Manufacturing / Logistics
ITW Commercial Construction North America
Keeping 3 brands distinct under 1 complex portfolio
ITW Commercial Construction, North America (ITWCC) is a business unit of Illinois Tool Works, a Fortune 200 global multi-industrial manufacturer. Contractors depend on ITWCC brands for solutions that improve job safety and efficiency.
ITWCC’s brand architecture runs three tiers deep. Ramset, Red Head and ITW Buildex sit at the top, product line brands sit beneath them and sub-brands beneath those. Every tier has to stay distinct while reinforcing the brand above it, all managed by one internal marketing team.
Challenges
1.
3 tiers had different jobs.
Umbrella brands, product lines and sub-brands each had their own equity and audience.
2.
Each brand needed its own identity.
Voice, tone and messaging had to distinguish Ramset, Red Head and ITW Buildex while staying consistent within each brand.
3.
1 team managed the full portfolio.
Umbrella brands, product lines, launches and co-branded campaigns competed for the same marketing resources.
Solution
ITWCC needed a marketing partner that understood the entire brand architecture and could apply that knowledge from one project to the next.
We work across all three umbrella brands and the product lines beneath them.
That portfolio-wide knowledge helps us maintain each brand’s identity and apply its messaging consistently from one project to the next.
That work spans content and design, art direction for on-site video and photo production, distributor initiatives, product launches and employee marketing. Co-branded campaigns make the most of ITWCC’s marketing budget while showing contractors the benefit of working with the ITWCC family.
What changes tier to tier
Ramset
This is an established umbrella brand for gas- and powder-actuated fastening. Ongoing content, design and image updates keep the mature brand current.
Sammys
The ITW Buildex product line pioneered fast-installing threaded rod anchors, but contractors don’t always recognize the potential labor savings. Marketing makes those productivity gains clear across core products and launches such as Sammy X-Press.
Tapcon
The Red Head product line brand created the original concrete screw anchor. Tapcon has become the Kleenex of blue screws, so contractors don’t always realize they’re buying an imitation. Marketing reinforces the value of choosing the original.