Hot Glue a Natural Fit for Elmer's

Columbus, Ohio — When Elmer’s Products looked into adding hot glue products to its famous range of glue offerings, its research revealed some interesting findings. The first insight was a surprise: “Many shoppers thought we were already in the [hot glue] space due to brand halo effects from our Elmer’s brand,” says Nick Wheeler, customer marketing manager for Elmer’s. “So given the opportunity and our presence with crafters and adhesives users, we felt the launch was a natural fit.”The second insight was an opportunity: Crafters had some serious issues with the hot glue products already on the market, such as “stringing” of the hot glue, which can undermine aesthetics or even burn the user. So when Elmer’s decided to launch products in the category, the company focused on addressing these consumer pain points with features such as glue sticks that minimize stringing and glue guns with insulated nozzles and safety fuses. “It’s not just safety to say it’s safer; these actually are features that are truly relevant to crafters,” says Bridget Dinneen, sales communication and digital shopper marketing manager for Elmer’s. “We truly took these pain points of crafters and addressed them.”As Elmer’s prepared for its 2015 launch, the brand also focused on explaining these benefits clearly in their packaging, marketing and in-store materials, since the current in-store landscape in the category was often difficult and complicated. These barriers contributed to the intimidating perception of hot glue as a next-level crafting product. “Most of the sets you go to are very convoluted, with baskets being almost dump bins in-aisle with glue sticks in them,” Wheeler says. “We wanted to bring a different look and feel to it.”The company saw the need to reduce the intimidation factor as particularly important in attracting Millennial crafters. To reach this audience, the brand partnered with the DIY and lifestyle brand Brit + Co. on several instructional videos of hot-glue projects, planned for launch in 2016, that aim to make hot glue less daunting to new crafters who’ve never used a hot glue gun before. Elmer’s has also enlisted about a dozen influential bloggers popular with Millennials to post a series of evergreen projects using the new products, with a second wave of holiday-themed projects planned for early December.The new products first launched at retail with a 710-store test launch at Michael’s that began in late October. Amazon.com was the first major online retailer to offer the products. Elmer’s sees online partners as critical given that many craft projects today are inspired online by Pinterest and by lifestyle bloggers. “It’s a natural transition for them to be inspired online and to complete that path to purchase online,” Dinneen says. The products have also launched with several fine art accounts.In addition to blogger outreach, Elmer’s is also promoting the new products through the “Crafters” section of Elmers.com and on leading social sites such as Pinterest and Etsy. Elmer’s is planning wider-scale distribution for 2016, and has already enlisted partners such as Kmart and Lowe’s for that effort.A larger brand marketing campaign to support that 2016 launch currently includes plans for TV ads, banner ads, press kits, videos and coupons as well as retailer-specific point-of-sale pieces. Overall, the in-store setups will aim to provide guidance at the shelf, offer information on product benefits and usage, and better organize the hot glue guns and sticks to enhance ease of shopping and decrease the traditional frustration associated with the category.Elmer’s has internal goals for market share and sales of the new products, but views hot glue as a long-term platform. “So our initial goals are to enlist the right retail partners that can best connect with our key craft consumers,” Wheeler says.Partners for the launch campaign include communications agency Fahlgren Mortine (Columbus, Ohio), ad agency SBC Advertising (Columbus, Ohio), research agency Insights in Marketing (Northbrook, Illinois), and retail agency Kantar Retail (Rogers, Arkansas).

Hot Glue a Natural Fit for Elmer's

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