In 1938, German tinkerer Erwin Halder invented the soft-face mallet. Until recently, however, hardly anybody knew about it. Even today, the family business Halder produces soft-face mallets and forestry tools. But Halder isn’t the only supplier on the market anymore. The company has to compete with low-quality, low-price products and imitations, mainly from Asia, specifically those offered via POS and e-commerce. Especially in the target groups trade and craftspeople (industry, agriculture and forestry, maintenance companies), Halder products hadn’t garnered much attention, due to a lack of communication and the very basic, outdated brand appearance. Along with slow overall market growth, Halder’s revenue had stagnated. Despite a continuously growing product portfolio! Economic fluctuations posed an additional obstacle, and success seemed elusive. It was time to bring the brand into the focus again (among craftspeople and specialist trade) and increase turnover by at least 10%.

Using the claim "The Original. For Professionals", Halder positions itself as the inventor of soft-face mallets, aims at a quality-conscious target group, and boosts the “cult classic” potential of the brand – all with a twinkling eye. We created a series of ads featuring short stories from working life. Authentically told by real guys who are fans of Halder’s German quality and unique product features. By amping up the emotional value, and removing dust from the brand, the campaign achieved a strong connection to the target group. A feeling of security and trust counterbalanced the low-cost competition. The direct result? Higher demand! Through secondary placements and sales campaigns, new enthusiasm was also kindled among specialist trade, strengthening both brand and products at the POS.

Research into the target group revealed that many craftspeople face immense time and cost pressure and have to deal with growing competition from untrained "wannabe professionals" and internet platforms like My Hammer. On the other hand, Halder was able to identify a user community with affinity for high-end brand products. These users strongly value quality work and know that, to accomplish it, you need high-quality tools.

From May 2021 to October 2021, Halder launched an advertising campaign in numerous trade magazines. At the same time, the new website www.halder.com/hand-tools went live. This was accompanied by sales campaigns in the professional trades, with new POS media, and by posts in social media such as Instagram and Facebook. A completely new booth in the new Halder design attracted significant attention at various trade fairs. And the new product catalog was quickly out of stock.

Since the campaign was launched, sales have shot up dramatically for all products (e.g. forestry tools + 180%, MAXXCRAFT hammer + 55%, SIMPLEX soft-face mallet + 23%) and in all major markets (e.g. USA + 47%). Promoted products were very quickly sold out, thanks to the striking new displays and promotional packaging. Completely new inquiries came in from DIY trade (Globus). Page impressions of the website surged significantly (sales driver SIMPLEX soft-face mallet +34%, forestry tools +52%). All in all, the bold campaign caused considerable excitement, grabbing the attention of customers, business partners, employees, and specialist publications. For the first time in the history of the company, a communication campaign with international reach was consistently implemented, resulting in reprints of the complete product catalogue in nine additional languages, now catering to a new level of international demand.