(St. Louis, MO) It never ceases to amaze me how many Brands operate on a daily basis oblivious to the fact that they are breaking key Brand marketing rules which have a direct impact on both their short and long-term success. This is especially true of Brands that are "profitable", large, have been around for a while, and have perceived strong Brand names. Indeed, any suggestion of "mis-marketing" is met by management with "well, we must be doing something right as we have 25% market share", or "we are the 3rd largest Brand in the category", or "we have been around for 5 decades and are still alive so we'll keep doing what works". All of the aforementioned are standard replies that do not begin to address the question of "where would the Brand be if it implemented proven, state-of-the-art Brand strategy techniques?" Maybe the 3rd largest Brand in the category would stay that way but increase consumer loyalty and satisfaction, Brand equity over a myriad of factors, and emotional plug-ins to the Brand- intangibles that may far out-value short term (and unstable) market share. Or, the 5-decade-old Brand that may not see the end of its lifecycle just ahead would be prepared to evolve and navigate itself through the upcoming paradigm shift; or any repositioning attempts by a competitor. Skilled Brands are both short and long-term thinkers and are prepared to navigate their success paths via a disciplined Brand strategy orientation- not just by "what worked in the past" or "temporary" or "artificial" market conditions or competitive advantages. Strong Brands are expert, serious, and progressive Brand thinkers; Brands headed for problems are "Brand Strategy Ignorant". Enter Sears Craftsman Tools.
Debuting in 1927 in the "Hardware and Cutlery" section of the Sears catalogue, Craftsman immediately set about to base and differentiate its name on a primary core value and promise- quality via a lifetime warranty that implied "guaranteed forever". Indeed, an entire differentiating Brand identity has been based/carved out on the warranty: "Hand tools so tough, they're guaranteed forever.* Did you know that the first Craftsman hand tool we sold back in 1927 is still under warranty today?
So are all the hand tools we've sold since. That's what is known as having confidence in our quality. As the Craftsman Unlimited Hand Tool Warranty clearly states... If any Craftsman guaranteed forever hand tool fails to provide complete satisfaction, return it for free repair or replacement. Period." For 8 decades, the Craftsman Brand identity has been founded, built, defended, and inserted into the consumer's evoked set largely by the lifetime warranty that implies quality, durability, toughness, reliability, inspires confidence, and adds to the status of the Brand by the belief that it is written in stone- "if it's Craftsman, it's Guaranteed Forever". Period!
Knowingly or not, Sears built the Craftsman Brand Promise as "Guaranteed Forever"- for whatever had the Craftsman name on it. Therein lies the problem. From day one, Sears did not properly set and enforce parameters for the Craftsman Brand. The famed lifetime warranty -the very lynchpin of Craftsman's identity- was only intended for hand tools (and not all). Yet, it seemed ok if consumers mistakenly believed that anything with the Brand name on it was "guaranteed for life", which many naturally did- and still do. One thing Sears didn't understand concerning Brand Promises (and the consumer psyche) is that consumers apply them broadly to every Brand aspect. Add to this "perception" problem the natural tendency for line extension, and the Craftsman Brand is headed for big trouble.
Today, the Craftsman Brand is a de-focused warranty, price point, and quality-level nightmare. Over decades of line extension, new category entry, hundreds of new products, and just plastering the Craftsman name on everything from vices to garden hoses, and tool boxes to garage door openers, confusion as to what the Craftsman Brand stands for is only natural. What's a Craftsman? An expensive, cheap, lifetime-not lifetime warranty, hand-tool, garage door opener, garden tractor, vice, toolbox, and now gadget making Brand. Combine this with product varying between low quality and price point Chinese to high quality and price point USA, and you can expect disaster (Brand-wise). Craftsman is a Brand architecture mix-up within a single Brand on a scale rarely seen.
An expert let loose to "prune" Craftsman could easily carve out at least 3-4 separate stand-alone Brands based on quality, price point, and warranty- never mind product classification or position. Worse, yet, is restrict the famed and expected "Guaranteed Forever" warranty to selected hand tools, and not all Brand products, and then try and sell consumers warranty plans as "add-on revenue generating packages" (as Sears does)- and you have dilution of the Brand and its Promise. Big time. Technically, and legally, Craftsman claims lifetime warranty on only its hand tools (if you read carefully). But, perception is reality and people normally transfer Brand or Brand Promise characteristics across entire Brand name offerings- they find it difficult to componentize characteristics across certain product lines (or models) or selectively apply characteristics or traits across the same Brand.
To consumers, all Craftsman Branded products are guaranteed forever- or not! Most recently Craftsman continued in this same vein with the release of the Craftsman Professional series- an expensive line extension introduced to take on and imitate higherend competitors such as Dewalt. The only difference is that the Craftsman Professional line still carries its ambiguous/inconsistent warranties and is too broad product-wise, while Dewalt offers a much more focused product and consistent 1 year warranty across literally all lines and offerings. The dilution problem most definitely points to an even deeper diagnosis. The Craftsman Brand is void of vital Brand management and navigation tools and resources including: Brand essence, core value, and Brand Promise definition as well as diffusion measurement devices; Brand Profile (internal & external) generation and testing; strategic Brand architecture audit and design capability; Brand equity driver discovery and evaluation methodology; or scientific Brand evolution capability.
Brand strategists/scientists see Brand problems (and successes) like layers of an onion- what seems to be an obvious single issue really involves and/or effects a multitude of interconnected factors and Brand aspects, all of which need to be dealt with. Without expert guidance and "Brand perspective", even strong Brands can spiral out of control- as we have seen with McDonald's, The Gap, Marks and Spencer, Eatons, and Levis. Craftsman needs Brand Marketing counsel and expertise. Currently, I see The Craftsman Brand decades deep into a path of unintentional "renavigation" which is leading to a complete redefinition, re-positioning, and unwanted re- Branding. As what? A professional quality wanna-be, jack of all trades, department store generic Brand. Sadly, like an aircraft carrier, when this Brand realizes it's on a collision course with disaster, it will take a great amount of resources, skill, and time to turn around decades old inertia (especially that caused by mistakes).
The result is seen when the Craftsman garden hose or vice or toolbox breaks and you go to get it repaired or replaced under assumed lifetime warranty only to find out that there was an expiry date. Your mental and probably verbal reply to this happening is that “it’s a Craftsman which means lifetime warranty”- to which the clerk replies, “lifetime warranty applies only to hand tools” (and not all of them). Suddenly, the surprise, shock, anger, and most likely disappointment felt from hearing this information goes to work in the consumer’s mind. First, Craftsman’s Brand Promise is instantly broken in the consumer’s head, the key selling point and trust factor of Craftsman is wiped out, the Brand’s place in the evoked set gets changed or removed, and the Brand gets repositioned in the mind (from the reliable, trusted, and dependable provider to promise breaker, unreliable, and the "untrusted"). Above all, erosion of the established, and heavily invested in, Brand identity occurs by the literal confusion that is created in the consumer's, market's, and society's minds. "What's a Craftsman?" becomes an expensive and dangerous proposition with far reaching Brand implications.
Finally, the consumer tells a friend about their negative experience, and they tell a friend, and so on... Multiply this scenario by possibly thousands per year, and one can see the potential and exponential damage to the Craftsman Brand name and identity- directly. Indirectly, the damage far exceeds the above including the transferring of negativity from Craftsman to the core Sears brand. What should Craftsman Do? First, the Craftsman Brand must be refocused to its original/historical "implied" Brand Promise, position, and price point - that of a lifetime warranty hand tool, of professional quality and premium price. Craftsman must be sharply refocused, starting with a "lifetime warranty" that consistently covers all tool lines and models under its Brand name. To achieve this, the following must be done: -prune/delete the Craftsman Professional line as it removes the original/historical premium position of Craftsman- "what, the original Craftsman tools were not the best so you needed to create a better version?" -next, rename the Craftsman lawn and garden lines including tractors. -rename the Craftsman garage door openers under the more appropriate "automotive oriented" Diehard banner. -all non-lifetime warranty tools from sanders, drills, routers, to pliers and vices rename under the Sears Tools Brand. Prune/delete any historically poor selling models and even lines.
The result: Craftsman becomes a focused, well-defined, Brand Promise keeping (via a consistently applied "Guaranteed Forever" warranty), honest to goodness strong Brand that means something to consumers. Craftsman could again become a strong Brand where it counts- the stuff of legend in the evoked set..."Guaranteed Forever".
Studio X-Temporal Global Brand Consulting is a Multinational Brand Consultancy that leads the marketing world in both practical application and ideation generation in brand management and strategy. Clients have included many of Asia’s and the World’s top brands of all sizes and across all segments such as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Kao Cosmetics, Motorola, Panasonic, Apple, Budweiser, EXXON, TDK, Tsingtao Beer, Heineken, Jack Daniels, Human Talent PLC, Malaysian Telecom, The Hard Rock Café, as well as governments such as New Zealand, China, the UK, Malaysia, and Dubai. The firm is responsible for 16 industry- leading globally published books, as well as many highly regarded white papers, articles, and case studies appearing in prestigious publications from the Financial Times of London to the Multinational Business Review. The firm has offices across Asia, in the EU, and North America.
Fantastic! Love it. As a former Midwesterner who loved Craftsman I always wondered what went wrong. As a senior ad planner it never ceased to escape me why I felt Craftsman had "lost it". It just did not feel the same anymore. This article has shed the light on why I no longer feel the way I did as a kid about Craftsman or even Sears for that matter! Awesome stuff, Stefan!
Posted by: Dan James | 12/21/2006 at 04:21 PM
As a senior ad planner it never ceased to escape me why I felt Craftsman had "lost it".
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