Making Gripfill’s Reputation Stick
Gripfill is the brand-leading one-part gap-filling adhesive for professional builders.
A multi-purpose, high-strength adhesive, over the years Gripfill has built a cast-iron reputation as the nation’s Number 1 filler, famed for its incredible strength in almost any application, inside and out. It could also boast the ability to bond most solid building materials: wood, stone, metal, concrete, chipboard, breeze block, ceramics, plastic, etc.
Making Gripfill’s Reputation Stick
The Problem
With Gripfill notching up sales of over 7 million tubes a year, a clutch of competitor gap-filling adhesives were introduced to this valuable sector of the market, all of them making similar claims to Gripfill.
Naturally, they were envious of Gripfill’s No. 1 market-leading reputation but had neither Gripfill’s quality nor the well-deserved trust it had earned within the building trade.
In the face of this steady stream of attempts to topple Gripfill from its leading position, Harrison Carloss was tasked to come up with an advertising campaign that would both underline Gripfill’s already matchless reputation and at the same time show the new pretender adhesives for the upstarts they were.
Sticking it to the Rivals
The Solution
After doing research and asking for feedback, the creative agency concluded that a humorous approach would have the most appeal to the hands-on target audience in the building trade. To this end, Harrison Carloss created a series of bold press ads and posters mocking the competitor bonding and gap-filling products as flashy, pretentious and unreliable. The campaign positioned the Gripfill tube next to a jokey depiction of a rival tube, with a series of two-word phrases, describing Gripfill’s quality whilst ridiculing the competitor.
Strong Copy for a Strong Bond
An example of the ad copy is as follows:
Gluer’s droop is no joke. Better stick with the ultimate performer in gap-filling adhesives. Only Gripfill’s incredible strength, technical excellence and bonding pedigree guarantee a high performance every time. Many other adhesives come and go. Only Gripfill keeps it up. Gripfill. Stronger for longer.
A Gripping Reception
The trade loved the campaign. Gripfill’s reputation grew stronger than ever. And the client at Laybond was delighted.
About Harrison Carloss
Harrison Carloss is a strategic creative agency with 50 years of know-how behind them.
