Jack Gottesman - The Roofing Ahead in 2025 - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Jack Gottesman from IKO Residential. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro: Welcome to Roofing Road Trips, the podcast that takes you on a thrilling journey across the world of roofing. From fascinating interviews with roofing experts to on the road adventures, we'll uncover the stories, innovations and challenges that shape the rooftops over our heads. So fasten your seatbelts and join us as we embark on this exciting roofing road trip.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Welcome to Roofing Road Trips from RoofersCoffeeShop. This is Heidi Ellsworth and we are here today at the end of the year with one of my most favorite podcast people in the entire world, and that is Jack Gottesman with IKO. Jack, here we are. Welcome.

Jack Gottesman: Hey, Heidi. It's wonderful to be back on the road with you and my only regret is that it took until so late in the year to do it, but I assume our listeners, it'll be hitting their streams at the beginning of next year, so happy 2025 everybody.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, happy 2025. I tell you what, we have so much fun doing these podcasts and I have been stalking you a little bit this year, I have to admit, but it's been a busy year. 2024 has just been killer.

Jack Gottesman: It has. It has. For us in my department, the IKO marketing department and ROOFPRO, there's been so much going on, a ton of activity on the IKO ROOFPRO side. We had six incredible contractor events, each one bigger and more successful than the next featuring speakers from across the industry and really just seeing roofers connecting and communicating with each other at fun IKO ROOFPRO venues. So being able to have six of these events has been wonderful, and we're going to be doing even more in 2025, so everybody listening has an event coming towards them.

But the main thing that we have been working on is the new IKO residential website. It is the most technologically advanced, fun, intuitive AI video. This thing is incredible. It's going to be an industry setter on how both contractors and homeowners interact with roofing manufacturers websites. So it has been a huge lift for our team, they did a wonderful job. And we are planning on hitting go at IRE 2025.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Which is just right around the corner. I cannot believe it. It's so crazy. You know what? Jack, I introduced you, but I didn't have you introduce yourself. So give us, everybody out there, just a little introduction, talk about IKO and what you do there.

Jack Gottesman: I am a director on the marketing team at IKO, mainly focusing on residential roofing for North America, US and Canada, as well as our ROOFPRO loyalty program.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Let's start with 2024. Since it's that time of year I'm kind of feeling a little nostalgia, tell us what was 2024, what did IKO come out with? What were some of the big moments?

Jack Gottesman: So in terms of what I could came out with, we launched a new color in 2024 called matte black. We are consistently surveying the industry and looking for new and innovative ways for us to be able to participate. And in our Dynasty line, which is our performance line with the wide nailing zone on the face of the shingle and the armor zone tape resisting wind and nail blow through on the back of the shingle, we realized that our granite black was the darkest color that we had, we want something that was more of a richer black, a truer black, so we innovated on something called matte black and it launched at the end of 2024 and the orders are already through the roof. We are seeing this as the market needed this and the market wanted this, and we are thrilled with what we anticipated the market's response to be and what it has been.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Well, okay, people don't think of black as a color. It is, but they don't think that way. But I have to tell you, I just saw some trending color trend report from Sherwin-Williams and black is number one. In architecture that's the color that people want on their roof, and in siding and the whole thing. So for you to have that beautiful rich roof, I'm not surprised.

Jack Gottesman: Yes. It's really amazing. The couple of pictures that I have seen, the black and white contrast with white brick, I saw one house with white brick and a black pretty steep pitched roof that you are able to really see everything, the colors bring everything out. And the roofer did an amazing job because they did the gutters and the downspouts also. So everything just flowed together. It was a beautiful house. I also saw one with blue siding, so black roof, blue siding, it goes together very, very well. And that also when you talk about 2024 and what inspired us to redo and revamp our website is we realized two things. People come to our website, contractors come to our website to learn about who we are and to learn about our products, but homeowners also are doing more and more in the research department than they ever have.

And so we've realized that more than we had anticipated amount of homeowners are coming to our website and what it is that they're looking for is essentially two things. They want to find a roofer that they can trust, so that's our ROOFPRO program, which I mentioned at the top, our network of thousands of roofers that are installing IKO products with huge smiles on their faces, of course. So to find a contractor that they can trust. And also for design inspiration and color options, they want to be able to know, see and understand what it is that their home can look like after they put... Because, Heidi, it's a big investment, it's a big investment.

Many of them are only doing it once or maybe twice in their lives, and they're not roofing experts, so they want to be able to connect with the roofing expert and also educate themselves so that when they are at the table talking to a roofer they can maybe communicate a little bit better than me when I'm in a car mechanic shop because that's a lot of [inaudible 00:06:16] I don't know, a lot of I don't knows. So to be able to understand the products, the performance features of our Dynasty and Nordic shingles and the impact resistance on our designer class shingles, when to use our Cambridge shingles, to be able to know and walk into that conversation as an educated consumer and be inspired by colors, know what you want the project to look like at the end, we're really empowering the homeowner and that's driving us. That's what drove us in 2024 and take us into '25.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: You have always been the thought leader. IKO has been on AskARoofer for many years. The impressions I see, the research that's done in their, homeowner's community, that is the way it is, they're asking questions, they're looking for contractors. And I love our AskARoofer and your website, they're communicating back and forth, they're doing all the things that they need to do and really taking care of those homeowners.

Jack Gottesman: Absolutely. And we are taking leaps in order to be industry leaders, which is a very cool space for IKO to be playing in. Two areas in particular, one on the color side and one on the contractor side and I think that they really tie together. So one on the color side, and I'm so excited about this, we've been the pioneer in launching 30 second YouTube clips of each of our colors so that homeowners can really see what it looks like for real. There's software out there for people to visualize it. IKO has one, all of our competitors, the distributors have also this technology where you can envision what it will look like a rendering. We've gone out across North America, picked over 30 beautiful homes that represent each of our colors and given people a chance to see what these colors look like on real roofs with real siding, with real backyards there. It's amazing.

And then on the contractor side, we have enabled people to have what really feels like an online shopping experience to be able to get an instant quote directly on our website. You go on our site, you punch in your zip code or postal code, you're connected with the roofer and you can get an instant quote, which empowers the contractor and the homeowner because it takes... I kind of view it as a dating website, there's a profile, there's a picture, there's information and so if you can do that beginning part online, obviously the roofer is going to need to come and see the roof and touch it, but the roofer and homeowner are able to ask closing questions to each other as opposed to getting to know you questions. And so we really view ourselves as the player that's going to enable and empower both sides and bring them together to find mutual success.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's true thought leadership there, because when I look at that, the homeowner's able to come or any owner's able to come onto the site, get an instant quote, get connected with their contractor, that's the road, that's the journey towards e-commerce and roofing. And we know it's going to happen. It's going to happen, but we can't lose that relationship, we can't lose the contractor having that relationship with the owner because that's where really the magic happens.

Jack Gottesman: 100%. And the meetings that I have with the executives at the big distribution companies, across the board they're all saying the same thing, that e-commerce is coming, e-commerce is coming. Now, I think to a homeowner, when they hear that, they think Amazon or Walmart, they think I can put something in my shopping cart and it'll get here the next day. And there's some really cool things happening there, by the way.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It actually is getting there.

Jack Gottesman: With drone deliveries and things like that, I don't anticipate that with roofing, but-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Even whole buildings and roofs, it's not that far in the future.

Jack Gottesman: Yes. But when distributors talk about e-commerce, they're talking about ways to make it easier for everybody to do online ordering, track what has been ordered, when it is going to be delivered. It's not going to be an experience quite like Amazon, especially because homeowners are never truly going to understand everything that they need for their roofs. But the internet is really powering its way through our industry. And it is awesome to see the work not only that IKO's done, so, yeah, IKO's doing our best to be thought leaders, we're inspired by our competition. Some of our competition are doing great things that keep us on our toes, which is important. That's what it's all about.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: As an industry, everybody's rising?

Jack Gottesman: 100%. And the rising tide lifts all ships, as Heidi likes to say. And to hear it from the distributors too, everybody is working in concert to lift each other up and the results are wonderful. I can't wait to get to the IRE to show the world what we're doing and to be inspired by other people in the industry.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It really is so true, what I'm seeing out there when it comes to tech stacks, the contractors understanding it, using it, instant quotes and really I just am so impressed that you have that and that you've taken the leadership on that, because, Jack, let's be honest, there's still people out there going, "Oh no, that will never happen," but it is going to happen just a little bit different and so being that leader there I think is going to make a huge... Or not will. Does make a huge difference.

Jack Gottesman: I really appreciate it. And, yes, there are definitely still some roofers out there that are grumpy about the fact that they just mastered the fax machine and they want to get out there and do more of that. But I think a lot of it also is understanding what we are bringing to the table and what we're not bringing to the table, and what our limitations are as a manufacturer. And that's where on the ROOFPRO side where we work so closely with roofing contractors across North America. One of the most exciting things about 2024 is that we have a new person on our team that one of his responsibilities is leveraging partners for our roofers. So that's finding partners out there, people who have these technologies, who are doing things that we're not doing and bringing them into the fold and giving them to our roofers and saying, "Run together. Yeah, go," and it's great.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So what are you hearing from the contractors out there about 2024? What's some of the things that they're talking about that, well, first of all, successes, but also what are some of the things they want and that they're really driving you forward to look at for 2025?

Jack Gottesman: What we're hearing from roofers leaving 2024 heading into 2025 is a lot of uncertainty. I hear a lot of talk about, "Well, back in normal times and we're going to get back to normal times," I haven't seen what normal times is in a long time between pandemics and inflation and a lot of talk about tariffs coming with the new US administration and there is, as of this recording, a lot of tumult going on with Canadian politics, who knows where that will be by the time that this goes live. The point is even if there is a new Canadian government or if there isn't, there is a lot of uncertainty about things that they can't control. I think that that's what drives roofers crazy.

Roofers are people who wake up at the crack of dawn, they take every part of life into their own hands. We like to say it's good that they're tied off because they're working at the edge of heights and they're potentially one slip away from something dangerous. Roofers are by nature go-getters, people who take things into their own hands. And seeing how each roofer deals with the uncertainty in things that they can't control is remarkable and inspiring to see how different people work with it. So as we go into 2025, that's a lot of the chatter that I hear, people trying to streamline their operations and make it as not reliant on outside factors as possible.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I think so too. It is funny you say this, Jack, because I think back about I was actually a regional salesperson during the Great Recession and talking to contractors, talking to manufacturers reps and this one manufacturer's rep, he was just so great. And he's like, "You know what you do? You get in your car, you go visit your customer, then you get in your car and you go visit your next customer." And he says, "Heidi, that's what you do, one step at a time and you just maintain the relationships. We've got a strong industry." And so I love what you're saying because I think there is uncertainty, but also at the same time these contractors are just like, "You know what? We take care of people. We fix their roofs, we sellers."

Jack Gottesman: You're a million percent right. I will tell you that with ROOFPRO I'm so proud of the ROOFPRO team and the things that they have done, the ROOFPRO program has skyrocketed over the last couple of years both in terms of the people who are enrolled in it and the amazing contractors we have and the things that we've been able to offer them, that partnership has been amazing. But I know very well that I can work with my team to build the best darn ROOFPRO program on the planet. There are two things that it is contingent on.

Number one is IKO making a reliable product, because if we, IKO, don't have a reliable product for them to use, it could be the best darn program in the world, they're going to walk away. And number two, our salespeople just being fantastic and being able to be there. Exactly what you're saying, Heidi, to be there for them no matter what. And so if we can do all of that, manufacture a reliable product that they can trust and hopefully they'll be able to go install it on a roof and not need to come back. As well as that if there is a challenge, and in life there are challenges, that they're going to have someone on the other side of the phone from the manufacturing rep side, then great, that's the opportunity for ROOFPRO to come in and thrive.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And everybody needs a roof. Let's just be honest. And there's always going to be people needing them, and that's what this industry is about is taking care and protecting people. So one of the things, I want to circle back to when we first started this podcast, but you were talking about obviously your new website and a little bit of a brand refresh. Talk to me about that. This is the kind of stuff I love.

Jack Gottesman: So the new tagline that we are coming out with and that we really feel defines who IKO has become over the last couple of years, and the big distinguisher that we could call out is our Dynasty and Nordic performance class shingles, with what we said before, the armor zone wide nailing, inch and a quarter nailing zone on the face of the shingle and the reinforcement in the back, the high definition colors, the fast lock sealant on the back of it, the fact that it's advantage size bigger than most other shingles in the industry, the investment that we have put into our manufacturing facilities over the last five years really just since COVID, we have announced we have a new manufacturing plant being built now, a shingle plant with also ice and water and [inaudible 00:17:46] capabilities in Florida. We recently launched a revamped shingle plant in Brampton, Ontario, TPO plant in Hagerstown we're building.

We're bringing a big beautiful state-of-the-art metal roofing plant into Ennis, Texas. We're doing XPS, we're going into that space in Toronto. So when you have the performance focus on the products themselves, larger size wide kneeling zone on the front, reinforcement on the back, taking the roofing world by storm over the last couple of years, the investment on the manufacturing side, we are proud to say that we're a performance brand and that we've proven that not only to our ROOFPRO customers, but to the industry. And we are now going to be operating under the banner of IKO proven performance.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh, I love it. I love it. That's awesome. And you can stand behind that. That's something real pride. I love it.

Jack Gottesman: Yeah, 2025 is going to be really exciting and the future's even more exciting. We've been around for a very long time, but the best is yet to come.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: The best is yet to come, that is great. I know we just talked about this a little bit, obviously we've got some unrest out there on the political front, but what are some of the things that contractors and homeowners should be keeping an eye on as we go into 2025, interest rates, but also some architectural trends, some of those kind of things, what should they be looking at?

Jack Gottesman: I really want to double down on colors because that's what we've done. We've partnered on our new site with Scott McGillivray, who's famous from HGTV. And one of the many things that he does on our site is talk about color inspiration. And we're going to have mood boards from both him and other people with very good color taste available on our website. And I think that the trend is people really getting involved in how things are going to look. I think COVID is what sparked that, if we're being honest, people were at home, people started paying more attention to both the interior and exterior of their houses and some people are spending new money on renovations and some people with roofs they're going to spend that money anyways, they may as well make sure that it looks beautiful and really compliments and works with the site.

And with uncertain interest rates, a lot of people are staying in their homes potentially longer than they had planned and so they're going to want to invest and make their homes more of a long-lasting place for them. I have a lot of friends who are just not looking to move even when they thought they would.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Exactly. Exactly. I'm done, I'm not moving. And I think that we're going to see a lot of that, but I also think the interest rates come down we're going to see this backlog, a little bit of an explosion and I think then, again, people needing to understand the trends, have performance quality products that really help their home be that home that people want to buy is so important. I love the look, I guess that's where I'm getting to. I'm kind of stumbling here, Jack, but what I'm trying to say is I love the look of IKO products and the colors, because I think so often the roof, people don't think of it as part of that architectural decisions. It's just kind of, well, it's the roof, but the house pops because of the roof, the curb appeal, that's what does it.

Jack Gottesman: There was a roofer, I love what he said, I asked him why he went into roofing, which is a good question to ask any roofer and he said, "Well, I always loved the trades, I love constructions and I love construction and, frankly, when you're driving down the street, you can see who needs a new roof, but I have no idea who needs new flooring." Oh my gosh, I love that.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's smart.

Jack Gottesman: Right, smart. That's great. So you may as well make it pop, lean into those high definition, big, bold, beautiful colors that IKO offers. And I have to say, our competitors are offering beautiful colors as well that keeps us on our toes.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Keeps it going. So IRE is in like six weeks, I can't believe it, eight weeks maybe and you have a lot of new announcements coming out with that. What are you most excited about for 2025? And it doesn't have to be one thing, Jack. It can be a couple.

Jack Gottesman: So no, it doesn't need to be one thing. And a big theme that we're going to be talking about at the IRE is this idea of tomorrow's roof today. And the fact that with everything that you're saying, with changing weather patterns and with a world in, let's be honest, there's some chaos out there, people are really thinking about, okay, what do we need to protect ourselves thinking about the future? And a lot of things go into that. Part of it is the performance products that we've talked about before, part of it is the insurance industry and the uncertainty that comes with that and how that ties into warranties, which isn't something that we're going to get into on today's podcast, but everything that's going on, really preparing ourselves for the future and getting a roof that is going to give peace of mind to both the homeowners and the contractors.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's something to be excited about. That's really cool. I'm excited to see you in person at IRE and to have you on the sound stage there and spend a little time.

Jack Gottesman: I can't wait. I can't wait. It's going to be awesome. It's my favorite part of the conference.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I know.

Jack Gottesman: A lot of energy, right?

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. We have so much fun. And I can't wait to go to your booth and see all this new stuff. I love the new branding, the new website, all technology and the colors. I just have to say congratulations, Jack. Well done. And excitement.

Jack Gottesman: Thank you. And obviously the most important thing across the entire industry is for people to keep their finger on the pulse of what's going on at RoofersCoffeeShop. Heidi and the team at RoofersCoffeeShop are on the cutting edge of trends that are in our industry. I go there to listen and to learn. It's something that we never want to get stale, we never want to get comfortable. As professionals in the roofing industry, we need to be thinking about tomorrow's group today and the industry of what tomorrow's going to be. So I just want to say thank you for everything that you've done in 2024 to help bolster our industry, we're all better off for it and we're going to do amazing work together in 2025 and I know that you're going to do amazing work on your own that just setting a standard across the industry. So thank you very much. Thank you.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: You make my heart warm. Thank you so much. What a great year. Thank you. Thank you, Jack, for spending some time with me here at the end of the year and we'll be doing it again in the new year.

Jack Gottesman: Okay. I can't wait. [inaudible 00:24:55]

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it. Thank you so much. And thank you all for listening. Please check out the IKO directory, see all this great stuff. Of course, we put it on there both on RoofersCoffeeShop and, of course, on AskARoofer you can find great information, what's going on with the colors, the technology, the whole nine yards. Be sure to check out all of our podcasts under the RLW Read, Listen and Watch navigation under Roofing Road Trips or on your favorite podcast channel, be sure to subscribe and set those notifications so you don't miss a single episode. We'll be seeing you next time on Roofing Road Trips.

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