Ed Klonowski - Meet the New Gaco - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Ed Klonowski from Gaco. You can read the interview below, listen to the podcast or watch the recording.

Intro: Welcome to CoatingsCast, the ultimate podcast dedicated to the science, art and  innovation of liquid and fluid-applied roofing, coatings for surfaces and  waterproofing. It's time to roll up our sleeves, put on our lab coats and  dive headfirst into the world of liquid protection that keeps your roofs and surfaces in prime condition. The future is here and it's liquid, so don't miss out. This is CoatingsCast, where every drop counts in the world of roof and surface protection. 

Hello, everyone. My name is Megan Ellsworth here at coatingscoffeeshop.com and you are listening to a CoatingsCast. I'm really excited because today I'm here with Ed from Gaco and we're talking about meeting the new Gaco, the new recent brand restructure and  everything that they have coming up and are looking forward to offer brand new to their people. So Ed, hello. Welcome to CoatingsCast. 

Ed Klonowski: Good morning, Megan. Thanks for having me. 

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. Let's just dive right in and have you start by introducing yourself and telling us a little bit about your role at Gaco. 

Ed Klonowski: Yeah, so my name is Ed Klonowski. I am the product manager for our liquid applied waterproofing segment within Gaco. So that covers everything from your traditional roof coatings to decking and waterproofing to below grade waterproofing as well. So pretty much anything liquid applied that we have falls under my purview. 

Megan Ellsworth: Awesome. Awesome. Okay. Could you walk us through the why behind Gaco's recent brand restructure? 

Ed Klonowski: Yeah. So Gaco, about two years ago, acquired a division from ITW, Illinois Tool Works, called Polymers and Sealants North America. 

Megan Ellsworth: Okay. 

Ed Klonowski: That division was comprised of almost a dozen different companies that did products from waterproofing to roof coatings to marine coatings, aerospace tapes, adhesives and sealants. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. 

Ed Klonowski: I mean, the list goes on and on and every one of those had its own unique brand. So we're talking about legacy brands like Acrolar, E-las-tek, Futura, American Safety Technology, Stay Put, a lot of names that are kind of synonymous in their respective markets with the product itself, kind of like Kleenex. So when we looked at folding them into Gaco, we wanted to go forth with a very strong brand and lead with the historic name that Gaco has created for itself over the last 60 or so years. 

So obviously, GacoFlex, which has always been our roof coating segment, remains as it was. We are breaking out our decking and waterproofing division and combining that with the legacy Pack Poly brand that was in the West Coast to create GacoPoly. So that will take not only the Gaco waterproofing products, but also the Pacific Polymers products and combine them into one offering under GacoPoly. Further, they have a number of different sealants, caulking, stuff of that nature. Those are all becoming GacoSeal, so kind of a one-stop shop for all of those products combining two or three different brands there. We will have GacoBond for all of our adhesives. And then finally GacoFloor, which is a new kind of a spin-off of one of the existing brands, American Safety Technology. They're very well known in the marine space for military aircraft carriers and stuff of that nature. We are taking the commercial portion of that and rolling it into GacoFloor so that we can start looking at the commercial flooring space with those non-skid products, as well as some new additions like epoxies and polyaspartics to dive into that adjacent segment of the market. 

And finally, we have the GacoIndustrial group, which kind of encompasses a lot of the ancillary products like butyl tapes used for aircrafts and your wind energy-type segments. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. I mean, you all have everything. That's amazing. 

Ed Klonowski: And that kind of leads into stuff we'll talk shortly about, but kind of rolling those all up under the strong Gaco name and then sub-segmenting those out for the various market segments. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. And that's so important for contractors to be able to kind of shop at a one-stop shop, like you said. So how would you say unifying all the product lines under the Gaco name benefit contractors directly? 

Ed Klonowski: Well, a lot of these brands, these legacy brands, were kind of not hardly pushed in the market. They had a smaller sales force. And bringing them under the Gaco fold, one of the things Gaco's always prided itself on is our sales force. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. 

Ed Klonowski: The boots on the ground across the country. Being able to roll all of these fantastic products into that sales team and push those into market gives us better coverage and it gets a lot better technical acumen in-market for contractors to tap into when they're looking for solutions. Whether it's a roofing contractor that's looking for sealants or a single-ply installer that's looking for maybe a different type of bonding adhesive, they know Gaco has pretty much all of the accessory products that would go with many of these systems across various markets. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Yeah. That's so true. So how do the seven new sub-brands help simplify product selection and application? 

Ed Klonowski: So like I said, you had the Gaco base name and then about a dozen different brands that were acquired over the last couple years. We try to outline the brands very simplistically so it's very verbally queuing as to what that product line holds. GacoBond, you can be looking at bonding adhesive stuff of that nature. GacoSeal, your sealants, those types of products. GacoFloor, obviously you're talking about flooring products. And then GacoPoly, it breaks away from the convention a little bit, but merges two fantastic brands that have been in market. So if you're familiar with Pack Poly, GacoPoly, that kind of links in. Similarly, on the Gaco side, if you use their decking and waterproofing products, you can roll that in. 

So we're really trying to simplify how the products are presented in-market so that the contract can very easily go to our website, gaco.com and  they see all of these different divisions lined out. "Oh. Very simplistically, I know I need an industrial sealant for oil and gas. That's GacoIndustrial." We're trying to simplify, for the contractor ultimately, what they're looking for and now they're not trying to remember 12 different names. It's simply a different variation of Gaco. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. I love that. Yeah, like you said, that's so simplified. And what brilliant marketing, honestly, on y'all's end in being able to simplify those names and subjects like quadrants of the market. I think that's so important for people to be able to pick out, so love that. What steps did you take to ensure those legacy product performances remain consistent under the new names? 

Ed Klonowski: Yeah. So when a contractor reaches out you know, yes, the brand name will change for the contractor, but the actual part numbers and part names and product names have not. So if you ordered a part number under E-las-tek or Acrolar, that part number is the exact same under the new Gaco branding. So that has been rolled in to make it a very simple transition for the contractor. And then from a performance standpoint, all of these brands had great quality control in their own right, but now we're bringing them under one solid and concise warranty and quality program that we have used in Gaco and the broader wholesome organization for decades. So kind of expanding and really rounding out the quality, the consistency and  the performance of the products as we bring them under one umbrella. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. And it's nice to know, too, that you all are continuously testing these products and making sure they're performing up to par and that even though there's been this restructure, this rebrand, it's all the same performance products at the end of the day. 

Ed Klonowski: Yeah. I mean, we're not changing formulations. We're not changing how the product's used. We're not changing applications. It's literally a new label, new name, same great product that the contractors have been using. 

Megan Ellsworth: Love it. Thank goodness. Okay, can you tell us more about the "formulating everyday success" concept and how it reflects Gaco's mission? 

Ed Klonowski: Yeah. When we talk about formulating everyday success, it's more than just trying to sell product and make money. It's designing products for specific applications that when they're used and applied, really give the contractor level of comfort knowing that these products are designed specifically for their application, tested for consistency from batch to batch, from application to application, that they don't just take a salesman's word on how the product will perform, how it will be perceived in market. They know from the 60+ year history of Gaco that these products meet the requirements, perform for decades and decades. And really, it's more about partnering with the contractor and allowing them to put their best foot forward anytime they use a Gaco product. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. It's nice to know, too, that Gaco has your back, right? The contractors' back. And you all are rooting for your contractors' success just as much as your own success. 

Ed Klonowski: Absolutely. We rely heavily on the contractor to obviously not only utilize our product, but talk about the product, how great it went down, how well it performed. So yes, we do everything we can in the design process and the manufacturing process to ensure a fantastic product, but ultimately the products are only as good as the contractors see it in application and in performance. So it's definitely a very close partnership with all of our contractors in how the products are used, how they're perceived and  the market success that they all see. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. How is Gaco's "beyond the bucket" support model helping contractors succeed on job sites? 

Ed Klonowski: So that goes back to kind of bringing some of the legacy Polymers and Sealants North America brands under Gaco. 

Megan Ellsworth: Okay. 

Ed Klonowski: One of the things that has always set Gaco apart is not only the widespread sales team, but the technical acumen of the sales guys. These aren't guys that are just trained to sell the product. They actually come in, apply the product themselves. They know how it should be going down, how it should be used, the best applications for given products. So they're not just a guy trying to sell a product in-market,. They're a technical advisor that is out there to assist contractors to help train and work alongside contractors as they use our products. So it's not just selling the material in the bucket. It's all of the support that we offer. And bringing the legacy ITW brands under the Gaco name, that exact same sales force is now offering that same technical acumen for all of the different products. 

We've had them in a number of times to train them on all the different brands, apply all the different brands in the lab, in the warehouse, in the field, to know exactly what they should be looking for, how best to apply the products and  then passing that education down to the contractors and always being available for the contractors when questions arise or when they have a unique application. A little bit outside of maybe something they've historically done. They know that they can reach out to the Gaco sales team and they have the experience and technical experience to make sure that they have the answer and the correct answer for that application. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, like I said, that's huge for the contractors in the field to have that support, know that, "Gaco has my back. I'm going to have someone come in and help train my people if I need it, answer my questions if I have questions and  keep me up to date on the latest technologies and innovations that Gaco is working on as well." That's amazing. I love that slogan, "beyond the bucket," because it is. It is beyond. It's going beyond the bucket. 

Ed Klonowski: Yeah. I mean, anyone can throw material in a bucket, but obviously a lot of these products, it's how it's applied that ultimately dictates the success of what's being done. So having that support is paramount to a successful brand, successful product and  ultimately successful contractors. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Okay, so how does this restructure better position Gaco to support full building envelope solutions? I'm talking foundation to rooftop. 

Ed Klonowski: Yeah. So Gaco has always been obviously well-known in waterproofing where they kind of got their feet wet with our liquid-apply waterproofing products, later branching out into the roofing segments, so Gaco has always had a very strong name in-market. And being able to utilize that same brand recognition and bring in other applications further supports the additional growth that we're looking for. With most of these applications, when you go into a building to look at a commercial floor or look at a roof or look at a balcony or a walking space, you typically walk past a number of other applications that we offer products for. 

So being able to walk in or travel to a building and look at the roofing system, maybe you're walking through a commercial manufacturing space for GacoFloor. You can have that conversation. If you're in a hotel and you're going up to the roof, you pass balconies, you pass common spaces that could use decking and waterproofing products or, once again, flooring products. If you're in a manufacturing environment, it's not just the outside commercial or decking and waterproofing space. It's also the non-skid area or hazardous materials where we have the hazardous spaces where we have non-skid solutions to help with safety. So bringing all of these under a single brand just further helps build the brand and show the vast opportunities that we have across the entire building envelope. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Yeah. That's great. I love that you all have all these new opportunities to offer your contractors and also for your contractors to realize, "Oh, I can get this from Gaco too? I can get that from Gaco? That's great. Oh, one-stop shop. I love it," so that's huge. Congratulations. 

Ed Klonowski: Yes, thank you. 

Megan Ellsworth: So what would you say contractors can expect next from Gaco as the rollout of this new brand identity continues? 

Ed Klonowski: So obviously, it'll have a new look and feel kind of modernizing from the Gaco of the '80s. So our marketing team has done a fantastic job with the rebranding and the rollout of that. But going forward, a lot of these sub-brands, the GacoSeal, GacoBond, GacoFloor, represent areas that we currently have some product, but are looking at growing considerably. 

Megan Ellsworth: Awesome. 

Ed Klonowski: So for instance, the GacoSeal group out the gate that currently comprises of just the sealants that we used for our decking and waterproofing products for the roofing systems, for some of the concrete systems, we're looking at expanding beyond that to getting into fenestration work, exterior building work, metal roof ceilings, stuff of that nature. So it's a foot in the door of that segment, but looking at considerable growth across all areas of sealants in the general construction market. 

Similarly, with GacoBond, we've historically focused on bonding adhesives for PBC and TBO. How do we expand that into the other single-ply systems that are out there? GacoFloor, this was a carve-out of the non-skid group from the military division that was extremely successful and not really widely known in the commercial space. So bringing that into the commercial space, telling the story about how this can be a substantial safety improvement in pretty much any manufacturing environment or commercial building that has areas that have pedestrian traffic or that might see some rain and you want a non-skid product. We can build on that by offering the full flooring solution. Not just the non-skid now, but also the standard epoxies and polyaspartics that would cover the broader area of the building. So really looking at kind of hints of where we're going as far as expansion of the Gaco brand with these new divisions. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. That's huge and really, really exciting. I love that you mentioned, also, the commercial manufacturing no-skid or the ... Say that again, the skid. 

Ed Klonowski: Non-skid or non-slip. 

Megan Ellsworth: Non-skid, yeah. That's so important, I think, also for contractors to use in their warehouses. There's lots of opportunity to use something like that just to add a layer of protection and safety for their teams and to have a brand that's thinking about that and thinking about that safety aspect is really great to work with. Well, Ed, thank you so much for chatting with me today. Is there anything else that you might be personally excited about offering to the contractors with this new rebrand, restructure? 

Ed Klonowski: Really, it's consistency in the look and feel of the websites, of the labels, the marketing collateral. One consistent tone and voice from the company instead of kind of piecemealed ones from the legacy companies. Obviously, it takes time to roll these out across a dozen different companies. Excited to get everyone kind of on the same foot marching in the same direction with a very clear and concise message and then just the expansion of the visibility to some of these smaller brands that have fantastic products, but just didn't have the marketing and boots on the ground to really show what they can do and how they can better aid in contractors' installations. So excited to see this kind of take wind in-market as it's starting to. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, me too. Well, congratulations on this restructure, rebrand. It's fabulous and I'm excited to see what else you all do. 

Ed Klonowski: Yes, thank you. 

Outro: Absolutely. Everyone can go to the Gaco directory on coatingscoffeeshop.com to learn more, see all the new brands, all the new products or rebranded products. Go check it out. And also, make sure that you are subscribed to our podcast channel here and ring the bell so you get notified every time we upload a new episode. And thank you so much for listening to CoatingsCast. We'll see you on the next one. 

Thanks for joining us on this Coating adventure. Stay tuned for more episodes. And in the meantime, be sure to follow us on social media to stay updated with all things roof coatings. Until next time, stay coated. For more information, go to coatingscoffeeshop.com.