Molecule relationship:
External
Consultant
Positioning
Product to Market Fit
and Naming.
2 x 8-week sprint
I’d been introduced to Jaya and Dilip Goswami the Founders and Peter Riering-Czekalla the head of design by my good friend Alexander Baumgardt. Dilip spoke passionately about the technology behind the product which had evolved from an invention by his father, preeminent scientist Yogi Goswami.
The technology, Photo Electrochemical Oxidation, used a catalyst-coated filter that reacted with specific wavelength Ultra Violet light leading to the oxidation of organic matter. Put more succinctly the filter destroyed the filtered particles rather than trapping them.
HEPA filters, the prevailing technology, had been developed by scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project in the 1940s to deal with radioactive dust. HEPA or “high-efficiency particulate air,” filters are mats of fibers, with tiny gaps of varying microscopic diameters between them which strain out and capture pollutants.
Yogi discovered the Photo Electrochemical Oxidation process while working on environmental depollution of water. Dilip had asthma as a child and Yogi wondered if PCO technology could be adapted to clean air. He spent years perfecting the process obsessed with the idea that an active filter could create better results than a passive filter like HEPA.
The Molekule product was in the early prototype phase and the team needed a way to launch the product in a market that is full of pseudoscience and unqualified claims. Although I advised against it, the founding team was adamant that a scientific approach was at the core of the company.
Interestingly, Dilip talked about the product differently. In our first conversation, he’d said that he believed there was a “moral obligation to provide clean air”. This warmth and passion seemed like it was from the other side of the brain to science. And as we evolved the brand, it became clear that the counterbalance between Science and Empathy was the market opportunity. Dilip cared deeply about the people who were suffering like he did and it showed.
In the search for a tone for the brand, it dawned on me that a Good Teacher also believed in empirical fact but always retained empathy to guide the student. The Good Teacher became the tone. The shared belief between the company and its customers became ‘A Catalyst for Human Progress’. Dilip’s passion for clean air unified with the normalcy of activity gained by all those who were suffering from air-related illnesses.
The Name of the company we proposed was Molecula r — The silent dot for the i reflects the language of the pollutant, also hinting at the outcome air. The design system created by Derek and Joanne was one of the best I’ve seen, I was so proud of their work. Ultimately Peter decided to work with my good friends at Character, choosing the adapted name Molekule.
We created the name and strategy for the air cleaning technology PECO technology which created double-digit improvements in the effectiveness of the product. We equated this to the innovation of the incandescent lightbulb – a deeply inefficient product that remained the standard for more than 100 years – but today LED lights use 75% of the energy and last 25 times longer. I could have easily used the combustion engine as another example. Technological innovation takes time.
The new standard compares to the old standard, yes, it’s more expensive, and some HEPA machines outperform the standardized HEPA test. But one fundamental point is missed. Passive filters trap pollution, they don’t destroy it. HEPA filters are the incandescent lightbulb – they work but the world can do better.