• by Karl Greenberg , May 21, 2010

Henkel Corp. is launching a national campaign for its Loctite product line of adhesives and sealants. The campaign -- the first-ever Loctite brand effort -- is designed to build awareness for the brand, although it is a widely used product in U.S. households.

Via the Milwaukee, Wis. office of Cramer-Krasselt, the effort comprises TV, print, out-of-home, a new site and point-of-sale materials. Two TV spots show how the adhesive brand that can do everything from fixing toys to patching boats is the same one used by professionals. Print and out-of-home ads visually contrast the uses of the product in split-screen style between home uses and professional, high-profile uses such as race cars and space vehicles. One ad shows a space shuttle on one side with a high-heeled shoe on the other. Others show planes vs. Porsches and a Formula One racer opposite a coffee mug.

One ad shows a guy repairing a wooden skiff with his son, and using Loctite to fasten a wooden slat seat to the inside of the boat. The spot cuts to engineers working on a high-tech speedboat, using the compound on an engine mount. Then you see a shot of the boats on the water, with the visuals cut in such a way that half of the boat is the skiff and the other half is the speedboat. V/O says: "The adhesive brand trusted by dads is the same adhesive brand trusted by professionals." Tag: "Trusted performance. Proven results."

Tim Ferguson, North American marketing director for Loctite, tells Marketing Daily that until now, the company's advertising has been product- rather than brand-focused. "We were doing ads for products like Loctite Power Grab, with TV, print and radio, but it was not brand-centric; this is really the first time we have done a master-brand effort."

Ferguson says the company needed to bring brand awareness in line with Loctite's market share. "Recognition back to the brand is not where we want it to be. We have about 60% aided awareness but we are number one in market share, so, taken together, there's a disconnect." He adds that the company has done ethnographic research in which households who aver that they have never heard of the brand might have four or five Loctite products in their house.

"They know it by shape, by performance, maybe by product name, but not at the master-brand level." He said that top-line awareness is critical as the brand moves into doing more product R&D to expand the portfolio. "We realized we needed a platform for future innovation."

In-store elements include off-shelf displays and cross-merchandising -- putting its Thread Locker near the nuts and bolts, for example. Ferguson says the company has also overhauled packaging to make it easier to identify the products.

Loctite products compete with brands like Liquid Nails and Crazy Glue. "What we found is people recognize [competitors] as 'signpost' brands but there's no affinity to their brands," says Ferguson. "They say they can recall them but don't have loyalty to them."

He says the effort, which launched Thursday morning on "The Today Show," will be heavy through September, following the seasonality of the market, which is strong during warm weather, when people are building.

Television spots also will run on networks such as Food Network, HGTV, Spike, ESPN and DIY, as well as programming, including "Martha Stewart Living" and "This Old House." Print appears in the June and July issues of This Old House, The Family Handyman and Popular Mechanics and the July, August and September issues of Good Housekeeping, Family Circle and Real Simple.