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Speaker 1: You know, I often compare a do-it-yourself project to a recipe.

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Speaker 1: And I talk about do-it-yourself a lot because that’s really

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Speaker 1: the market that our products serve. Whether it be, you know,

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Speaker 1: we think of do-it-yourself broadly. You know, it can be gardening.

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Speaker 1: It can be crafting. It can also be a heavy

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Speaker 1: home improvement project. It can be organization. So, you know,

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Speaker 1: I often compare a do-it-yourself project to a recipe. You know,

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Speaker 1: we are a key ingredient in many projects, just like

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Speaker 1: you have a key ingredient in your recipe. You know,

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Speaker 1: we have to inspire people by showing them the finished

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Speaker 1: project and giving them the confidence to create it on

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Speaker 1: their own with the Velcro brand.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to today’s episode of Creative Commerce.

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Speaker 3: I’m Rachel Tippegraph, the founder and CEO of Micmac.

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Speaker 2: And I’m Sarah Hofstetter, chairwoman of Profitero Plus.

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Speaker 3: And this is a show that talks about what’s relevant

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Speaker 3: in commerce for the world’s biggest brands. Sarah, have you

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Speaker 3: worked on a brand that has infinite use cases?

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Speaker 2: Well, I mean, the first thing I always think about

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Speaker 2: when somebody says, have you ever worked on a brand?

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Speaker 2: I always go back to like my Oreo days just

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Speaker 2: because the use cases, it’s actually very funny. It’s the

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Speaker 2: reverse of that. The story of Oreo, it’s like there’s

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Speaker 2: a ritual. It’s called the twist like dunk that has

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Speaker 2: gone back a hundred years. And I remember there was

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Speaker 2: a time when as social media was taking off where

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Speaker 2: we had to bring the news to the client that

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Speaker 2: people are not twist licking and dunking anymore. They’re doing

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Speaker 2: other things with their Oreo. And originally it was met

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Speaker 2: with heresy. Like this is a terrible idea. We have

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Speaker 2: to get them back to the ritual. It’s like, no, no, no,

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Speaker 2: follow the consumer. And I remember like doing all of

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Speaker 2: this work again, back in the day, this was like

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Speaker 2: on Vine. Remember Twitter Vine?

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So we were doing like Vines calling snack hacks, which

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Speaker 2: is like, What happens when you crush up your Oreos,

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Speaker 2: put them in an ice cube, pour over a little

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Speaker 2: bit of milk, stick them in the freezer and add

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Speaker 2: them to your iced coffee? Oh my gosh, that’s like

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Speaker 2: crazy bananas.

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Speaker 1: I don’t think.

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Speaker 2: Oreos is versatile as what we’re talking about here, but

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Speaker 2: you can make something a lot more versatile if you

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Speaker 2: think big enough.

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Speaker 3: Well, I think that’s the beautiful thing about the internet

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Speaker 3: and the social web is that you end up discovering

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Speaker 3: your tribe, right? People congregate around shared interests. Or now

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Speaker 3: in this TikTok world, it pushes you to the shared

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Speaker 3: interests with other like-minded people.

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Speaker 2: Well, I have a very close friend, Sarabi at Church

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Speaker 2: and Dwight, who makes one of the most ubiquitous products,

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Speaker 2: which is baking soda. Arm & Hammer. And if you

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Speaker 2: look at clean talk on TikTok and you think about

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Speaker 2: all the different use cases for baking soda, I mean,

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Speaker 2: just at its simplest, you put it in your fridge

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Speaker 2: for your deodorizer and you put it in your pantry

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Speaker 2: for cooking. But the volume of other things that that

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Speaker 2: thing does is just extraordinary, but you got to just

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Speaker 2: click a level deeper.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. I think that the friction for people who sit

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Speaker 3: in these marketing operation roles is They probably are being

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Speaker 3: gold against how do I reach 300 million American households?

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Speaker 3: And the consumer insight would be like, go after these

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Speaker 3: niche passions. But it’s really hard to scale that approach

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Speaker 3: from a creative media buying optimization. And so it’s interesting

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Speaker 3: when you get to pick the brains of marketing leaders

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Speaker 3: like Tritra at Velcro companies where you have a product

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Speaker 3: of infinite use cases, not just within the consumer landscape,

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Speaker 3: but also within the B2B, more industrial landscape as well. Absolutely.

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Speaker 2: And that’s where the difference between demand generation versus just

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Speaker 2: accepting the demand that is already coming your way. It’s like,

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Speaker 2: how do you make sure that you embrace the demand

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Speaker 2: that’s coming your way for use cases that you can

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Speaker 2: then supply? And the balance between that, that I think

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Speaker 2: Chitra has been doing exceptionally well has been nothing short

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Speaker 2: of extraordinary. So it’s interesting when you think about what

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Speaker 2: does it mean to bring that brand to the forefront

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Speaker 2: globally at such scale.

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Speaker 3: Well, let’s bring Velcro Companies onto the show. Today, we

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Speaker 3: are very excited to have Chitra Ebenezer, the Chief Marketing

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Speaker 3: Officer at Velcro Companies, onto the show. Hello.

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Speaker 1: Hi, Rachel. Hi, Sarah. It’s great to be with you

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Speaker 1: here today. Thank you for inviting me.

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Speaker 3: Oh, we’re so excited. I was thinking since we’re all

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Speaker 3: brand nerds on the show and also as listeners, before

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Speaker 3: we get into everything with you. It would be helpful

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Speaker 3: for you to share with all of us sort of

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Speaker 3: the brand overview and architecture of Velcro companies, Velcro brand,

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Speaker 3: hook and loop. Like walk us through that so we

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Speaker 3: use the right nomenclature as we talk today.

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Speaker 1: Sure. You know, maybe the best way to talk about

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Speaker 1: this is to start a little bit with our origin story,

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Speaker 1: which I love to talk about. So George de Mestral

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Speaker 1: in the 40s, he’s a Swiss engineer. He was taking

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Speaker 1: a walk in the woods with his dog. And he

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Speaker 1: noticed that there were burdock burrs stuck in the dog’s fur.

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Speaker 1: So that’s sort of the inspiration that led to the

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Speaker 1: Velcro brand hook and loop products. So he was really

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Speaker 1: intrigued by the properties of the burrs and how they stuck.

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Speaker 1: And he said, you know what, I can take this,

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Speaker 1: I can harness this type of attachment and make a

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Speaker 1: commercially viable product here. So he spent decades really developing

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Speaker 1: a process to transfer those attachment functionalities to a textile fastener.

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Speaker 1: with a hook side and a loop side, and those

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Speaker 1: two sides connect. So Velcro Companies was born out of

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Speaker 1: that as the company that manufactured the product. Our brand

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Speaker 1: is the Velcro brand, and the product is hook and loop.

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Speaker 1: And there’s two sides, the hook side and the loop

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Speaker 1: side that connect. So hopefully that helps a little bit

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Speaker 1: on the architecture.

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Speaker 3: Velcro Companies, Velcro brand, hook and loop. You got that, Sarah?

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Speaker 2: I got it. I guess within that, the Velcro brand

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Speaker 2: brand name is just absolutely iconic. But let’s talk about

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Speaker 2: the versatility of the products themselves.

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Speaker 1: Your comment about the Velcro brand being iconic, you know,

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Speaker 1: it is iconic. You know, the Velcro companies with the

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Speaker 1: invention of hook and loop created a whole new category

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Speaker 1: of fasteners, right? That’s used across a million different applications,

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Speaker 1: you know, and actually Velcro brand hook and loop is

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Speaker 1: considered one of the most innovative inventions of the 20th century.

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Speaker 1: When our original patents expired, we did see a lot

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Speaker 1: of competition come into the market with hook and loop,

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Speaker 1: but we are the only ones that can use the

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Speaker 1: Velcro brand name and we are the original hook and

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Speaker 1: loop fastener. We work with companies around the world really

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Speaker 1: to bring that invention to people, to consumers around the world.

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Speaker 1: It’s a really simple and elegant solution. that has changed

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Speaker 1: the way we do so many everyday tasks like fastening

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Speaker 1: a diaper, securing a medical brace, closing a jacket. You know,

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Speaker 1: we have a large B2B business where we’re used as

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Speaker 1: a key component in millions of other products. We also

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Speaker 1: have a growing line of consumer products, which are used

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Speaker 1: by do-it-yourselfers to bring their projects to life. Our products

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Speaker 1: are used for home improvement, cord management, sewing and crafting,

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Speaker 1: just to name a few. They’re easy to use, strong

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Speaker 1: and versatile. Given the versatility of our products, there’s so

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Speaker 1: many things about educating people on all the ways they

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Speaker 1: can use them. You know, we’ll never be able to

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Speaker 1: explain the endless applications. It’s really about inspiring people with

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Speaker 1: relevant use cases and demonstrating the benefits of our products

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Speaker 1: so they can see all the possibilities. One thing I

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Speaker 1: like to talk about, for example, you know, one of

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Speaker 1: our best sellers is a 15-foot roll of Velcro brand

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Speaker 1: hook and loop tape. consumers can cut it to whatever

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Speaker 1: length they want. It’s a blank canvas for them to

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Speaker 1: use in a million different ways in their home. Once

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Speaker 1: they’ve tried it, they know it’s always going to work

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Speaker 1: and they’re always finding new ways to use it.

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Speaker 3: I would love to see those projects. Now, because there’s

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Speaker 3: such a wide array of use cases, there’s also a

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Speaker 3: ton of personas to market to. And so you have

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Speaker 3: a B2C motion and then you have a B2B motion.

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Speaker 3: As a CMO, how do you split your time between

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Speaker 3: marketing to end consumers versus industries.

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Speaker 1: Sure. So our Velcro company’s B2B business is more mature.

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Speaker 1: You know, our B2B side has a strong foundation with

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Speaker 1: long-term customer relationships built over decades. You know, we work

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Speaker 1: with major players across our key business segments, including personal care, medical, transportation, industrial,

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Speaker 1: and footwear and apparel. Additionally, as the only U.S. manufacturer

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Speaker 1: of Hook & Loop, we are the go-to supplier for

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Speaker 1: government and military customers. On the B2B side, we really

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Speaker 1: work hand-in-hand with our customers to develop customized solutions that

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Speaker 1: deliver superior performance in their applications. For example, we work

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Speaker 1: with diaper manufacturers to ensure our fastener works with their

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Speaker 1: product and manufacturing processes to deliver on their promise to parents. Now,

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Speaker 1: on the consumer side, we entered the consumer market about

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Speaker 1: 30 years ago, really as we recognized how useful our

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Speaker 1: products would be in everyday applications around the home. We

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Speaker 1: see a large opportunity for meaningful growth in our consumer business,

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Speaker 1: so I spend a significant amount of my time on

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Speaker 1: the consumer side. While Velcro brand products can be found

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Speaker 1: wherever people shop, we have an opportunity to grow our

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Speaker 1: household penetration. We need to educate consumers on how our

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Speaker 1: products can fit into their lives and be a better

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Speaker 1: solution compared to other fasteners. For example, during COVID, we

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Speaker 1: saw a spike in demand as people were spending more

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Speaker 1: time at home. They discovered the benefits of our products

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Speaker 1: for home improvement, organization, and crafting projects around the house.

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Speaker 1: Our products can be found in all the major US retailers,

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Speaker 1: including Amazon, Walmart, the Home Depot, and Lowe’s, to name

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Speaker 1: a few. We’re focused on Thank you so much for

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Speaker 1: having me. And most of our marketing investment is on

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Speaker 1: the consumer side, but any investment we make in the consumer,

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Speaker 1: of course, halos back to the B2B side.

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Speaker 2: I got to go more into this because it happens

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Speaker 2: to be that last week, I mean, I know we’ve

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Speaker 2: been trying to get you on the show for a

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Speaker 2: long time, but last week I discovered a new Velcro

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Speaker 2: brand product that like, it was such a smart use

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Speaker 2: case and I discovered it on Amazon. So my kids

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Speaker 2: were super awesome and they built me a garden bed

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Speaker 2: for Mother’s Day. And I kind of, my kids don’t

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Speaker 2: listen to the podcast. I didn’t think it was going

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Speaker 2: to work. Kind of thought I had a bit.

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Speaker 1: Of a black thumb.

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Speaker 2: Well, it turns out that my garden is growing quite well.

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Speaker 2: And I’ve been trying to figure out how to keep

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Speaker 2: my stakes up. So I was using twist ties. And

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Speaker 2: you guys have this really great product, this green garden

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Speaker 2: tape that you can use to secure. So if anybody

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Speaker 2: here is planting, it is the season, not necessarily planting,

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Speaker 2: but actually you’re probably seeing your native plants grow and

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Speaker 2: things like that. This secures it while still retaining the

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Speaker 2: integrity and the quality of the plant’s ability to grow.

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Speaker 2: And I was like, oh my gosh, that’s such a

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Speaker 2: freaking no-brainer use case. But I never even would have

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Speaker 2: known it existed if not for looking on Amazon for

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Speaker 2: literally plant ties. Given the diverse, that’s a long set

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Speaker 2: of questions. Rachel’s like, Sarah’s doing it again. But given

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Speaker 2: the diversity of the use cases, how do you even

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Speaker 2: think about things like keyword strategies when the use cases

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Speaker 2: are so extraordinary?

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Speaker 1: You know, that’s one of the challenges, right? Our products

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Speaker 1: are so versatile. We have solutions for so many different

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Speaker 1: activities and applications, you know, whether it’s gardening, as you mentioned.

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Speaker 1: We actually have a garden here at Velcro Companies where

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Speaker 1: we use our products to make sure we can train

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Speaker 1: the plants and hold them in place as they grow.

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Speaker 1: nurture the plants. We have products that work for sewing applications.

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Speaker 1: We have products for home improvement, organization, cord management. Everybody

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Speaker 1: is overrun with cord clutter these days. So we have

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Speaker 1: great solutions for that. One of the keywords that people

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Speaker 1: search when they’re looking for a solution like ours is

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Speaker 1: they actually use Velcro brand in the search terms, right?

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Speaker 1: They would say Velcro brand adhesive strips, Velcro brand adhesive tape.

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Speaker 1: That’s obviously an important part, but we have to look

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Speaker 1: at sort of all the different things that they’re searching

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Speaker 1: for and looking for solutions, like ways to grow my plants,

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Speaker 1: you know, ways to train my plant. How do I,

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Speaker 1: what’s a quick fastener for my costume, for my Halloween costume?

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Speaker 1: So we have to think about all the ways that

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Speaker 1: people are going to be looking for a solution. What

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Speaker 1: are they going to be typing in If they’re not

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Speaker 1: typing in a specific fastener, our core user knows what

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Speaker 1: they’re looking for. So the heavy user knows what to

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Speaker 1: look for. But we have to sort of raise awareness

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Speaker 1: of our solutions because as you didn’t know about our

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Speaker 1: gardening line, a lot of people don’t know about all

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Speaker 1: the solutions we have. And that’s definitely one of the

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Speaker 1: big challenges we have.

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Speaker 3: It’s only going to be exacerbated with, you know, environments

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Speaker 3: like ChatGPT, all the ways that consumers start to discover you.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it’s really important that we’re part of all the

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Speaker 1: responses that come with ChatGPT as well.

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Speaker 3: So in the spirit of, you know, how people discover

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Speaker 3: you and original thinking, you know, that was, it seems

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Speaker 3: like the anchor of one of your large brand campaigns.

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Speaker 3: How do you go about measuring the impact of these

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Speaker 3: major marketing investments, both short term and long term?

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Speaker 1: Great question. So just for a little bit of background,

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Speaker 1: original thinking is our corporate promise. It really speaks to

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Speaker 1: our heritage of innovation as the original hook and loop fastener,

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Speaker 1: but it also speaks to the creativity of people who

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Speaker 1: use our products, right? And our continuous focus on innovation.

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Speaker 1: We’re currently running a digital ad campaign supporting our consumer

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Speaker 1: business with the tagline, easy does it? You know, the

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Speaker 1: word easy speaks to how easy our products are to use.

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Speaker 1: Does it speaks to the fact that our products get

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Speaker 1: the job done? The beauty of digital media is that

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Speaker 1: you can measure results in real time and optimize based

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Speaker 1: on what’s working well. Our media plan leverages a mix

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Speaker 1: of upper, mid, and lower funnel channels to drive awareness, consideration,

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Speaker 1: and purchase intent. Micmac has been a great partner. We

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Speaker 1: use the Micmac platform to provide a seamless consumer journey

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Speaker 1: and path to purchase. Importantly, our brand building efforts around

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Speaker 1: original thinking and easy does it are having a positive impact.

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Speaker 1: We conduct a brand health survey every twice a year

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Speaker 1: with thousands of consumers. Our brand tracking consistently shows that

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Speaker 1: consumers associate the Velcro brand with the attributes original and innovative.

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Speaker 1: In fact, these two attributes are the ones most strongly

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Speaker 1: associated with the Velcro brand. Our research also shows that

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Speaker 1: Velcro brand is a top performer in key purchase drivers

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Speaker 1: for the fastener category, including strong, versatile, and easy to use.

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Speaker 1: This tells us that our easy-does-it positioning is breaking through. Interestingly,

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Speaker 1: one of our challenges is that we are already a

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Speaker 1: household name. Sarah hit on this. People use Velcro brand

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Speaker 1: hook and loop every day as a component in products

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Speaker 1: made by other companies. If you think about it, diapers,

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Speaker 1: medical devices, footwear and apparel. However, we’re not always top

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Speaker 1: of mind as a standalone product that people can buy

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Speaker 1: at a retail store to help with projects around the home.

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Speaker 1: People always have tape, glue, and nails in their homes.

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Speaker 1: Our goal is to ensure they also have Velcro brand

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Speaker 1: products on hand when they need them. I’ve learned while

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Speaker 1: working at Velcro companies that our products can be a

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Speaker 1: great replacement for just about any other fastening solution.

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Speaker 2: I would concur. I consider myself very much ahead of

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Speaker 2: the curve then because in my junk drawer, I’ve got

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Speaker 2: that big roll that you were talking about. So I

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Speaker 2: didn’t even realize how progressive I was, but I’m far

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Speaker 2: from an influencer when it comes to these kinds of things.

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Speaker 2: You guys have done some very interesting work in that area.

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Speaker 2: Can you talk a little bit more about that and

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Speaker 2: how you find those micro communities?

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Speaker 1: Sure, absolutely. You know, influencer content plays a key role

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Speaker 1: in our marketing efforts as it helps us showcase the

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Speaker 1: functionality and versatility of Velcro brand products in interesting real

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Speaker 1: life use cases. Our influencers have loyal and highly engaged

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Speaker 1: audiences who trust their recommendations, which helps expand our reach

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Speaker 1: and build credibility for our brand. They extend our message

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Speaker 1: and play a big role in educating people on the

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Speaker 1: countless ways to use our products. You know, overall, we’ve

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Speaker 1: seen great ideas from our influencers and strong consumer engagement

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Speaker 1: with our influencer programs. When we select our influencers, we

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Speaker 1: seek out creative do-it-yourselfers with an approachable style and who

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Speaker 1: we feel can be great ambassadors for the Velcro brand.

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Speaker 1: The reality is that applications for Velcro brand products are

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Speaker 1: limitless and we sometimes get the best ideas from the

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Speaker 1: community and and from do-it-yourselfers who recognize the inherent value

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Speaker 1: of our products. You know, crafting is a great example.

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Speaker 1: Our influencers come up with these amazing and really creative

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Speaker 1: kids crafting and holiday decorating ideas that everyone wants to try.

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Speaker 1: You know, I often compare a do-it-yourself project to a recipe.

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Speaker 1: And I talk about do-it-yourself a lot because that’s really

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Speaker 1: the market that our products serve. Whether it be, you know,

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Speaker 1: we think of do-it-yourself broadly, you know, it can be gardening,

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Speaker 1: it can be crafting. It can also be a heavy

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Speaker 1: home improvement project. It can be organization. So I often

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Speaker 1: compare a do-it-yourself project to a recipe. We are a

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Speaker 1: key ingredient in many projects, just like you have a

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Speaker 1: key ingredient in a recipe. We have to inspire people

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Speaker 1: by showing them the finished project and giving them the

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Speaker 1: confidence to create it on their own with the Velcro brand.

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Speaker 1: For us, when it comes to influencers, it’s really about

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Speaker 1: finding do-it-yourselfers who share our passion and can bring original

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Speaker 1: thinking to their projects. Our influencer programs have been successful

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Speaker 1: in driving engagement in sales, especially when directly linked with

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Speaker 1: retailer sites and storefronts. For example, the back-to-school period is

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Speaker 1: a strong sales window for us. In 2024, our back-to-school

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Speaker 1: influencer campaign resulted in more than 7 million impressions and

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Speaker 1: a strong organic engagement rate of 6%. More importantly, we

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Speaker 1: also drove year-over-year sales growth. User-generated content is also important.

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Speaker 1: You know, we’re always excited to see organic content and

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Speaker 1: all the clever ways people are using our products. If

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Speaker 1: we start to see trends and use cases or interesting

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Speaker 1: hacks with Velcro brand products, they can inspire us to

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Speaker 1: create new products based on that that can do the

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Speaker 1: job even better.

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Speaker 3: Velcro brand is in such an awesome position to take

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Speaker 3: advantage of the creator community, short form video.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely.

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Speaker 3: Compared to some of our other guests where like the

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Speaker 3: product really doesn’t translate. So it’s awesome. We have to

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Speaker 3: ask you our famous last question, which is what’s the

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Speaker 3: bravest thing you’ve ever done?

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Speaker 1: Thank you for the question. I thought about this long

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Speaker 1: and hard, you know, and I have to say, you know,

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Speaker 1: there’s not one specific act of bravery that jumps out

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Speaker 1: to me. You know, I’ve never climbed Mount Everest or

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Speaker 1: jumped out of a plane. What I’d like to talk

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Speaker 1: about is just more about a series of brave decisions

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Speaker 1: I’ve made throughout my career. You know, I’ve uprooted and

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Speaker 1: moved to a new city six times for a new

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Speaker 1: career opportunity with no guarantee that it would work out.

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Speaker 1: You know, along the way, I’ve had great career experiences,

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Speaker 1: worked with amazing people and made incredible new friends. You know,

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Speaker 1: I think this is becoming rarer. People aren’t relocating as

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Speaker 1: much for jobs, but I’ve moved all over. You know,

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Speaker 1: I’ve worked in great places like D.C., Boston, Chicago, even

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Speaker 1: in Neenah, Wisconsin. And I even did an internship in Mumbai, India.

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Speaker 1: So looking back, I wouldn’t have done anything differently.

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Speaker 3: What do you think that means for the future generation?

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Speaker 3: The fact that they’re staying put?

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Speaker 1: It’s the beauty of technology, right? And advancement that people

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Speaker 1: can live remotely and, you know, stay where maybe their

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Speaker 1: families are, where they want to be long-term. It’s great. But,

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Speaker 1: you know, there’s something I think that you just can’t

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Speaker 1: replace from being in person together, you know, so it’s

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Speaker 1: great that we can work remote and it’s great that

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Speaker 1: we can be more flexible and have a mix, you know,

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Speaker 1: I think the best of both worlds, but I just

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Speaker 1: think there’s nothing that can replace that face-to-face interaction, which

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Speaker 1: is really important. So it’s a balance. I think there’s

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Speaker 1: a balance there. I do think, you know, Back in

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Speaker 1: the day, you know, in order to explore and move

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Speaker 1: further in your career, you had to be willing to relocate.

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Speaker 1: I just think in the world we’re in today, it’s

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Speaker 1: becoming people want to put down roots and live in

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Speaker 1: a certain place. So it’s definitely an interesting, you know,

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Speaker 1: an interesting time.

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Speaker 3: Well, we appreciate you sharing your story and Velcro Company’s story.

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Speaker 3: Thank you for your time.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

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Speaker 3: If you like what you heard and you want to

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Speaker 3: listen to other products that have ubiquity, go check out

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Speaker 3: our friend Sarabi at Church and Dwight. Don’t forget to

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Speaker 3: write a review. Thanks for listening.

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Speaker 2: Hi, I’m Jackie Cooper, Global Chief Brand Officer at Edelman

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Speaker 2: and the host of Touch of Truth, a new podcast

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Speaker 2: launching on the Adweek Podcast Network. My dad gave me

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Speaker 2: this incredibly smart piece of advice. Meet everyone once. As

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Speaker 2: a result, I’ve met some of the most fascinating and

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Speaker 2: inspiring people on the planet. Now on Touch of Truth,

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Speaker 2: we’re coming centre stage and sharing the mic to experience

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Speaker 2: stories of truth, insights and visions for the future that

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Speaker 2: will challenge your way of thinking.

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Speaker 1: Touch of Truth is available wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Speaker 2: New episodes come out every Tuesday. I do hope to

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Speaker 2: see you there.