I was checking Home Depot website pricing on Milwaukee Packout tool boxes, to see if they were at holiday season discounts yet, and found a new “The Home Depot Innovation Award 2019” badge on all Milwaukee Packout tool storage products.
A great majority of Milwaukee Packout tool boxes and organizers came out in previous years, and so it’s curious that they received Home Depot’s Innovation Award this year and not earlier. I wonder if Dewalt ToughSystem tool storage products were also in the running.
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Looking around some more, Home Depot also gave a 2019 Innovation Award badge to Dewalt Atomic cordless power tools.
Earlier in the year when Dewalt Atomic cordless power tools were first launched, Home Depot described them as their “exclusive.” You can now find Atomic cordless tools at other online dealers, but not at Home Depot’s major competitors, with the same true about Milwaukee Packout tool boxes.
If I recall correctly, Makita’s sub-compact tools won a Home Depot Innovation Award last year.
Yes, indeed they did – here’s an image from Makita’s press release on the matter from last year.
So, if Milwaukee Packout products were given an award this year, does that mean Makita’s sub-compact line was still in the running and lost against Dewalt Atomic? Were only 2019 releases in the running?
What conclusions could be drawn from this? What conclusions will Home Depot shoppers come to?
Were any other cordless power tool systems in the running for Innovation Award Finalist spots?
Home Depot also gave a 2019 Innovation Award badge to Husky welded steel garage storage products. As you might know, Husky is a Home Depot private label brand, meaning you can only find Husky tools at Home Depot.
Ah, I found a press release where Home Depot discusses these products and several other “finalists.”
“As the product authority in home improvement, we are proud to recognize the most innovative products on the market through our annual innovation awards ceremony,” said Ted Decker, merchandising executive vice president for The Home Depot. “Every day, we work closely with our supplier partners to bring to market products that deliver high quality and value, save our customers time and provide ease and convenience to complete their home improvement projects.”
And also:
RYOBI earns Marketing Innovation Partner of the Year for creating a cross-functional program leveraging its platforms to better deliver the most relevant product and message to customers.
Ryobi is another brand that you will only find at Home Depot, although at least some marketing seems to be handled by TTI North America. Ryobi does do a great job at marketing, and so the recognition seems well-earned.
Ah, there are some words about how/why the finalists won Innovation Awards. (Non-tool-related brands and products are omitted for brevity.)
In addition to the top three winners, The Home Depot recognizes these finalists for their top marks in product innovation:
- DEWALT Atomic 20V Compact Series offers battery compatible platform from drivers to saws to screwdrivers.
- Husky Welded Garage Cabinets by Hyxion organizes and offers ample garage storage to maximize space and fight clutter.
- Milwaukee Packout Tool Storage features a stacking design and integrated dolly for durable, weatherproof jobsite conditions.
Home Depot also says:
Look for the Innovation Award Seal, designed to help customers identify and select best-in-class products, in stores and online.
Home Depot could be clearer about what any of this Innovation Award business entails, but I do agree these are stand-out products.
In other news, ToolGuyd recognizes the following ToolGuyd.com articles as finalists for “outstanding tool coverage” awards. I jest, but at the surface that’s what the awards looked like to me, at least at first. Well, while we’re at it, here are some other ToolGuyd posts for your reading pleasure:
Dewalt Cordless Power Tools, UWO, and Torque – Here’s What it all Really Means
Milwaukee Packout Tool Boxes and Storage System, in Photos
How Dewalt Brushless Drills are Built in the USA, and More from my Factory Tour
Milwaukee Tools vs. Dewalt: Cordless Power Tools, Hand Tools, Tool Storage in 2019
ToolGuyd Wins Industry Award for Best Tool Reviews and News on the Planet!!
Home Depot’s Innovation Award program is opaque, but I’d think most customers will treat it as a sort of “featured brand” or “featured product” type of business partner accolade. Right? Would anyone bat an eye if the badge was different and said “featured products?”
Home Depot wants our business, and with these awards it seems they’re trying to steer customers towards specific brands and products. But doesn’t this happen all the time with retailers? Is this any different from how some brands and tools are positioned in the front of Home Depot retail stores during special sales and promos? Honestly, I’m not sure if this is a rhetorical question or not.
I can also appreciate that it seems Home Depot’s behind-closed-doors process was at least selective. They *could* have given awards to all of their major tool brand partners, but they didn’t.
I’m not sure why, but I feel more accepting of Home Depot’s awards over other programs. Is it because here you KNOW what Home Depot’s motivation is (to sell more tools), while a lot of other awards programs require paid entries and seem to give out awards to unreleased products based on what’s said about them on sell sheets?
Discuss!
Flotsam
Seems a bit self serving if the DeWalt Atomic tools are only sold at Home Depot. Likewise the Husky is an in house brand as well.
Andrew
All of these products are HD exclusive. Well, sort of. You can get the Makita’s online or at a Makita store if you have one near you but they are not at Lowes.
skfarmer
false…..
atomic tools are available at many places. maybe not as many as other dewalt tools but i know acme has them and i believe fleet farm had some as well.
Andrew
So like I was trying to say, they are not at Lowes, their biggest competitor.
Big Richard
Fleet Farm does not have Atomic. Atomic is “exclusive” to HD, as it is the only brick and mortar store to carry them. Lots of online vendors carry them as well though (Acme, amazon, CPO, Tool Barn, etc.).
Kind of like the Xtreme 12v line is “exclusive” to Lowes.
skfarmer
i thought i saw them at fleet farm but i must be mistaken. i admit when i am wrong.
i did however just call the acme store in fargo nd (1 800 437 4100 if you want to call them). they have them on display in store. like i said, there are places that have them. believe it or not.
Jh
Yep, I agree. Self serving. TTI is Ryobi, Rigid(Aeg), and Milwaukee….with that I’m still loving my gen 3 18 and 12 volt systems from Milwaukee.
John
What is innovative about Dewalt Atomic tools? Please, anyone able to give a legitimate explanation to that?
Jon
My guess would be margin.
Eric
Maybe marketing as well. Atomic makes you think they’ll be powerful. But from what I’ve seen they’re towards the bottom end of Dewalt line as far as power goes. They aren’t even noticeably smaller. Looks like a lot of them are smaller in one direction, but then larger in another one to make up for it.
Mike
Same goes for the packout, the tough system is way more innovative
Stuart
If money isn’t a factor, I like Milwaukee Packout better for a lot of things. But, for how many boxes I use, I won’t replace my ToughSystem boxes.
Both are fantastic systems.
Corey Moore
There’s nothing innovative about any of them. Boxes, small 18v class tools, and boxes.
fred
Like so many privately-given “awards” – these seem just like just another batch of sales promotions – not worthy of much (if any) consideration. I don’t have anything against the products that “won” these awards – but I am a bit saddened to think that HD thinks its shoppers are so gullible as to give credence to such marketing ploys.
mattd
” but I am a bit saddened to think that HD thinks its shoppers are so gullible as to give credence to such marketing ploys.”
Go walk around a HD for a couple hours and listen to the ridiculous stuff the customers are saying. You will weep for humanity and wounder why more homes don’t burn down.
Carl J
And in other earth shattering news; McDonalds awards its Big Mac as its “Sandwich of the Decade Golden Arches Award”.
Stuart, you weren’t really taken in by this self-serving marketing hype, were you?
Jh
Oh Big Macs are fantastic!
Frank D
I can’t believe it!
I missed the award ceremony, again!
It is about a two hour thing, this ceremony. All the execs and designated brand representatives get together annually, in a swank hotel, always some place different, seated at dozens of round tables, nice food and wine, live music, … After dinner the award exec goes on stage with a mic, starts announcing categories with five candidates, then opens the envelope for best this-or-that, winners get called on stage, shake hands, receive a trophy and giant winners’ circle certificate and get five minute minutes for a thank you speech and a quick product highlight, … and onto the next category, candidates, … etc. It really is a big deal!
( ^^^ I can only imagine … / dramatization )
Frank D
On a serious note. The award is two years late and I’m pretty sure HD has barely sold any units. Never mind the fact that they had have none on the shelves in this state, for TWO years.
Now, in the past couple weeks, MW seems to have another small attention grabber “ special “ pre-holiday event, where pallets with cardboard boxes are taking up one third of main drag floor space in the front of the store … and low and behold, we got four standard packout stacks!!! No sign. No price. No tag. Just sitting there, between some of of the other far less pricey stuff.
Another fail.
Probably in another two years some of the handier packout stuff will show up.
I get it that HD probably doesn’t expect to sell many, and I don’t know what the deal is with regional and local store managers; but by Joe … HD drops the ball on so many, in your face fronts … that as a serious $$$$ customer just baffles me, day after day. I’m tempted to write my top ten peeves down, …
Gordon Brown
Top ten peeves sounds like fodder for several toolguyd columns. A column for each major retailer and tool brand.
Corey Moore
I’d bet these “awards” are either in the contracts as the retailer for marketing, or are just an easy stab at bumping sales of lower performing products when they decide it’s award season.
OldDominionDIYer
I own a bunch of Packout gear and love it, super sturdy, easy to stack and unstack one handed, lots of options (now) and they’re all fitted with Tics that help me with inventory, location management and coupled with their app puts the information at my fingertips, not bad. I’m a fan of packout for sure. These awards seem like simple marketing strategies and nothing more.
Warren Riccitelli
WOW,. HD gave a award to a product line that they don’t even carry. I stopped buying Packout because they are not available here in New England. Only one item is available in Milwaukee storage line and its not even in the Packout line.
Stuart
Packout stacks and boxes typically only appear at my local HDs at the start of holiday shopping seasons. If you don’t see any at your stores ever, they might have sold out fast.
Sb224
They are available…but not at Home Depot. Go by any electrical supply house that carries Milwaukee products. They are open to the public and will stock all the major options. Talk to the counter they guys or girls, they can be helpful with upcoming sales. One of my local supply houses just did a 50% off their normal selling price on all Packout options this past week. I got another rolling box for $54, large box for $45, Small was $36, and the Tech bag for $52. The small organizers were only $10 bucks. They will do it again in the spring.
The What?
What’s the big deal about the HD innovation award? Is it supposed to mean something? A few weeks ago you posted about how awards like this are bullshit and that they mean absolutely nothing. So why should this be viewed any differently?
Phil
Nice point, talking out of the side of their neck.
Stuart
It’s called tongue in cheek. =P
Why can’t I talk about this in a calm and deliberately neutral manner?
Stuart
Different kind of BS, smells rosier?
Phil
Did Milwaukee correct issue w/ crappy wheels w/packout?
Toolfreak
Reading into this part of the quote says it all:
“As the product authority in home improvement, we are proud to recognize the most innovative products on the market…”
This is just HD appointing themselves as the “product authority in home improvement” and limiting “the most innovative products on the market” to what they carry, which isn’t “the market” at all.
It’d be okay if they were honest about the awards being limited to partner brands or what they carry, but to make a broad, sweeping statement about being THE authority in (all of) home improvement and THE most innovative products on THE (entire) market tells you exactly where their heads are.
Not really a good look, but you can apparently get away with stuff like this in 2019 without worrying too much about it.
Hopefully they (and Ted Decker in particular) get called out online for such statements and are rightfully mocked to the point they have to issue an apology and acknowledge they are neither the authority in home improvement nor did they consider any products on the market outside of their own product offerings when doing this publicity stunt.
Even though it’s fairly minor in the scheme of things, it’s dumb, dumb stuff like this that makes me HATE doing ANY business with Home Depot, and they KEEP doing it. I’m not looking forward to their preemptive cease-and-desist demands about Black Friday, either.
Victor
Well, when an Home Improvement company makes $110 + billion in sales a year, maybe that gives them the idea of being #1 in the industry. Only like what? 6 companies make over a 100 billion in sales a year and Amazon and Wal Mart are two of them.
GrEgOrY r. HaRrIsOn
Rigid has a very rugged, lock and stack system too that works extremely well. I have one of these and I love it.
https://www.ridgid.com/id/en/professional-tool-storage
Frank D
I am sure that most of the US based readership is aware of that system 🙂
Mark McNamara
Reading from South Africa (a New York transplant) where Milwaulkee is beginning to increase its presence. But a question: the Festool Systainer System has been around far longer. Not sure how “innovative” the pack-out system is, although admittedly the cost of Festool makes it less ubiquitous as Milwaulkee.
Frank D
There are plenty of mobile storage systems. One thing the systainers are not, is rugged. The ridgid and milwaukee units are the most rugged modular ones I have seen in retail.