winter 2021
MAIN PIPE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE
In this Issue: READ & WIN – A Chance at a $25 Amazon Gift Card just for Checking out the Magazine! ELEVATING EFFORTS ACROSS THE BOARD – Supporting the Wholesale Channel LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER – A Look into the Dedication of a Few Globe Union Family Members
READ & WIN Get the latest Gerber info AND the chance to win a prize. Yes, you read that right! Beginning with this issue, there will be hidden messages, symbols or tasks within each quarterly magazine. 1. Complete the action needed 2. Enter to win within 5 business days of receiving the magazine 3. Gerber will reach out to three winners with digital $25 Amazon gift cards To kick things off, we have hidden snowflake icons throughout pages of this winter edition.
Count them all up and submit your answer here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZDRJLKP HAPPY READING AND BEST OF LUCK!
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TABLE OF
CONTENTS In the Know – Sales & Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7 Culture & Kudos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10 Gerber Does Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 By the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Good Clean Fun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
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In the Know – SALES & MARKETING Elevating Efforts across the Board – Initiatives to Support the Wholesale
Gerber has unprecedented marketing activities in store for 2021! While these campaigns directly target plumbers and homeowners, their long-term impacts will provide a stronger Gerber brand to support the success of our wholesale customers.
BUILDING PLUMBER BRAND CONSIDERATION – Throughout 2021, beginning in Q1 Plumbers Can “Make it Good with Gerber” through our product offering, performance and value. Plumbers are an important and impactful audience that have a level of untapped potential to be strong advocates for the Gerber brand.
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Research among plumbers to learn about their needs and what they want most from a plumbing products brand
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Digital advertisements that speaks their language: direct, confident, and no fluff
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Project spotlights to build trust and preference for Gerber
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Video advertising to communicate brand messaging and connect with plumbers
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Trade publication media outreach for editorial inclusion
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Dedicated marketing collateral that hones in on Gerber, our value proposition for plumbers, and product performance
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A re-imagined “Pros” section on gerber-us.com with a broader offering of resources for plumbers, and eventually, all of Gerber’s pro customers
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THE KIND OF TOILETS THAT MAKE PLUMBERS
AND COMFORTABLE. With Gerber® you can offer your customers the styles, features and flushing performance of higher-priced toilets. But, for a much lower price they will love. And so will you, because it affords you more profit margin upfront without a promotion or rebate. Bottom line: for good looks, good flushing, and good pricing, you can always make it good with Gerber.
gerber-us.com/pros
© 2021 Gerber Plumbing Fixtures, LLC
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In the Know – SALES & MARKETING
Paula the Home Improvement Fairy Guides Millennial’s with a Fixer-Upper to “Start with the faucet.”
CONSIDER • Digital banner & video advertisements to drive traffic to special landing page. • Providing product for influencers to feature, whether in a photo or video, exposes our brand to their dedicated audience.
ATTENTION
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• Featuring influencers on the Gerber website helps establish creditability & reliability through testimonial. • Full consumer-targeted content plan for website, email & social media to become a trusted source for fun, valuable information.
• Dedicated on gerber encourag homeown their loca
CULTIVATING CONSUMER BRAND AWARENESS – Throughout 2021, beginning in Q1 We asked ourselves, “What’s keeping Gerber’s legacy from being legendary for our customers?” We have an 88-year strong legacy, and to take us through the next 88 years and beyond, we’ll need to have a legendary legacy. This is why Gerber has made the exciting decision to thoughtfully and strategically dive into efforts to build brand recognition among homeowners and end users. This positive shift in strategy will universally help Gerber, and more importantly, our partners and customers, to truly harness the strength of Gerber’s product offering and market position as a consistent and reliable supplier of both vitreous china and brass products.
SERVICE
d landing page r-us.com ging ners to visit al showrooms.
• Encourage product registration through email marketing for faster, more personalized support.
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• User-generated content on social media displays consumers’ loyalty and advocacy of the Gerber brand.
LOYALTY
rney is umer jou s n o c e v re for The abo t is in sto a h w f o te in the just a tas ck back e h C . d n r beyo ate on ou 2021 and r an upd fo e u s is ! Spring d efforts expande GERBER
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Culture & Kudos
Learning from Each Other – a look into the dedication of a few Globe Union family members quarantine when returning back to China. This sacrifice was made in order for our teams to learn from each other, because building knowledge will benefit us all in the true spirit of “One Family, One Vision”.
Gerber has a nearly 90-year-old heritage which was built by earning trust and is deeply rooted in family values. We want to foster an environment that is reflective of our culture and believe that each member of our Gerber family delivers on our commitment of dependability. When Gerber was adopted into the Globe Union family, these values and commitments were further strengthened under the motto of “One Family, One Vision”. These words are painted in various languages in our offices and factories across the globe, and we try to live them every day.
COVID-19 has demonstrated how we can become true team players, and how important a growing mindset is. We have some truly special individuals who have been working together by sharing their knowledge but also their cultures. Our GUMX team did a brief interview with some of our Milim team to learn a little bit more about what this process has been like for them.
In 2019, we gained nearly 1,200 family members as we adopted Globe Union Mexico (GUMX) into our family. This strengthened us immensely, grew our manufacturing footprint, and gave us an even bigger opportunity to learn, both personally and professionally, from each other. As with anything new, we experienced a couple of growing pains and relied on brothers and sisters on the other side of the world to help us. We have a world-class vitreous china manufacturing facility in Milim, China, that is led by individuals with a combined 90 years of expertise. The team from Milim jumped into action in order to share their knowledge and ramp up GUMX. As one could imagine, it is very hard to be away from your family, in a brand new country, for an extended period of time. This became even harder in 2020 through the COVID-19 era. As our Milim team traveled, this meant months away from their families but also an almost a 30-day
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What would you tell your friends about our culture? How did you like your experience in GUMX? Chen Yongkun (Milim): I really liked my experience in Mexico, the people are nice and I especially enjoyed the food. I liked working with the team, learning from them and being able to contribute some of my knowledge. I also really liked the climate of Saltillo – this time of the year is cold in China but in Saltillo the climate is perfect. What message do you want to give to the Gerber family? Chen Yongkun (Milim): The best way to reach our goals is by working together as one team.
What would you tell your friends about our culture? How did you like your experience in GUMX? Yun Xing Hua (Milim): I like that in Mexican culture people are so welcoming and receive you with such open arms. The people of Mexico are very happy, show camaraderie, and like to enjoy themselves day-by-day. What message do you want to give to the Gerber family? Yun Xing Hua (Milim): Gerber is a single family, we must have clear objectives to reach the goal together.
What message do you want to give to the Gerber family? Chen Ling (GUMX Translator): We have to keep moving forward; working together is what is going to help us improve our work. If we continue we will achieve our goals soon. Was the difference in cultures an obstacle to reaching the goals? Chen Ling (GUMX Translator): It was never an obstacle, the teams worked together from the beginning.
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Culture & Kudos Way to go, Dolores! Dolores Chastain, Customer Care Representative- Northeast Region was named customer service representative of the year by the Duhart Company, Gerber’s manufacturers’ representative agency that covers Virginia and Maryland. Duhart began representing Gerber in December 2019 and Dolores flew out to Richmond, VA, to ensure a thorough onboarding and to welcome them to the Gerber family.
Shining a Light on Technical Support
Gerber’s technical support team works, often behind the scenes, with dedicated service to assist those looking for help. Our organization is proud of their level of excellence and is delighted to share some quotes from exceptionally happy customers and homeowners! “The part I needed arrived quickly and I was able to install it myself with the direction that the customer care center had given me. The part was free and my faucet is now working perfectly.” “It’s quite clear that Gerber takes customer service very seriously, as do I. I assure you that going forward I will make every effort to patronize your brand whenever I’m seeking a product that you manufacture.” “Just wanted to say thanks for the exceptional service you gave me on my spout replacement. I cannot recall such great response from any other company.” “You are a pleasure to work with. P.S. Both people who have helped me did an EXCELLENT job. You guys are a superb model for how customer should be.” “I want to thank you very, very much not only for the information about what is almost exactly the faucet I have now, but for your professional and humane attitude!! I truly appreciate your help.” “It is so refreshing to deal with a company that stands behind their products and offers REAL support. I just wanted to say you made my day and I will look for your products in the future. Thanks to the nice gentleman that helped me on the phone. He was very courteous and professional and right on the mark for a delivery time.” “I just want to take a minute and let Management know how I received excellent customer service from Tanika Graham. My customer called in stating she purchased her toilet a couple of months ago and her grandson has a seizure and damaged the lid. Tanika shipped the lid as a one-time customer service gesture. In addition to being product knowledgeable, empathizing, very polite and pleasant; both me and the customer were in tears. The customer stated she has not experienced such GREAT customer service.” “I don’t know how to thank you enough for empowering me to change out the toilet fill valves in my home! I am recently widowed and was feeling at my wit’s end with frustration. When I called the Gerber toilet 800 number on the phone, I was so relieved that you, Eva, talked me through my options and sent me three new upgraded Fluidmaster® 400 fill valves. I watched a couple YouTube videos and got started. Just like you told me, the job became easy once I tried the first toilet. You also emailed me the step-by-step photos for installation, and suddenly this became a project that I could do myself! Thank you again for being so personable on the phone, and saving me a ton of money. You were very helpful and each of my three toilets is working perfectly now! I liked your company’s slogan at the end of your email: One family, One vision. Words that certainly are true.”
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l Sheet l e S d e Updat vailable! Now A
The Logan Square™ collection features a traditional design style with rectangular layers for an elegant and timeless look.
LOGAN ™ SQUARE
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WICKER ™ PARK The contemporary Wicker Park™ collection has highlights of geometric elements. Pieces feature a smooth style coupled with sharper, more defined lines.
Sheet l l e S d e Updat vailable! Now A
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Gerber Does Good For the 3rd year in a row, Gerber’s Supply Chain group has teamed up with a local vendor to donate time, a truck, a driver, and sets of hands to a local charity. Many people know about Toys for Tots that works to collect and donate new, unopened toys for kids who otherwise might not get anything under the tree. What they may not be aware of is that the organizations that receive these wonderful gifts have to arrange the final-mile delivery. Prior to 2016, Veronica Horton, the Resident Services Coordinator for a local location for Mercy Housing, would
scramble a group of local parents and their minivans to pickup trucks together to drive to the regional Toys for Tots warehouse, load up, and deliver to the Mercy Housing apartment complex. Veronica and her team would then unpack and sort the gifts so the residents with children could come choose a single toy for each child resident, assuring all of these local children affected by poverty had a little something for the holidays. However, for the last three years The Custom Co Inc has donated a truck, a driver, and a set of hands to load, haul and deliver all of these toys.
The Gerber/Globe Union team in Canada donated over $21,000 worth of discontinued product to the Habitat for Humanity chapter in Victoria. The donations go towards building homes locally and helping families build strength, stability and independence through affordable homeownership Affordable housing is a foundation for reducing poverty and achieving economic growth, with the potential to positively impact an even wider range of societal issues.
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By the Book BOOK: T he Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History AUTHOR: Robert M. Edsel RECOMMENDED BY: Faith Walker, Account Manager, MRO Joanna Karafotas, Senior Graphic Designer Why Faith Loves It: This book follows six Monuments Men who were a special force of American & British men that risked their lives to save the world’s great art stolen by the Nazis. A very interesting and fascinating historical read! Warning that you won’t be able to put this one down! Why Joanna Loves It: A great page turner that you won’t want to put down. I learned so many new things about the war and how the Nazis tried to censor some of the most impactful, influential works of art. So relevant to the times we are living now; those who don’t learn from history are destined to repeat it!
BOOK: O ut of the Silence: After the Crash AUTHOR: Eduardo Strauch RECOMMENDED BY: Carmen Fiordirosa, Vice President of Marketing Why Carmen Loves It: The surprising thing was that it is a real-life story I did not know about! I love learning new things. The story jumped around a little, at times making it hard to follow, however, it is written poetically and I could not put this down. The level of trauma these people overcame is inspiring, and I appreciated this particular survivors candidness with his spiritual struggle, the strongest point the author did well to bring home is that love/servanthood to each other is what got them through and that in life really that is the key to overcoming any trial.
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Good Clean Fun U.S. Gerber team members donned their festive best for a friendly ugly Christmas sweater competition at the end of 2020. The below winners beat out the rest thanks to their tinsel, bows, bells and glitter, but most of all, creativity!
in Iasm lace: P t s Fir
i! Aciol
Second Place: Vince Novinge r
ke Heinkel Third Place: Broo
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Add a touch of grace with the Hinsdale® collection. The design elements are elegant with understated beauty, while also showcasing hints of edging and detail.
HINSDALE
®
Updated S ell S Now Avai heet lable!
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