Work 'N Gear

Specialty retailer turns to PAN for second year of successful regional coverage

Headquartered in Weymouth, Mass., with retail locations in the Northeast and Midwest, Work'N Gear is a 20 year-old brand and the leading retailer in the $15-20 billion work wear industry.

Work'N Gear stores were in need of a face lift when the company was purchased in 2002 by current CEO and President Anthony DiPaolo. He had the vision to rebuild the company and reinvigorate the brand and put the wheels in motion to ensure those goals came to fruition in due time.

"We are grateful for PAN's expertise and partnership as we continue to relaunch the Work 'N Gear brand. The coverage PAN secured for us in Newsday was a key element in our campaign to generate awareness and credibility. We value their strategic and tactical support, their can-do attitude and, most important, their ability to consistently deliver for the second year in a row."

Phyllis Wasserman
Chief Marketing Officer

The Challenge

As part of the rebranding initiative, Work'N Gear hired PAN in late 2004 to help launch the company's "new attitude" towards work wear retailing, increasing consumer awareness initially in the Boston market, and ultimately, overall sales in the company's flagship store in Dedham. After successful completion of that task resulting in a front page story in the Boston Globe Business section, Work'N Gear knew it had found a partner that could help them expand their brand in other markets they were reaching into.

With that, in late 2005, Work'N Gear once again called on PAN to help launch the company's newest stores and expansion into the Long Island market. PAN had one key media directive from Work 'N Gear: secure a detailed story in Newsday to gain maximum exposure for the company, the "new" brand and its merchandise. And we had three months to do it.

The Approach

Following a successful run together the previous year with front page Boston Globe coverage, PAN and Work'N Gear were on the same page with regard to key corporate and product messages, merchandise offerings, and the driving growth and sales factors behind the pitch to Newsday. However, what we didn't anticipate was a reporter who was about as easy to pin down as a hummingbird.

The PAN team targeted Newsday retail reporter Lauren Weber and began speaking with her about Work'N Gear's rebranding initiative, focusing on the innovative and exciting expansion model, new store energy, and fresh logo, colors, and merchandise categories. Many Long Islanders are familiar with Work 'N Gear as the one-stop shop for hard working clothes and outdoor gear, but most of the stores in the region hadn't been updated in quite some time, leaving many consumers wanting more. In addition, consumers in the area likely did not realize the breadth of merchandise related to uniforms, business-to-business offerings and popular brands like Carhartt, Dickies and Timberland. With that, PAN's approach to Lauren was the rebirth of an old brand with a qualified CEO who had successfully led the charge in Boston and was expanding into her region.

Lauren liked the angle, specifically the company's model, and was interested in speaking with CEO Tony DiPaolo, but it was December and she had to wrap up a few other retail holiday stories she had in queue for end of year. She asked us to sync up after the New Year to schedule the meeting. The clock was ticking on PAN's three month time frame as we had until the end of February to lock in the story.

After the ball dropped in Times Square, PAN was persistent in its efforts to get back on Lauren's radar screen. Shortly after January 1, we secured an in store interview with Tony and Lauren. Following her on-site interview with Tony, Lauren also took the time to visit another of the rebranded stores herself, speaking with store employees and customers to get their feel for the store, the merchandise, why they shop there, and how the rebranding has affected sales. Finally, Lauren sent a photographer to the store to take pictures of Tony in his rebranded environment.

PAN worked closely with Lauren following the interview to ensure she had the necessary background information on Work'N Gear and she appreciated the team's tenacity and patience as she dealt with pressing retail holiday stories in December, an extended vacation and a trade show she had to focus on before the story could truly come together at the end of January, just in the nick of time. After a few more weeks of back and forth and nail biting, the story finally ran on February 21, 2006, written as if Work'N Gear scripted it themselves, just seven short days before our three-month project ended.

The Result

Once again PAN took a risk in accepting our challenge with Work'N Gear, knowing that they were giving us a specific time frame to secure the "big hit," but without knowing that the reporter would be a moving target. The waiting game began, but we knew in the end it would pay off and it did, in spades.

PAN's efforts resulted in a full feature story in Newsday's Business section that captured the look, feel, and mission of the revitalized Work 'N Gear brand. The stand-alone story ran on February 21, 2006, reaching more than 459,000 people at the heart of the company's regional store openings and driving increased foot traffic to Work'N Gear's newly refreshed stores in the area.

The feature balanced coverage of the store's merchandise with the overall theme that Work'N Gear carries serious work wear apparel and footwear. Lauren used powerful quotes from Work'N Gear's CEO to tell the story of the market potential, reasoning behind expansion into Long Island and levels of success for the company at present time and the market as a whole.

The stellar feature in Newsday put the revitalized Work'N Gear on the Long Island radar screen and proved to Work'N Gear once again that PAN can deliver the high level results under the gun and with unknown obstacles in our way. The coverage also continues to prime Work'N Gear for their continued rollout in the region and beyond.