhesive can be positioned effectively within these dynamics.
The professional product does not focus on quick fixes, but on understanding the market, the mechanisms at work within it and the way in which innovation can actually take hold in practice.
Research as the foundation for strategy
The students used the Design Based Research methodology, in which analysis and design continually reinforce each other. Literature research, market exploration and interviews with stakeholders made it clear that the construction sector is not a homogeneous market, but an ecosystem of parties that each view innovation from their own role and responsibilities.
Architects, property developers and contractors operate in different phases of the construction process and each apply their own decision-making criteria. This layering makes market launches complex, especially when it comes to circular and biobased materials that are not yet a given within existing working methods.
The research brought these differences into sharp focus and formed the basis for a well-considered launch approach.
From innovation to applicability
Rather than putting the product at the centre, the professional product focuses on how value is recognised and understood within the market. The students investigated which forms of information, evidence and context are needed to build trust among the various parties involved in the construction process.
It became clear that a successful market launch is all about coherence: between digital and physical, between content and experience, and between internal organisation and external communication. The biobased adhesive is not approached as a standalone product, but as part of a broader movement towards circular construction.
Market launch as a process of change
A key insight from the professional product is that the introduction of an innovative material cannot be seen in isolation from organisational change. New products call for new stories, new forms of collaboration and a shared understanding of what circularity means in practice.
Using change management models, the market launch was approached as a process in which support, consistency and repetition are essential. Not only externally, towards the market, but also internally within the organisation.
Value for New Circle and the sector
The professional product gives New Circle a strategic framework for positioning its biobased adhesive within a complex and fragmented market. At the same time, it shows how applied research can help bridge the gap between innovation and adoption.
For the students, this project is a realistic and substantively strong example of how research, strategy and practice come together. For New Circle, it is a well-founded step towards further scaling up and positioning within circular construction.
