Some tools MAKE the brand, while others USE a brand’s name or reputation.
I was introduced to this concept last week in a phone call with one of my favorite product managers, and have revisited the idea since then.
I have also started to think about ways this can be conceptually extended.
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Maybe we can think about different tool brands, and the ratio of products they launch every year. Would this tell us anything meaningful? Perhaps.
Let’s talk about Hilti ProKit, the brand’s new modular tool storage system. Hilti is known for masonry tools, and other power tools and equipment for commercial construction space. But tool boxes?
So is ProKit the type of product that MAKES the brand, or leverages it?
Based on what I’ve seen firsthand, this is a “make the brand” type of product. It’s not a me-too inclusion with the Hilti name slapped on, it’s an innovative and competitively-featured entry with huge potential.
Harbor Freight just announced a new Bauer rolling tool box with removable handle.
From what I’m seeing, this is the type of product that leverages the brand name, in this case Harbor Freight or their Bauer label.
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It’s just a generic-looking modular tool box with Harbor Freight’s name attached to it.
That’s not bad, and it’s possible for this to be construed as a “make the brand” type of product depending on customer interest and adoption.
I don’t see this as helping to make Harbor Freight’s brand. Although, Harbor Freight is known for their low-priced tools, and the tool box aligns with that. So, maybe it does help make the brand from a value and price angle.
I can’t see a clear rule for determining whether a tool contributes towards or leverages a brand’s name or reputation. The concept is still new to me, but also seems very subjective for tools and products that we can’t see design or market intent for.
Dewalt’s DCD771 cordless drill is hugely popular with budget shoppers. (The kit regularly sells for $99 at Amazon and other sellers.)
Objectively speaking, does this tool make the brand? I would argue that it leverages the brand name.
Does the determination change if many users treat this as an entry point to Dewalt’s 20V Max cordless power tool system? Do many users use this as a springboard to enter the Dewalt cordless ecosystem?
There are lots of bit holder keychains now. These certainly leverage brand names, right?
Again, that’s not bad – quality products are quality products. As long as it’s a good buy, does it matter whether a tool contributes to or leverages a brand name, their reputation, and innovativeness?
Klein pipe wrenches. I’d say that’s also a name-leveraging situation.
But is that much different from Milwaukee’s initial venture and subsequent expansion in the plumbing tools industry?
I suppose that has to do with intent and motivation. Milwaukee sought out to develop competitive and innovative plumbing tools.
Does Klein intend to become a plumbing go-to with competitive and innovative offerings, or were they simply looking to populate some shelf space at Lowe’s stores? Would the answer make a difference?
I think most brands maintain a sort of balance, but there are also plenty of tool companies that seem to lean one way or the other.
So far, this all seems like an academic thought exercise, but perhaps it can help revise the lens through which we see tool brands or new product launches.
At the least, it seems like an elegant way to categorize products – those that contribute to a brand’s reputation, and those that exploit it.
TomD
The term I’ve heard is “selling the brand” – meaning that they’re cashing in on the good reputation the brand has to sell substandard items.
I think we can all agree that Craftsman walked this line; whereas Harbor Freight has done the opposite – going from discount reject tools 20 years ago to actual tool-truck quality in at least some of their offerings.
Bonnie
A product doesn’t have to be substandard to be trading on the brand name. Lots of things sold by a company are there to fill out a catalogue and don’t really “sell” the brand, but can be perfectly good examples of that thing.
TomD
Yeah, a Milwaukee brand hat doesn’t really provide anything that another hat doesn’t have (though they do seem to try) but some brands seem willing to stick their name on anything, no matter how tangential.
I’m thinking of another term perhaps, “looting” the brand or something. Often seen when a brand gets bought by private equity and gets slapped on lower quality gear for awhile. Milking the brand might have been it.
James
I don’t see branded merchandise or apparel the same at all. Essentially some brands have a luxury in that consumers pay to advertise for them because their brand has some sort of built in credibility.
Yea, Milwaukee puts their name on all kinds of stuff so they’re leveraging their brand, yes, but it isn’t to sell me a tool that’s sub-standard, just a hat that works as a …….. hat. Not to say that their tool lineup is perfect, but I do believe their mission and goals are intact..
Festool BBQ tools ….now we’re stretching things a little 🙂
TomD
Yehs I’m thinking more of the Dewalt snowthing that they had just licensed their name for and was universally panned. Toys and brand enjoyment items are fine.
Stuart
With the hard hats and helmets, it’s not just another hard hat, there’s now an entire ecosystem of attachments and accessories.
Maybe that’s an example of a product that initially leveraged the brand until their strategy materialized?
Bonnie
I’m thinking more of like screwdrivers. None of the major power tool brand screwdrivers are anything special. But also they’re rarely complete crap either.
James
The Hilti example is interesting because I read that thinking for sure Stuart is going to say that the ProKit toolboxes are leveraging the existing good name, but then you concluded the opposite.
Not to litigate the point, but to foster thought, I maintain that this is Hilti leveraging their name to sell another product. Now, that doesn’t mean the toolboxes aren’t awesome and can’t stand on their own, but would anyone shell those dollars out for these toolboxes if Hilti concrete tools (etc) hadn’t already made the brand?
The Make and Use thing is something we talk about all the time, and we try to stick not only with tools that are brand makers, but also brands that don’t over-leverage their good name.
And those Hilti boxes do look great; too bad we’re deep in Packout.
James(a different one)
This is what I was thinking as well. The modular tool storage products don’t make Hilti as a brand at all (might be very good products). I associate Hilti with concrete professionals, or certainly pro rather than consumer level. Putting Hilti name on storage products seems to be leveraging the Hilti name rather than building upon it. I do appreciate I should consider shifting my way of thinking about it (paradigm shift) and perhaps think of products from brands I know a bit differently. To this end I’m not not of likely to be in the market for Hilti so perhaps that sticking out to me is my own outsider assumption of Hilti’s brand reputation among their target audience. The other brands I have something from in my garage so familiarity.
Stuart
It’s a tough one.
For Hilti customers, it might be a product that leverages the name and reputation.
But the products also stand on their own.
Remove the Hilti name, and would they still sell? If end users could demo them first, then yes, absolutely based on the feature set and quality.
They could have done less if the goal was simply to leverage the Hilti name.
Matt B
I was also ready for you to say the opposite, now I think you should do a more thorough review of these Hilti boxes!
Rog
I disagree with the Hilti tool boxes assessment; any entry at this point into the storage space feels like an “hey, us too!” addition.
They may have some neat features, but are they truly innovating beyond anything already on the market? Or simply trying to get a piece of the action? I’d argue the latter.
TomD
It was hard for me to figure out what the Makita boxes had that “I wanted” as a Packout rat – if there’s feature that are desirable beyond the current market, I think it’s fair to say they’re at least trying.
If it is just a cheap copy it’ll be noticeable, like the HF box. Not that that is terribly bad for a company known for making “value” copies of existing brands. But it’s not making any Packout users envious, except perhaps of the price.
Stuart
We’ll have to revisit this in say 5 years to see where things are.
Jerry
The first thing that popped into my mind when I read the headline were examples of a tool or tool line that built up their brand, and then that brand was exploited.
A perfect example of this would be Vise-Grips. They built their name on making top quality locking pliers. Around here we had an old mechanic who had a saying that went something like ‘They aren’t Vise-Grips, unless they are Vise-Grips.
Then, they got bought out by Irwin or whoever, and quality went down while the price stayed up. They spent quite a while living of the brand’s reputation. Fortunately, they did raise the quality some, but not before they sullied the name.
If you want to know the depths they fell to at one time, compare an orginal Vise-Grip ‘Toolbox’, with the Irwin one they released a few years back. Downright shame what they put the ‘Toolbox’ logo on, if you ask me.