Big Back Lifting Grips
A complete brand story
Big Back Grips is Larry’s personal, complete brand-creation story. It began in 2007, after an unsuccessful search for a safe and comfortable gym grip for his own use. Within a few years, Big Back Grips were on sale at gyms and supplement stores around the world. Dealers included bodybuilding.com, and franchises such as Gold’s Gym, Powerhouse, Max Muscle, Nutrishop, Complete Nutrition, plus hundreds of gyms and supplement stores in the U.S. and around the world.
And, of course, through www.BigBackGrips.com.
Larry’s role started with the product concept, followed by product technical specs, a manufacturer search (U.S.-made was a requirement), logo, ads, packaging and POP materials, a retail display box and extended supply chain, sales, marketing, and event planning and management. Larry managed the Instagram and YouTube pages as well.
Roles: Writer, Creative Director, Owner of Site and Product
Grabbing attention, driving sales
Earning our place on the register counter
It’s extraordinarily difficult for a new product to stand out and earn its place among the product displays at a well-stocked supplement store.
The Big Back retail display, with its famously hyperbolic logo, earned its place on the register counter by attracting attention, driving sales, bringing recurring customers back more often, and bringing new customers in via Word of Mouth.
An unmistakable logo
A hyperbolic logo for a hyperbolic sport
Many designers criticized our logo for being “just too much”. But bodybuilding is all about being just too much. And building a successful brand means taking cues from the market, not the critics.
And critics notwithstanding, simply on a technical level, the Big Back logo remained clear and recognizable in the tiniest of sizes. And our customers loved wearing it on our T-Shirts, tank tops, and caps.
The Big Back Demo Bar
Where sales meets marketing
Everyone wants to try a product before committing.
The Demo Bar lets potential retail dealers try the grips right at the counter. The retail dealer also received a free demo bar so customers could try the grips before buying. This was our most effective sales tool.
The Muscle Beach Toy Drive Lat Pull Contest
Our beloved product demo
How do you get people to put your product to the test on camera in front of a cheering crowd? Make a contest out of it!
At the Annual Muscle Beach Venice Toy Drive, the Big Back Lat Pull Contest kept the crowd engaged and energized as we waited for Santa to arrive.
Muscle Beach draws people from all over the world and lets us promote the product globally. The events gave us hundreds of hours of video and thousands of pictures to be posted and reposted thousands of times by our contestants and their friends.
The right brand partnerships pay dividends for years
Big Back Grips was a Muscle Beach sponsor from 2007 - 2023
