KOHLER Home Water Filtration SysteM

Today we are going to be looking at a project for KOHLER that we had the opportunity to work on.

KOHLER is a manufacturing company best known for its plumbing products. In collaboration with iDE, a global nonprofit with experience in water, sanitation, and hygiene sectors, they wanted to determine the market viability of their water filter product in Ghana.

What we set out to explore was: Does KOHLER’s product meet consumer needs and what business model can reach them?

Our approach was to test what worked and what didn’t in a variety of ways. We first set up pop-up shops in 4 cities to test the demand and pricing. Then, we tested door-to-door, group sales, and retail sales models. We conducted intercepts, surveys with consumers on site (while they interact with the product), with over 100 customers. We held 20 stakeholder interviews and designed a pilot program strategy and roadmap.

We discovered that with a direct sales model followed by strong customer service, KOHLER had a strong demand among Ghanaians with access to tap water. Data from the customer service offering could be used to accelerate the progress of the entire water filtration industry.

This is just one of the many examples of businesses being able to make a profit while also making a positive impact.

In our next post, we will talk about our work with Global Good Fund to expand access to irrigation solutions.

Discovered Markets works with businesses solving some of the world's most pressing problems. This blog is a part of a series of posts covering water issues and what businesses are doing about it (Part 4/5)

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Thank you for following along with our "Issues in Clean Water" series. We hope you learned more about the role business can play in making practical steps toward resolving these issues.

Click to view an overview deck of the series. If you are a business or fund looking to impact this space, please reach out to us.

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