For the Pros. By The Pros. Trust a Pro.
Communicating to both professionals and do-it-yourselfers is often a complex task that is becoming increasingly more important in multiple channels of sale. Although they are often inexorably linked in advertising, professionals see themselves as far superior to do-it-yourselfers in quality of work and craftsmanship. The pros don't like to share their supply houses with consumers - it is their secret and key o maintaining a position and reason for being with consumers.
As channels blur and consumers increasingly become more familiar and engaged with brands that were once only the purveyance of contractors, brands are faced with the challenge of a single-message strategy that appeals to contractors and consumers alike.
It's fascinating to watch brands attack reaching a wider audience in a crowded category. Grainger, a leading distributor, has carved out a comfortable position selling to industrial and contractor audiences. With over 900,000 SKU's, Grainger's sweet spot is providing maintenance products to keep facilities running and employees safe and comfortable. They were the original Home Depot for the pro! Back before the digital age, you knew Grainger through the thick, 1,000 plus page, bold, red-covered catalog.
Grainger has gained a more prominent mind space presence with me lately through their aggressive radio campaign that's running in New York and Boston. The spots make an overt reach out to the professional - "For those who get it done." Or it might be that the message is intended to have a consumer halo. There is no mention of professional in the statement. You're left to interpret it from your own individual perspective, i.e., the pro or professional in all of us. An interesting strategy indeed. Could it be DIYers are fueling a sales growth and expansion for Grainger?
What is far more common is using "pros" to sell products to consumers with the time tested strategic approach of "if it's good enough for the pros, it's good enough for me - the DIYer." Cabot Stain, the venerable New England stain product brand giant is dipping into the pro endorsement to move their brand. They've linked in with a cadre of Cabot brand-loyal painting professionals who offer up a series of tips that give consumers the inside secrets of their trade experience delivered in a quick anecdotal way - "Stir your stain frequently while you work to maintain a consistent color." Cabot is reaching out to painting contractors and DIYers with one overarching message with a tag line that resonates - "That's Pro." Yes, there is certainly a small percentage of DIYers that might qualify as being professional, but it's a reach for many.
Many forces are at play in brands employing communications strategies that are mutually inclusive to both consumers and contractors alike. Just watch any Red Sox game and you'll see prominent advertising and Fenway Park signage for Granite City Electric and F.W.Webb. One is a traditional electrical distributor, the other a plumbing and heating house. At one time consumers wouldn't be allowed to step inside or buy products. It was the contractor's territory. All that has changed as everyone is welcome.
Grainger, Cabot, Granite City Electric and F.W.Webb all have one thing in common. As long as we're buying products all of us are professionals - maybe just not yet pros. It's a fine line to walk without alienating your core professional contractor or audience. As contractors will go to great lengths to tell you - there is a discernable difference with a job done by a pro. Proceed with considerable upside potential and risk as well.
Keywords: Marketing to Professionals; BTB Marketing; Ad Campaigns for Professionals; BTC Marketing; Grainger Ad Campaign; Cabot Ad Campaign; F.W.Webb
Several years ago, advertising Ingersoll-Rand tools and GE electrical products exposed me to professional contractor supply houses. It was very much a fraternity of like-minded pros who patronized these distributors. At the time, Home Depot was new to the scene with their dedicated contractor window but many traditional contractors shunned the retailer in favor of their personal distributor with whom they had established a mutually-beneficial relationship.
That was one of the key differences between the contractor pro and the DIYer. The pro might pay a little more because of their trusted relationship with a knowledgable distributor whereas the DIYer had a retail mentality and was more focused on price. These days the lines are a little more blurry.
I think there is a strategic advantage when your brand plan can activate dual channels and dual audiences but it rarely works in certain categories. Lumber and Electrical are a couple where it won't work in volume product turns. I once built a very integrated campaign in paint that was very successful with both DIY'er and Contractor audiences. It took a real agency partnership to make it happen. The message, "You work too hard to paint with anything less" drove consistent dual revenue streams for well over a decade. It appealed to the work ethic of homeowners and became a craftmanship badge for contractors. However, for everyone that works there's a pile that simply haven't come close.
What immediately came to mind (as a PR "professional" focused on social media) is the dynamic between established mainstream media like a newspaper editor (the "pro") and a blogger (the diy-er). This is more an example of the pro/diy-er dynamic than a company that is looking to cast a wider net and reach both audiences which, as you note Bill, presents a challenge.
Nonetheless, it's interesting to observe this dynamic evolving. I can’t help but also wonder how much the online and social world have played a role in helping consumers become more familiar and engaged with brands, as well as raising the bar on competition among non-professionals. Instead of formally learning a trade or skill, people now have access to endless resources online--including blogs, forums, and social networks--which can transform them into a self-proclaimed "expert." In this respect, the gap between a true pro and diy-er seems to be shrinking. And the lines are blurring. At the same time, there’s a growing number of niche specialties that are creating a new class of "experts." I’m curious to see how marketers respond over time to these changing audience profiles.
At the time, Home Depot was new to the scene with their dedicated contractor window and once built a very integrated campaign in paint that was very successful with both diyer and Contractor audiences.Commercial, industrial and institutional projects are also taken on throughout the Chicagoland area.
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