This evening’s brand management case discussion centered around how Black and Decker could shake their poor reputation among professional tradesmen and expand their market share with this segment. Black and Decker eventually decided to release products under the Dewalt brand, since Dewalt was well-known and well-respected among professional tradesmen. In addition, they decided to attack their primary competitors in areas they were perceived as weak, such as customer service, repair, and tool loaner programs that would reduce a tradesman’s downtime on the job.
The biggest takeaways from the night were when the professor played a video from the 80s when Black and Decker announced the launch of the Dewalt brand. He announced that the launch would begin with 33 new products. The number 33 is proudly and largely displayed on the overhead. Then, comments were made about how the tools would be of great use to many different professions. The presenter ended the list of trades by saying something like “…and our favorites, the masons.” Everytime I saw each of these references, I smiled, clapped, and threw up a couple of Devil-horn/666 hand gestures. My classmates probably thought I was insane (which I probably am due to countless hours studying conspiracy theories). I wish I had that video to post here; it was so surreal the way this information was presented.
Anyway, Black and Decker must have done something right, since they were able to increase their market share to over forty percent of the segment. And, I’m sure being friends with the masons helped. ;-)
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