Lectures / 13/05/2009 7:30 pm

Growth market handicap? Normality beyond “Licht-ins-Dunkel” social romanticism

The response people with disabilities and handicaps most often meet with from others is pity. Prejudices make a “normal” life for people with special needs more difficult, if not downright impossible. The whole topic of handicaps is weighed down by such associations as charity, donations, etc. This creates an image of pitiable, needy individuals.
Motary seeks to promote a diametrically opposed image: that of individuals who are capable of realizing their potential despite being tied to a wheelchair. Handicaps are no longer an insurmountable obstacle in the path to professional and social success, as the German Minister of the Interior and the CEO of the Wienerberger Corporation amply demonstrate.
Motary’s understanding of handicap as a phenomenon is underpinned by a huge market that has hardly been tapped into at all: people with special needs are dependent on specific aids, such as handicap friendly cars, special mobile phones or barrier free flats. Only a few businesses are aware of the demand for such products and it is obvious that overall estimates grossly underestimate actual demand: according to Eurostat 7 % of the EU population must be considered as handicapped. If you add to this the increase in the percentage of old people – 15 to 20% (and counting) of the population suffer from age related impairments in terms of sensory perception and/or mobility, even the most rigorous assessment points to more than 15 % of the EU population who depend on special solutions. Motary has both the know-how to develop demand oriented solutions for big corporations and the access to the target group that is required. A wide range of products needs to be considered, and Motary has already developed succesful products in fields as wide apart as barrier free taxis, barrier free tourist packages and tailored insurance products. Such products can claim for themselves a unique selling point in a market that covers 15 % of the population.
Motary also acts as advisor to several cities on the issue of a barrier-free built environment.