Business Challenge
In 1999, Lutz Tool Co. acquired a fledgling adhesive brand called Gorilla Glue, whose products were mostly used in furniture manufacturing. Lutz Tool, which had success selling tools and hardware materials directly to hardware shops, saw an opportunity to market Gorilla Glue directly to consumers. The company needed a partner that could launch the brand at retail in a way that disrupted incumbent brands and captured shoppers’ imaginations—and turned to Icon for help.
Solution
We started by reinventing Gorilla Glue’s branding, going bold with lifelike animal hands holding the product and a vibrant orange palette that allowed the brand to stand out and grab shoppers’ attention in the retail aisle. We applied this new, memorable branding in an aggressive ad campaign—filling radio and TV slots, and full pages of newspapers and magazines. With an understanding of retailer and consumer pain points, we designed and shipped in-store displays that put Gorilla Glue front and center in the aisles, at the checkout counter, and in other in-store advertising. These displays effectively translated what was typically an industrial material used by professionals into a line of products that anyone could use at home.
Results
With the comprehensive awareness campaign and exciting new branding we developed, Gorilla Glue went from unknown brand to category leader and household name in a matter of a few years. By 2004, Gorilla Glue had outpaced the success of all of Lutz Tools’ other products, prompting the company to change its name to The Gorilla Glue Co.
