With the rebrand complete, Challs had to win over the supermarket buyers. Although Buster Sink Fresh was stocked by John Lewis, Waitrose, Sainsbury, Morrisons and the DIY chain Wilkinson, a place on the shelves at Somerfield, Asda and Tesco was still worryingly out of reach.
‘We couldn't even get a dialogue with the buyers.’ says Burchell. But that was about to change. Simon Preece, Elmwood's Account Director on the project, says: ‘We know that in retail, you have to be able to engage and inspire buyers and enable them to see the strategic vision and opportunity. Give them a reason to believe and the rest falls into place.’
That ‘reason to believe’ was delivered in a forceful presentation.
More houses with more toilets and en suite bathrooms, means more sinks and more plugholes (Challs estimates the UK now has 135 million) and more drains using the same single waste outlet. Customers need Buster to prevent or clear increasingly common smells and blockages. While the market for window cleaning products is static, Challs estimates the drain freshening and unblocking market will grow by a third in two years.
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Making an impact.
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The presentation includes a real-time video of Drain Clear shifting a kitchen blockage far more effectively than its Mr Muscle rival. It was this, which finally breached Tesco and Asda's defences.
‘It formed a package with the design and made them think differently. They didn't take us seriously before, but now we're seen as credible and professional and that's a huge change,’ says Burchell.
Asda now stocks two Buster products in 250 stores, while Tesco carries two across 580 stores and Morrisons has increased its coverage. Challs used the relaunch to increase recommended retail prices, so margins have improved considerably.
'We said that getting one product into Tesco or Asda would pay for the design project, but it's paid for itself many times over,' says Burchell.
