Black and Decker Anlysis

1. FINDINGS Black and Decker's DeWalt line has been so successful in the USA that it is now the standard for both the Professional-Industrial and the Professional-Tradesman market segments. Nolan Archibald, Chairman, President and CEO of Black and Decker (B&D) saw the potential in 1994 to increase the companies market share through worldwide sales of B&D products. While the company had a definite presence in the European Consumer Power Tools market segment, it lacked penetration in the Professional Power Tools segment. On the other hand, in Japan, where there was a huge market for professional power tools, B&D's market penetration was negligible compared to its competitors. B&D's vision for DeWalt is to be the global "Value Power Tool" provider of choice for every Professional Tradesperson and all worldwide Industrial markets. Based on the facts, the product managers of the DeWalt line have developed a global strategy based on the following conclusions: · DeWalt is a highly successful product in the US market. B&D must leverage its brand identity and marketing strategies employed in the US and also capitalize on their established quality and pricing. · B&D must explore the formation of strategic alliances with local distributors. Multiple and/or hybrid channels must be used to reach customers quickly and as effectively as possible. · Through a global strategy, B&D can appeal to consumer homogeneity by offering lower product costs while maintaining high product quality. The lower product costs derived from the economies of scale will maximize customer value exchange. · B&D must aggressively employ a hybrid push-pull communication strategy to be successful in the two markets. This will enable B&D to get the DeWalt name out to more customers in a diverse geography. · While Elu has performed better than B&D Professional and B&D Proline product lines in the European market, its lack-luster revenues compel B&D to replace the Elu product line with the DeWalt line. · There