Five Brands Redefining Their Categories…
and What It Signals for the Market
The International Builders’ Show and KBIS in Orlando delivered more than packed aisles for some 117,000 in participation. The experience revealed how building product categories are being reshaped by labor constraints and compressed jobsite schedules – rising design expectations – and growing demand for simpler, more reliable execution.
Our team closely tracks the “challenger brands”… highlighting companies that don’t merely introduce new products. Instead, discovering those innovators who are rethinking channel and customer solutions. True challengers remove friction by anticipating workflows. And rewrite assumptions that incumbents have learned to accept.
Alongside them, a small group demonstrated how legacy brands can successfully reinvent themselves… to stay ahead of disruption.
Together, they offer a clear view of where the market is heading.
Challenger Brands: Rewriting the Rules
HydroBlok
Simplifying Exterior Wall Systems Through Integration
HydroBlok continued to sharpen a compelling message: high-performance exterior walls should not require more layers, more trades, and more coordination risk.
HB One Backer CI integrates secondary WRB, insulation, lath, and scratch coat into a single panel system… helping teams reduce sequencing complexity and field variability in stucco or stone veneer assemblies.
Beyond the product, HydroBlok’s “New Craftsmanship” and “Outside-In Wellness” brand promises… positioned simplification, as a way to protect workmanship, moisture management, and long-term performance.
In a category long defined by fragmented systems, HydroBlok is reframing wall assemblies as a scheduling and risk-management decision. Not just a materials choice.
Brava Roof Tile
Transforming Roofing into a Workflow Platform
Roofing remains one of the most operationally complex categories in residential construction… with manual quoting, inconsistent takeoffs, and limited order visibility still common.
Brava is directly challenging that reality.
The company showcased its Pro Portal platform… featuring AI Pro Match guided quoting, lead management, and real-time order tracking. Contractor engagement – around live demos – highlighted strong demand for tools that reduce administrative friction.
Rather than positioning itself only as a premium materials supplier, Brava is evolving into a workflow partner… helping contractors work faster, more accurately, and more predictably.
Paired with its Cool Roof Tile systems and recycled-material Aspire Pavers, Brava’s strategy signals a broader ambition: redefine what contractors should expect from a roofing manufacturer. And that ambition is driving growing demand and manufacturing capacity expansion.
Tando Composites
Reengineering Curb Appeal Without Cedar Constraints
Exterior cladding remains highly sensitive to aesthetics, but natural materials like cedar continue to carry maintenance and durability tradeoffs.
Tando’s debut of the Beach House Shake Rustic Collection reflects a deliberate effort to capture cedar’s visual character – staggered edges, irregular thickness, and historic texture – without its lifecycle limitations.
Their Rustic line extends composite design into more traditionally styled applications. Designers and builders consistently evaluated its potential for accent and mixed-material elevations.
In a category still anchored to legacy material preferences, Tando is reframing expectations: high-design exteriors no longer need to rely on natural materials to feel authentic.
Category Shapers: Reinventing Leadership
Not every standout brand at IBS/KBIS fits the classic challenger profile. Several established leaders demonstrated how legacy organizations can adapt and remain relevant.
These brands are not disrupting from the outside… they are reshaping from within.
Baldwin
Modernizing Heritage Through Design and Technology
At KBIS, Baldwin introduced a refined 2026 portfolio aimed squarely at design professionals… blending traditional craftsmanship with modern material and technology sensibilities.
Highlights included expanded Reserve Collection offerings, non-lacquered brass finishes designed to patina naturally, as well as new architectural and pocket door hardware. And perhaps most importantly, continued growth in smart-hardware integrations.
Rather than defending legacy positioning, Baldwin is actively updating its design language and functional relevance. This is disciplined reinvention. And a model for how category leaders can evolve without diluting brand equity.
Roca + LAUFEN
Creating a New Premium Bathroom Vocabulary
Roca and LAUFEN is reframing how premium bathrooms are specified and experienced.
Roca’s Meridian collection reinforced a timeless, architecture-friendly approach to bathroom design – clean lines, soft curves, and coordinated suite styling – that helps specifiers create cohesive spaces without overcomplicating selections.
LAUFEN’s VITREON steel introduced a new material vocabulary… combining steel’s strength with glass-like surface properties to enable lighter, more durable designs.
Together, these launches formed a cohesive “premium palette,” pairing material innovation with expressive design and long-term performance.
The Strategic Takeaway: The Market Is Rewarding Friction Reduction
Across categories, the strongest signals from IBS/KBIS 2026 were not about adding features. They were about removing obstacles.
Whether through integrated assemblies, workflow software, material simplification, digital visibility, or cohesive design systems… leading brands focused on making projects easier to execute, specify, and manage.
An attendee quote in NAHB’s official recap noted the “large focus on new tech and AI,” pointing to where interest is heading. But the deeper story is not technology for its own sake. It is technology and design applied to eliminate coordination risk, execution variability, and operational drag.
This is where competitive advantage will continue to be built.
Turning Show Momentum into Market Leadership
For challenger brands, IBS/KBIS remains a proving ground… a place to demonstrate category leadership before market share follows. For established brands, it is a reminder that relevance and leadership must be continuously earned.
At Kleber & Associates, we help building product companies translate show-floor momentum into more clear and compelling brand positioning. With thought leadership, earned media, measurable demand, and long-term market share capture.
If you’d like to discuss how your brand can turn innovation into sustained growth, we’d welcome the conversation.
Contact Steve at sk@kleberandassociates.com to get started.
