OVERVIEW

"It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do."

Elbert Hubbard (1856 1915)

When business strategist Chris Riley told marketing director Bill Spencer and Tom McAndrews division director for DuPont's carpet fiber business about researcher Armand Zinnato's discovery of the technology that would underpin DuPont's Certified Stainmaster carpet offering, McAndrews knew that the business was on to something really big. He had joined the business the prior year and had made a major strategic commitment to revitalize the residential carpet business, which was the largest but weakest of the four businesses in the company's portfolio. (Two of the other three businesses commercial and auto carpeting were in sound competitive shape at the time, and the third and smallest rugs was doing okay.) McAndrews commissioned in-depth market studies to see what this revitalization would take and discovered that a major consumer-focused advertising campaign with a to-be-specified new product in the portfolio could add significant market share.

Earlier consumer studies had shown that soil and stain resistance were some of the most sought-after characteristics of residential carpeting, but that existing commercial solutions fell far short of meeting consumer expectations. Until Stainmaster came along, consumers usually chose dark colors that wouldn't show stains. They were growing tired of foregoing color choices in an attempt to keep their carpets looking nice. The technology breakthrough McAndrews had in front of him offered a clear path to solve this nagging consumer pain point and so offered DuPont a clear path...