Danco™ Perfect Match
The story of how a company wants to dominate more shelf space in the mass-retail market.
Pushing your product into a competitor's territory is the goal of market warfare, but lobbing it like a hand grenade into the center of their shelf space keeps a company aggressive. But it takes more than just a strong throwing arm, it takes a powerful weapon.
With a strong arm like Danco™ Perfect Match, which sells its products in some of America's largest retail outlets, you need a strong product. It was just a matter of time until they found one.
At Davison, teams were looking at the problem with toilet screw caps that cover the bolts securing toilets to the floor. Often times, these caps lose their tight fit and come off, exposing an unsightly area, as well as becoming a choking hazard for children and pets. It's also very unattractive. But solving this problem means meeting a variety of bolt sizes and toilet manufacturer specs with one unit. Additionally, it has to be simple for the consumer to use.
"So, we came up with a universal system that fits all types of thread sizes," G.M. Davison explained. "You simply screw down this new type of cap over any type of toilet you have at home."
It was simple for the consumer, and Danco was ready to take it to the market. But if it were that simple, it wouldn't be worth telling. Home Depot wanted to eliminate the excess parts. It wanted Davison to get rid of the scrap and keep it universal without compromising the price point. So, Davison went to work, kept the original price point and established a product with less waste in the package.
"We did eventually come up with a solution, and today they sell by the thousands in clip strips in the aisles of all the Home Depots in America, as well as other hardware stores."
But that was just the start, just the throw. It was only a short time until news of the impact came back to Davison. While the Twister Caps™ lined themselves along the aisles of Home Depot, they also snuck behind enemy turf, into the heart of Danco's major competitor.
"They were able to put a product into a point of purchase display area that's actually controlled by Danco's largest competitor. While they're hanging in clip strips in all the aisles, that's a huge win, but a bigger win is having Danco get a product right in the middle of their competitor's own private space in Home Depot. It was a huge feather in our hat."
Davison also designed another related product for Danco called Twister Bolts™, which was created for the do it-yourselfer or seasonal contractor in two sizes. It is currently sold in Home Depot as well.
Now, with Danco in its new position, Davison noted, they can tell the buyer "By the way, I have other products perfect to fill in the surrounding space."