The staggering growth of the DIY industry in Australia has resulted in Blokes having a bunch of new battery-powered toys filling up their sheds.
The question is, which brand stands out above the rest? Does the sky blue hue of the Makita branding go perfectly with a Tradies Ford Ranger? Or is targeting hopeless dads with tools they’ll likely use once a better go-to-market strategy?
To find out the answer to these questions and ultimately which battery-powered tools Aussie Blokes prefer, BlokeVote asked over one thousand blokes, “if you were to buy a new set of battery-powered tools, which brand would you buy?”
An overwhelming majority of 30 per cent of respondents voted Ryobi as their preferred brand. This majority was consistent in overall demographic categories including tradies where Ryobi just edged out Makita & Milwaukee as the most popular choice!
Hardware giant Bunnings, who has exclusive rights to RYOBI in Australia, says there is rising demand for cordless power tools, a shift that has been underway for a while as building sites look to boost safety by reducing cords, and tradies seek to find a “one size fits all” solution to fitting out their toolsets.
This popularity can be certainly attributed not only to the demand for power tools, but to the effective advertising and distribution strategies that make Ryobi top of mind and readily available.
The ONE + YOU = Endless Possibilities campaign that has been running in different forms of creative since 2015 has no doubt been successful in capturing the rise in demand.
The campaign has not only captured tradies by being tough and reliable but also (and more importantly) captured DIY’ers who account for a large part of this rise in demand. Leaving more traditional rivals like Makita and Bosch fighting for the scraps.
Coming in second were Makita & Bosch who both secured 16% of the overall votes. Makita scored significantly stronger with the tradies which is to be expected with their strong industry reputation and tradie brand connection.
Milwaukee Tools who scored 10 per cent of the overall votes also scored higher with tradies at 18% of the vote. With the brand sharing the same parent company as RYOBI, it’s no surprise that the market strategy for Milwaukee is to target the ironed on tradies and professionals who’re missed by RYOBI’s DIY’er targetting.
DeWalt scored well with 11 per cent of the overall vote, with the American company employing the same brand positioning as Makita, Bosch and Milwaukee as the tough trades person’s tool of choice.
Ridgid, Festool, Hilti, Stanely, Ozito, Black & Decker and WORX were the other brands featured in the survey with them sharing the remainder of the votes.
By appealing to the average Bloke, RYOBI has tapped into a market who were once too afraid to have a crack at that DIY project themselves. With the home improvement market set to grow to $50 Billion per year within the next ten years, how long will it take the other Battery Powered Tools brands to shift focus from expert consumers to the everyday DIY’er?
