A New Value Equation
From an overall retail channel perspective, there has been nothing more fascinating than watching the home center and hardware retail category battle it out over the past couple of decades. It's a channel anomaly that the big boxes haven't destroyed the local hardware store entrees and offerings. I'm talking about Home Depot and Lowe's and their continual battle to crush anything in their way. In fact, they're losing their way these days.
It's interesting to watch local hardware stores and the Ace and True Value co-ops continue to fight back, day in and day out. They have long realized that the competitive underbelly of the hardware big boxes was their lack of personal service and the inability to get in and out of the store without killing all your precious weekend time. Doing it with a friendly face and a little bit of counsel are welcomed extras that the local hardware stores are seizing on. A competitive strategy to die for! It is real life David vs. Goliath.
Yesterday, while reading the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, I came across an interesting ad from True Value. The selling proposition of the ad was directed and focused at the notion of having everything in one place, in an easy to shop format, with people who know what they're talking about. The headline drives it home emphatically - "Master of All Things Hardwarian." The payoff line is simple and to the point, "Tools, projects and expert advice for all your project needs." The tagline of "Start Right, Start Here" is inviting. It's a simple business descriptor in that you want to start a project right with your local True Value hardware dealer, where you get the products and brands you need and want and the advice and counsel that you may have a hard time finding at the big box. Shopping at a big box is a search and rescue mission. You've got to find a parking place, traipse across a huge parking lot and identify what aisle you need. Heaven help you if you need to ask someone for advice. That's where the True Value "Hardwarian" enters the scene. The tagline is carried through in a URL, www.startrightstarthere.com.
It is an interesting departure for True Value, with no celebrity spokesperson who ties into the male demo. In the past, True Value has used Pat Summerall, the ex-NFL football player and great play-by-play announcer for NFL football games on CBS and Fox. Ace has been synonymous with John Madden. True Value has made the decision to make the store owner the hero - the one who knows the business, understands hardware projects and is deeply embedded in the community. It's a simple but effective strategy.
Emphasizing service and advice is not new in the hardware category. In the late '80s, Home Depot touted the fact that they had contractors on staff. Who better to ask for advice than a contractor? After all, it was a great premise because the nation went through a protracted downturn at that time and housing starts were way off. So contractors had to find employment and Home Depot was a natural fit. Couple that with really knowing their trades. It made for a great selling premise for Home Depot. It worked for a period of time, but soon faded as the construction trades took off in the '90s. No contractor who is worth anything remained working at Home Depot or Lowe's during the past two decades. Home Depot CEO, Bob Nardelli, further killed this selling premise by bringing on part-timers and hiring people who didn't know the first thing about working a project. Home Depot lost their way.
Perhaps True Value can start to coin a new term - Hardwarian. It sounds a little too clichéd. The first thing you would equate it with would be librarian, not a great analogy. But there is certainly something to it in that the advice and support you get at the local hardware retailer is hard to replicate. They'll take the time, show you what you need, won't oversell, and give you advice to help you feel more comfortable in tackling projects. It's as if the respective taglines of Home Depot, "You can do it, we can help" and Lowe's, "Let's build something together," are better suited to the local hardware stores, many of them Ace and True Value dealers, where you truly get the help you need.
Kudos to True Value for understanding their true value equation - the store owner and their staff. They're independent and proud of it. They won't be boxed in!
With a very DIY significant other, we spend many a weekend morning running out to pick up something for this project or that. We' ve always preferred the True Value or Ace for the exact reasons of service, knowledge and friendliness and the principle of the independently owned business. A brand-new Lowe's just opened, right next to another Dunkin Donuts both on the way to True Value and a family-owned coffee shop.
The convenience of the Depot or Lowe's sometimes wins out but we ultimately spend just as much time walking through and searching for what we need as we would have if we drove the extra five minutes.
I bet we'll see the local grocery stores, coffee shops and restaurants reap the benefits and join David in the battle against Goliath.
I did a lot of research on co-ops when I was working on an account in this industry in the past. I visited several smaller hardware shops (True Value, Aubuchon, Ace, etc.) and the one constant was always the service and the expertise. If you have a question, the "hardwarian" is going to be able to answer. And if they can't, they'll find the answer for you.
I think a growing challenge for these smaller shops is definitely the amount of inventory that they can afford to stock. That's where the big boxes have taken over. Especially in these tough economic times you'll notice that the shelves are becoming a little more sparse. There is not as much variety as you would be able to find at your Home Depot or Lowe's. That's where the convenience of the big boxes will win.
I always like to support local business. Hope True Value can start something great with this new campaign.
True Value is definitely targeting their male customer with "Hardwarian" - which makes sense, that's who shops that store. I can't say I'd even accompany my husband to True Value - but when he's going to Home Depot or Lowe's, I'm in the car! It's set up for female shoppers. The displays of cabinets, lighting, outdoor decorations, plants...everything for a female to dream of how she can redo her home.
True Value can continue targeting males, but Home Depot and Lowe's have the opportunity to target females and let's face it, when it comes to a major change in the home, the decision maker is the female.