Tru-Fit Display Differentiates Brand from Competitors

When the makers of Tru-Fit sport wraps and braces decided to create a premium, doctor-designed line, they knew a display would need to differentiate it from the company's core brand as well as from its competitors.So when the Stardox line debuted in September, it was accompanied by an educational floorstand that was produced by Rosemont, Ill.-based Cormark."Stardox represents the best quality, features and benefits in supports and braces," says Al Petrilli, director of marketing at Lynn, Mass.-based Tru-Fit. "Our feeling was that in order to really tell the premium story, we needed to pull the product away from the wall where most of the brands, including Tru-Fit, our staple brand, are merchandised."Initially designed with the Sports Authority in mind, the displays are currently in use in about 200 other sporting goods retailers such as Garts, Sportmart, MVP Sports and Galyans.The unit, says Petrilli, was designed "not only to pull this product off the wall and speak about its premium nature, but also to educate the consumer to let them know that they don't have to go to their orthopedic surgeon to get the best braces available."A sizing chart and a booklet leading consumers through the purchase selection are built into the display, which measures 36 inches wide by 84 inches high by 24 inches deep. "It's very much an informational, educational display unit," notes Petrilli.The product itself is accompanied by educational material, too. Each support or wrap is packaged with a CD-ROM, which Petrilli calls "an informational bible on eating healthy, stretching, preventing and treating injuries."Endorsed by the Professional Team Physicians (PTP) organization, the product is billed as Stardox by PTP. Physicians affiliated with athletic teams and sporting associations, such as the WNBA, appear on the CD-ROM.The display takes its look from the brand's high-quality packaging with contemporary graphics designed by White Rhino, Burlington, Mass. Constructed of a tubular steel frame to which black pegboard is mounted on the front and back, the top of the unit is open to allow light to filter through. Header graphics are interchangeable. Casters give the unit mobility "so that it can be used as a freestanding unit and also as an endcap to showcase the category," Petrilli says. Having such a visible, independent display, he adds, "helps not only us, the brand, but the whole category."Two planograms are offered, one merchandising $1,500 worth of product, the other $2,600. "The display ships 90 percent complete to the retailer, requiring only 10 percent assembly," says Petrilli.Tru-Fit was recently acquired by Becton-Dickinson Co., owners of the Ace Bandage brand. "We now distribute three brands through the sporting goods trade channel: Tru-Fit, Stardox and Ace. Each brand has a different meaning to the consumer. Therefore, having all three gives us increased leverage with the retailer," Petrilli says. "We've positioned Stardox as our premium brand. Tru-fit is a brand of neoprene products, and Ace comes in as the Coaches' Corner brand of tapes, wraps, ice heat, analgesics and sport pharmaceuticals."

Tru-Fit Display Differentiates Brand from Competitors

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