B&D Case Analysis
1. What is the cause of Black & Decker 9% share and Makita’s 50% share?
The Black & Decker Corporation has three major segments which are Professional-Industrial tools, Professional-Tradesmen tools and Consumer tools. It is making good profit in Professional-Industrial and Consumer segments but has only 9% share in Professional-Tradesmen, compared to 50% share of Makita (Table A).
One of the reasons of this difference is that due to the popularity of Black & Decker in the Consumer segment, tradesmen view Black & Decker’s products as for use at home rather than professional, according to the brand perception statistics of Professional-Tradesmen segment buyers(Figure C).
The other possible reason is that Black & Decker has black/charcoal grey for all their products, compared to Makita that differentiates their professional product line with teal color versus consumer’s black/charcoal grey (Figure D). Thus, when tradesmen look at the Black & Decker’s Professional-Industrial product line they assume that those are Comsumer segment tools and don’t even consider them as appropriate tools for use in business, even though, according to the professional power tool product assessment results (Figure E), most of Black & Decker’s products are ranked either leading or competitive.
2. Describe buyer behavior of tradesmen
Tradesmen always want to look professional in their jobs. They will care so much about products that they use because those tools may lead to define tradesmen’s skills and how professional they are. However, most of tradesmen think that Black & Decker products are made for households. The strong Black & Decker’s consumer tool products image is deeply embedded in customers’ minds. Thus, tradesmen who are willing to be seen professional try to avoid purchasing Black & Decker’s products.
3. Analyze the competitive situation (strength and weakness of Black & Decker, Makita and Milwakee)
Black & Decker
The main strengths of Black & Decker are:
since
The Black & Decker Corporation has three major segments which are Professional-Industrial tools, Professional-Tradesmen tools and Consumer tools. It is making good profit in Professional-Industrial and Consumer segments but has only 9% share in Professional-Tradesmen, compared to 50% share of Makita (Table A).
One of the reasons of this difference is that due to the popularity of Black & Decker in the Consumer segment, tradesmen view Black & Decker’s products as for use at home rather than professional, according to the brand perception statistics of Professional-Tradesmen segment buyers(Figure C).
The other possible reason is that Black & Decker has black/charcoal grey for all their products, compared to Makita that differentiates their professional product line with teal color versus consumer’s black/charcoal grey (Figure D). Thus, when tradesmen look at the Black & Decker’s Professional-Industrial product line they assume that those are Comsumer segment tools and don’t even consider them as appropriate tools for use in business, even though, according to the professional power tool product assessment results (Figure E), most of Black & Decker’s products are ranked either leading or competitive.
2. Describe buyer behavior of tradesmen
Tradesmen always want to look professional in their jobs. They will care so much about products that they use because those tools may lead to define tradesmen’s skills and how professional they are. However, most of tradesmen think that Black & Decker products are made for households. The strong Black & Decker’s consumer tool products image is deeply embedded in customers’ minds. Thus, tradesmen who are willing to be seen professional try to avoid purchasing Black & Decker’s products.
3. Analyze the competitive situation (strength and weakness of Black & Decker, Makita and Milwakee)
Black & Decker
The main strengths of Black & Decker are:
since