Brand Report Card: Home Depot vs. Lowes
Jose Montero - MGT 612, Strategic Brand Management
Professor Jenny Darroch, Spring 2008, Claremont Graduate University, CA
Brand Report Card
May 5, 2008
Copyright 2008. Jose H. Montero. All rights reserved.
Brand Report Card: Home Depot vs. Lowe’s
The Brand Report Card, devise d by Kevin L. Keller, is a tool for assessing a brand’s performance by rating brands along ten key traits that Keller believes are shared by the world’s strongest brands. Strong brands possess very high brand equity and the Brand Report Card is one tool to help identify things the brand is doing well and areas for improvement. When done on competitive brands, the Brand Report Card can tell us how our brand measures up to the competition. In this paper I apply the Brand Report Card to The Home Depot and its largest rival Lowe’s, after first describing myself as a shopper.
I enjoy making time for fixing things around the house and home improvement projects. I guess I have been a handyman and tinkerer of sorts most of my life. As a child one my most memorable past times was taking things apart in an attempt to repair or discover how things work, while helping dad with house projects was usually fun and educational. As a homeowner and dad, doing home projects and repairs with the guidance and supplies from my favorite home improvement center is one of my favorite past times.
Once a shopper of local hardware stores and places like Sears, in the last thirteen years I have become a fairly avid and loyal customer of The Home Depot. While I had heard through my prior job about Lowe’s operations in Canada and the Midwest, it was not until the past few years that I witnessed the establishment of Lowe’s stores in locations not too far from my favorite Home Depot stores. As I watched Lowe’s stores under construction, I viewed these invaders with mild resentment, intrigue and distrust. How could Lowe’s come into Home Depot’s turf, our turf, and set up shop as if
Professor Jenny Darroch, Spring 2008, Claremont Graduate University, CA
Brand Report Card
May 5, 2008
Copyright 2008. Jose H. Montero. All rights reserved.
Brand Report Card: Home Depot vs. Lowe’s
The Brand Report Card, devise d by Kevin L. Keller, is a tool for assessing a brand’s performance by rating brands along ten key traits that Keller believes are shared by the world’s strongest brands. Strong brands possess very high brand equity and the Brand Report Card is one tool to help identify things the brand is doing well and areas for improvement. When done on competitive brands, the Brand Report Card can tell us how our brand measures up to the competition. In this paper I apply the Brand Report Card to The Home Depot and its largest rival Lowe’s, after first describing myself as a shopper.
I enjoy making time for fixing things around the house and home improvement projects. I guess I have been a handyman and tinkerer of sorts most of my life. As a child one my most memorable past times was taking things apart in an attempt to repair or discover how things work, while helping dad with house projects was usually fun and educational. As a homeowner and dad, doing home projects and repairs with the guidance and supplies from my favorite home improvement center is one of my favorite past times.
Once a shopper of local hardware stores and places like Sears, in the last thirteen years I have become a fairly avid and loyal customer of The Home Depot. While I had heard through my prior job about Lowe’s operations in Canada and the Midwest, it was not until the past few years that I witnessed the establishment of Lowe’s stores in locations not too far from my favorite Home Depot stores. As I watched Lowe’s stores under construction, I viewed these invaders with mild resentment, intrigue and distrust. How could Lowe’s come into Home Depot’s turf, our turf, and set up shop as if
References: 1. Gunelius, Susan, “Color Branding: The Meaning Behind Colors,” 5/04/2008, . 2. Fuhrmann, Ryan, “Fool on the Street: Lowe’s Plan for Improvement,” 5/4/2008, . 3. “Home Depot Slows Down Expansion: Still Losing Customers to Lowes,” . 4. . 5. . 6. . 7. .