In 1921, Russian-Jewish immigrant Harry Soref approached his household for startup cash for his new model. He wished to promote improved locks, he informed them.
“Lox?” they stated (Yiddish for smoked salmon.) “What’s improper with the previous lox?”
Alas, the story might be apocryphal. What’s indeniable is how swiftly Grasp Lock grew to become the trade normal with its bulletproof casing and years of promoting that targeted on it relentlessly.
That technique tacks in a brand new path right now with a marketing campaign to help a serious rebranding. The essence: after a long time of speaking solely about locks, the corporate’s now being attentive to the “grasp” a part of its identify.
“Grasp It” is the model’s new mantra and the theme for a collection of adverts that painting on a regular basis individuals excelling at noble callings.
“We’re all mastering one thing,” intones the narrator within the anchoring spot. “But it surely’s not reaching the end line that counts: It’s giving our all each step of the best way.” After some feel-good footage of strong residents—a younger girl opening her bike store, a contractor who volunteers as a little-league coach—comes the rallying cry: “If it means one thing, grasp it.”
Grasp Lock hasn’t surrendered its foundational message of security and safety, however the marketing campaign relieves a protracted interval of promoting that had grown predictable.
The model’s first TV spot, aired in 1967, confirmed considered one of its laminated-steel padlocks holding quick beneath hearth from a .44 Magnum. Grasp Lock upped its personal ante in 1974 when “Tough Under Fire” confirmed the padlock resisting hearth from a .30 caliber rifle. That advert ran for almost a decade, with a few seconds of it resurfacing throughout Grasp Lock’s centennial effort of 2021.
However nothing stays recent perpetually.
“Properly-known manufacturers have a entice: they’re too well-known [and] typically taken as a right,” VP of name growth Katie Hermann previous ADWEEK. “Our job is to resume the energy and energy of the unique thought of what we do—constructing confidence and taking duty.”
The brand new messaging admittedly calls for a little bit of mental effort on the a part of viewers, giving them a double entendre to ponder.
“The concept of ‘grasp’ as a verb strikes the model from a descriptor to an thought about what the Grasp Lock proprietor wants after they use the merchandise,” stated Pat Laughlin, chief artistic officer of Laughlin Constable, Grasp Lock’s longtime company accomplice. “The marketing campaign makes ‘grasp’ proactive—taking duty in your world.”
