Story
Kobalt is the in-house tool brand at Lowe’s Home Improvement stores. For over 20 years, the brand’s signature blue has earned the trust of DIYers and pros in search of durable, high-quality tools at a great value.
But until 2017, the brand had no social media presence. To complement their in-store and web marketing efforts, Lowe’s engaged Lineage to launch and maintain the brand’s social media channels.
We soon discovered that Kobalt’s customers were passionate about the brand and eager to share it. The social channels we launched became a place for them to rally around content, conversation, and all things Kobalt.
Social presence from zero
Beyond the shelf
Kobalt had earned goodwill on the strength of its products, its association with NASCAR, and, of course, its relationship with parent company Lowe’s. It needed a social extension of its brand to match. We began by creating a social & digital playbook that defined objectives, tactics, metrics, and standards.
Content strategy
Finding the blue space
Many tool brands feature promotional graphics and user-contributed photos in heavy rotation, with minimal investment in storytelling. To set Kobalt apart, we flipped the script with content like our “Artisans” video series, in which expert, hobbyist, and pro tool users share their passion for their craft.
Narrative
Kobalt Artisans series
For Ohio native Lou Speigelberg, restoring antique tractors is more than his passion—it’s a way of life for his family.
Keeping it fresh
Of course, we make sales-driven content too. Marketing is about the bottom line—but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a brand in new directions. We evolve our approach to promotion on a quarterly basis according to performance and design trends. (It turns out Kobalt fans like some black with their blue.)
Gallery
Engaged, satisfied customers
Building community
Our approach clearly resonates with Kobalt loyalists, who contribute to engagement rates up to 8x the industry average. But they’re not just tapping the like button: our content fosters deeper engagement, such as video completion rates up to 2.75x higher than the average branded video.
By The Numbers
Building trust
Social media is also where Kobalt users come for questions, concerns, and customer service outside the retail environment. In addition to community management, Lineage fields the brand’s customer service inquiries, helping build and maintain brand trust and keeping our audience informed about the products.
I’ve owned many brands of tools…since buying my first Kobalt tools, I haven’t owned anything else.
Love, loyalty, LTV
Driving sales
The content: beautiful. The customers: satisfied. But is it worth it?
You bet your angle grinder. Kobalt’s social media channels have contributed to significant sales, whether in the form of paid conversion campaigns or brand loyalists dropping links to buy in the comments. Our followers shop Kobalt early and often, with a lifetime value far exceeding that of the average customer.
We didn’t do anything different to drive these results this year. Except this campaign.
Video
24V stop motion
To highlight the power and flexibility of the Kobalt 24V cordless collection during the 2020 holiday shopping season, we created this stop-motion video featuring some very animated tools.
Online & in-store
Our work supports the Kobalt brand wherever it lives. We upcycle social content for Lowe’s web and email marketing. We develop supplementary content for product pages, proven to create sales lift. And even as we think beyond the shelf, it all does come back to the retail environment, where our signage helps create a unified brand experience.
Built to last
Our agency works tirelessly to brainstorm new content and campaigns while managing a growing audience. Our studio produces high-caliber, high-volume video and photography. And we conduct product and audience research for Lowe’s that provides valuable insight, as with the XTR collection. We look forward to a future of new tools, new categories, and new customers joining the Kobalt family.
