BEST
Besting the BEST — 9K introduction
Challenge
Generate trade awareness of a seemingly minor and highly technical update of one of the best-selling and most ubiquitous commercial door handles on the market.
Solution
A campaign of launch tools that enabled the client to flexibly support the launch with paid media, social media and direct sales.
Outcome
A motivated sales team that deployed campaign elements to improve relationships with distributors and increase sales of the 9K.
CHALLENGE
Challenge
Generate trade awareness of a seemingly minor and highly technical update of one of the best-selling and most ubiquitous commercial door handles on the market.
SOLUTION
Solution
A campaign of launch tools that enabled the client to flexibly support the launch with paid media, social media and direct sales.
RESULT
Outcome
A motivated sales team that deployed campaign elements to improve relationships with distributors and increase sales of the 9K.
A doorknob is a doorknob, right? Wrong. There are literally hundreds of diverse and highly technical specifications that shape the commercial door hardware market. Nail the specification with your lock and it opens doors for you. Miss the spec and the door gets slammed in your face. That’s why a seemingly small change to the BEST 9K, which made the lock compatible with other manufacturers’ cores, was actually a big deal.
To spread the news, we created content and marketing assets for every BEST channel, including paid print and online, social postings, video, sales presentations, emails and more. The work focused on the name BEST and the new broader application of the 9K. Tactics included magazine and online ads focused on how the company had just “Bested its BEST,” an introduction video that riffed on the low-tech, shot-in-a-basement unboxing genre, and a sales kit that enabled BEST teams to take to the streets and demonstrate the change directly for distributors.
opportunity
to create
We wanted to use this opportunity to create a template for the tools and tactics our product launches should include. After seeing how well the 9K materials were received … I think we have one!
1994
The year the 9K was first introduced to the market.
95%
The percentage of market now open to the 9K, post update.
