Challenge:
Have you ever just known that you had a great idea? And were amazed that there wasn’t anything like it on the market? That’s where this story begins.
Meet Bob Thorsen, master contractor on elite residential projects, president of award-winning Thorsen Construction, community supporter, father of five, and a guy who helps his wife in the garden (i.e., human burro). One sunny Saturday, as Bob worked shoulder-to-shoulder with his wife Sudie, lugging tools, sand, water, lemonade, hoses, and potting soil around their six-acre yard, an idea began to gel. When Sudie looked up, Bob was gone. Plugging away in his tool shed into the wee hours, Bob proudly emerged with the Little Burro prototype. Sudie was delighted as the first Little Burro was put into service in her garden.
Solution:
How to bring Bob’s great idea to light? It needed design, engineering, and a prototype. And, of course, it needed a brand. Through fortuitous connections and relationships, Bob found BOLTGROUP. We loved his idea and immediately immersed ourselves into his invention, his vision, and his business goals. Through our integrated service lineup, we not only had our design innovation team developing the physical product, we were creating the purpose, promise, pillars, personality, positioning, and the brand strategy to bring it to market.
Result:
What happened next was no surprise (at least to us!). Little Burros was named the Retailer’s Choice for best new product at the 2014 National Hardware Show. The booth spilled into the aisles with appointments.
Fast forward a couple of years. Based on the market success of the original Little Burros, Bob was ready to push forward with another product. A leaner, meaner model that was named the Burro Buddy. All the same user benefits and ergonomic features as the big brother, but without the tub, to allow full use of the wheelbarrow bucket. With new videos and marketing materials, and an update to the trade show booth, the Burro Buddy debuted at the 2017 Hardware Show to rave reviews.
“We had an idea for a wheelbarrow attachment but no understanding of how to move forward. The absolute best discovery we made in our search for help was BOLTGROUP. This incredibly talented team transformed our literal cardboard and duct tape ‘idea’ into a highly engineered, award-winning, marketable product. They patiently listened to us, consistently communicated with us, regularly met with us, and very literally were able to manifest our imagination. They developed a distinctive brand and image that gave life and personality to our Little Burros.”
-Bob Thorsen, Little Burros Creator
-Bob Thorsen, Little Burros Creator
