It’s tool “award” season, with various accolades being celebrated by marketers everywhere.
I saw a post today, where an outdoor cordless power tool brand was celebrating being “named” as a “finalist” for an innovation award. But isn’t EVERY paid entry a “finalist”?
Another tool brand sent me a press release, asking if I would post about their products being “recognized” as being award-winning. Nope, sorry.
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It’s funny, how many tool brands will send me hyped-up drivel about the “awards” they “won,” but not about the actual tools being “recognized.”
Are their products even “recognized” if the brand is PAYING to be in the running, which at times seem like single player contests?
Another brand touted awards that were given to products that have yet to be announced, and haven’t started shipping to retailers yet. The same company has in the past celebrated having won awards for tools that were cancelled before production.
I asked them when more information about their “award-winning” tools that don’t seem to exist yet will be available. It has been 8 days and no one has gotten back to me.
One company asked if they can sponsor ToolGuyd coverage about the awards their products received. I flatly told them that everyone has a price and mine would be astronomical.
I looked over the results of one of “awards” that are happening right now. Two very similar products, both copycats of a novel product that has already been on the market for years, won awards in different categories.
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With many tool and industry awards, companies pay for entry, and often it seems those are the only candidates for awards or recognition. That sounds like “pay to play.”
What was the criteria for winning? In some cases, it’s clear that tools were never tested, especially for products that fail to reach production or retail shelves.
Was there any competition? This is the big one. Without transparency, “judges” can collect a mountain of entry fees and create new categories to maximize the number of winners and the potential for repeat paid entrants the following year.
Maybe there are some innovations that do deserve recognition.
But this type of approach just seems scummy to me.
Have you noticed that no one talks about paid entry fees? How it’s not clear whether any paid entrants didn’t win any awards or recognition.
Marketers run with it, slapping various badges on their websites, retail product images, packaging, and even investor materials.
A DIY brand: “the pros have spoken.”
Several brands are celebrating awards from different programs right now. I have tested some of those tools, and while some look great on paper they do NOT deliver when it comes to actual performance or innovativeness.
I don’t blame the folks who run these awards programs – everyone has to make a buck somehow.
Every year around this time, I lose respect for the brands that hype things up, as if they weren’t just paying to be listed in a directory somewhere, and the right to use meaningless badges in product marketing materials.
When you can’t tell when awards are actually earned from when they’re bought, that’s a problem. A little transparency would go a long way.
Even when publications claim that products were “rigorously tested,” I am filled with doubt when I see what they say about products I’ve tested myself.
I am also surprised about how few people give much thought to “awards.” No one asks questions? An industry friend once told me about an encounter at a trade show where a product rep brought up an innovation award the brand had “won.” The brand rep didn’t know there was an entry fee, and they weren’t aware of any competition for the “award.”
Home Depot once gave an “innovation award” to their own Husky products!
I’ve seen one instance where a brand celebrated what seemed to be AI-generated ranking that simply regurgitated the brand’s own “best” marketing claims.
With all of the shadiness I’ve seen, I feel that tool awards are meaningless. It’s too difficult to tell which are earned and which are bought, and so I assume they’re all bought in single runner races.
Tool awards mean nothing to me if i) nobody discloses whether paid entry was required, ii) you can’t see how many other products (if any) were in the running for the same award, and iii) the products were never tested or it’s unclear whether the tester or judge was experienced enough in the category to declare any winners.
Wayne R.
It’s almost impossible to use the internet to find out about things I know little about – if there’s something to sell.
It’s all degenerated into mindless hucksterism, and I figger AI’s just going to eventually make it all so slick that it’ll be impossible to separate honest insights from opportunities to sell something.
At least today it’s fairly easy to pick out.
NoDak Farming
You can use AI to do research for you, and give you a report. In this way, it works well to help diagnose mechanical issues with machines or vehicles. But it can also help find a product that aligns with what you’re looking for. The trick is to use a full paragraph to explain what you want it to do.
If you want to research a type of tool or appliance, you just have to tell AI what kinds of information you’re looking for. If the tool is to be used everyday in a commercial or industrial setting, you’d want to include that. Then you could go on to say you want it to research industry specific web sites and magazines. And even if the tool is only for home owner use, you still want to tell it to research online forums. You have to tell it that you’d like to know the consensus of the people that are discussing that type of product online. Then you have to mention that you’d like be given at least two or three options and you want to be told how those compare to each other.
Like I said, you have to be willing to type out a paragraph, but in the end you can get a helpful report, made just for you. I recently used AI to help a friend that had a plaguing problem with his semi truck. In cases like this AI can save untold money and time. And you can do this with any of the free AI apps available for your phone.
Stuart
AI is inconsistent and only as good as the source material, which can be quite poor. Garbage in, garbage out. Modern generative AI can produce convincing-sounding chatbots. But what it actually outputs can be far from reliable or accurate.
JBC
I suspect few if any of your readers, particularly those who perform their due diligence before committing to a tool purchase, fall for these marketing tactics.
However, as a regular Joe homeowner/DIYer, I’m curious what professional associations, publications, etc. offer legitimate awards based on extensive research and real-world usage that we can trust in categories such as Tool of the Year or Most Innovative Tool and so on? Thank you Stuart!
Jared
I don’t think there are any. You’re better off reading Stuart’s reviews, checking TTC rankings, etc.
Problem is, those are kind of niche information sources mostly followed by enthusiasts. I could see an “award” appearing more approachable and recognizable to someone who isn’t familiar with the industry – especially when the company itself puts it front-and-center.