Brand Recognition Research.

Delivered August 13th, 2019. Contributors: Marie J., Ashley N., Erika O. and

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Power Tool Market China, Brands & Brand Recognition

BLACK+DECKER, Stanley, and DeWALT brands are recognized in the Chinese market but Black+Decker and DeWALT are more known based on their availability in online marketplaces such as Amazon China and Alibaba. Other power tool brands recognized in the Chinese market are Bosch Power Tools, Makita, HitachiKoki Hitachi Machine, Dongcheng, Mai Tai Bao, Ruiqi KEN, DEVON, and Worx. More details about the findings are below. 
2017 Top 10 Brands of Power Tools in ChinaAccording to the China Industry Information Network ranking, the top 10 brands for power tools in China, in no particular order, include Bosch Power Tools, Makita, HitachiKoki Hitachi Machine, DeWALT, DEWEI, Black+Decker, Dongcheng, Mai Tai Bao, Ruiqi KEN, DEVON, and Worx.
China Power Tool IndustryA 2014-2017 industry report by Research and Markets shows that key players in the Chinese market for the power tools industry are BOSCH, Black+Decker, Bosun Tools, Great Star Industrial, HILTI, Hammer Electric Power Tools Company, Hitachi Koki, Jiangsu Dongcheng Power Tools Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Guoqiang Tools, Ken Tools, Makita Corporation, Ningbo Lis Industrial Co., Ltd., TTI Group, Zhejiang Boda Industrial Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Hengyou Machine & Electron Co., Ltd.
Worldwide demand for power tools is projected to increase 4.8% per year through 2018 to $32.9 billion and China, India, Western Europe, and the US are said to be the driving force behind these gains.
China's power tool brands have striven for a change in the image of low-end manufacturing mainly by means of mergers and acquisitions.
In China, the number of domestic sales for electric tools has accounted for 90% of total sales and imported brands have 10% of sales.
BLACK+DECKER, Stanley, and DEWALT in Chinese online marketplaces (Amazon China and Alibaba)Stanley power tools are not available in Amazon China.
DeWALT power tools are available in Amazon China and are bought with consumer ratings provided.
Black+Decker power tools are available and bought by customers in Amazon China.
A Stanley subsidiary (Hefei Intaca Science-Technology Development Co., Ltd.) selling Stanley tools in the Alibaba marketplace but there are no power tools available.
In the Alibaba marketplace, Black+Decker power tools are not common but accessories for Black+Decker power tools such as batteries are prominent.
DeWALT power tools are available in Alibaba but there are limited transactions displayed.
Hardware Fair in ShanghaiStanley, Black+Decker, and DeWALT participated in the International Hardware Fair in China, held last April 2019 for brand recognition in the Chinese market. 
Research StrategyWe first looked into the Stanley company website and found out that, according to its annual report, the three brands (Stanley, Black+Decker, and DeWALT) were listed with no region or country segmentation in the Stanley financial reports; so there is no official Stanley source noting details about segmentation in China. Therefore, we employed creative strategies and decided to look into online marketplaces in China such as Amazon and Alibaba to check their availability in these marketplaces and gather data about how these brands perform in Chinese online marketplaces. We found out that Stanley power tools are limited for these two marketplaces; however, Black+Decker and DeWALTare available. We continued searching for industry reports corroborating our findings with the online marketplaces. We found a 2014 report showing Black+Decker as part of the key players. This is outdated but we considered this as a helpful finding since its projected year of coverage is until 2017 and is from a reputable industry website. We continued searching for industry reports but the complete findings are not publicly available. We then tried using a translation tool to search for sources in Chinese and we were able to pull out a top 10 list of power tool brands by the China Industry Information Network which is a large-scale industry research and consulting agency in China. To summarize we found out that BLACK+DECKER, Stanley, and DeWALT brands are recognized in the Chinese market but Black+Decker and DeWALTare more known based on their availability on online marketplaces such as Amazon China and Alibaba and their inclusion on the top 10 brands by the China Industry Information Network.

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Power Tool Market Japan, Brands & Brand Recognition

Although attempts to locate direct data that discusses the consumer brand recognition of Black + Decker, Stanley, and DeWalt could not be located, it was possible to draw some logical conclusions based on an analysis of brand presence within the country. Overall, available information related to Black + Decker, Stanley, and DeWalt's presence in Japan and the surrounding region seems to suggest that there should be a prominent amount of brand recognition of these brands in the country (especially for Black + Decker and DeWalt, although less so for Stanley), given that these brands are noted among the key players in the APAC region (in which Japan is noted as a major country), have Japan-specific websites for their brands (except for Stanley), and have thousands of products available for sale in the country, as evidenced by an analysis of Amazon's Japanese website. However, it does appear that other power tool brands, specifically Japanese and other APAC-based brands, are much more commonly used/recognized, as they dominate both in terms of being the key players in this market and in terms of showing the highest consumer ratings on Amazon's Japanese website. Some brands that appeared the most in during this overall analysis are Makita, Panasonic, and Hitachi (aka: Metabo). A deep dive of these findings has been presented below. 
BLACK + DECKER Black + Decker is listed as a key player in the global power tool market, thereby suggesting this brand is likely well-known in many places around the world, which may include Japan. 
In terms of net sales, Asia is the third-largest market for B+D's parent company, Stanley Black & Decker which may suggest awareness of the brand in this region, which may include Japan. 
B+D's parent company, Stanley Black & Decker is noted as a key player in the APAC region power tool market. 
Black + Decker has an official Japanese website. However, no publicly available web traffic data for this domain was found, neither via SimilarWeb or Alexa. Additionally, Japan is not listed among the top five countries based on web traffic for the main Stanley tools website. 
 Some Black+Decker brand power tools appear among the top-rated power tool products on Amazon's Japanese website, however, other brands (mostly Japanese brands) are much more prominent. Overall, there are over 6,000 Black + Decker branded products for sale on Amazon's Japanese website, a significant portion of which are power tools. 
There does not appear to be any evidence of Black + Decker power tools commercials in Japan. 
There is no evidence of Japan-specific social media for Black + Decker. 
STANLEY Stanley is a part of the same company as Black and Decker (Stanley Black & Decker), which is listed as a key player in the global power tool market, thereby suggesting this brand is likely well-known in many places around the world, which may include Japan.  
In terms of net sales, Asia is the third-largest market for Stanley's parent company, Stanley Black & Decker which may suggest awareness of the brand in this region, which may include Japan.  
Stanley's parent company, Stanley Black & Decker is noted as a key player in the APAC region power tool market. 
No evidence was found of an official Japanese website for the Stanley tools brand and Japan is not listed among the top five countries based on web traffic for the main Stanley tools website.
 No Stanley brand power tools appear among the top-rated power tool products on Amazon's Japanese website. Overall, there are 706 Stanley tools products for sale on Amazon's Japanese website (however it should be noted that some of these products actually appear to bear the DeWalt brand instead). 
There does not appear to be any evidence of Stanley tools commercials being played in Japan. 
There is no evidence of Japan-specific social media for Stanley. 
DEWALTDeWalt is also a part of Stanley Black & Decker, which is listed as a key player in the global power tool market, thereby suggesting this brand is likely well-known in many places around the world, which may include Japan.  
In terms of net sales, Asia is the third-largest market for DeWalt's parent company, Stanley Black & Decker, which may suggest awareness of the brand in this region, which may include Japan. 
DeWalt's parent company, Stanley Black & Decker, is noted as a key player in the APAC region power tool market. 
DeWalt has an official Japanese website. However, no publicly available web traffic data for this domain was found, neither via SimilarWeb or Alexa. 
 No DeWalt brand power tools appear among the top-rated power tool products on Amazon's Japanese website, however, other brands (mostly Japanese brands) are much more prominent. Overall, there are over 2,000 DeWalt power tool and related products for sale on Amazon's Japanese website. 
There does not appear to be any evidence of DeWalt commercials being played in Japan. 
There is no evidence of Japan-specific social media for DeWalt. 
MOST RECOGNIZABLE POWERTOOL BRANDS IN JAPANThe following Japanese companies/brands are listed as key players in the global power tools market; therefore, it can be assumed that these are among the most recognizable power tool brands in Japan. 

Hitachi Koki Co. 
Kyocera Corporation
Makita Corporation
Panasonic Corporation
Uryu Seisaku, Ltd. 

The following companies/brands are listed as key players in the APAC region power tool market, in which Japan is noted as a major country.

Bosh
Makita
Stanley Black & Decker
Techtronic Industries
Acutant
Blount International 
BOSUN Tools
Emerson Electric
Hangzhou Great Star Industrial
Hilti
Hitachi Koki
Jiangsu Dongcheng M&E Tools
Jiangsu Guoqiang tools
Ken-Tool
Panasonic
Snap-On
Zhejiang Boda Industrial  

RESEARCH STRATEGY To fulfill this request, our team first began by attempting to locate surveys of the Japanese consumer base in regard to their awareness/recognition of specific power tool brands, and especially the three brands examined in this report (Black + Decker, Stanley, and DeWalt). In these surveys, we expected to find hard data showing the percentage of survey respondents who were familiar with specific power tool brands. However, exhaustive research through scientific and academic databases and reports along with trusted media articles and case studies did not return any information along these lines, even after an analysis of available resources published in Japanese were analyzed. In fact, even publicly available information regarding general power tool consumer surveys and sentiments in Japan was found to be lacking overall. Despite this, we were able to make some assumptions as to what the level of general brand awareness of the stated brands are in Japan by analyzing the presence of each brand within the country and looking for any evidence that would logically support whether the brand is well-known or not well-known by Japanese consumers. In doing so, we analyzed market reports in attempts to identify key players in the power tool markets in Japan and the APAC region as a whole, the annual reports of the aforementioned brands to gain an understanding of their geographic footprint in and around Japan, an analysis of the brands' geographic sources of website traffic and Japan-specific websites, the availability of branded products for sale within the country along with their consumer ratings, an analysis of whether the brands had any Japan-specific social media pages, and whether there was any evidence of commercials for these brands in Japan, which as conducted via sites like YouTube and TV commercial databases. Collectively, this research helped to paint a picture of the level of presence each brand has in the country, which could then be used to draw some logical assumptions as to whether consumers in this country would likely be familiar with/recognize these brands. 

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Power Tool Market SE Asia, Brands & Brand Recognition

While information specific to the whole Southeast Asian power tools market is not publicly available, and the brand recognition of power tool brands in the region could not be reliably determined, there are indications that the most recognizable power tool brands vary from one Southeast Asian country to another. For example, in the Philippines, Bosch, Black & Decker, and DeWalt appear to be the most popular brands, while in Singapore, Makita, Milwaukee, Hikoki, Bosch, and DeWalt appear to be the most popular brands. 
FINDINGSBosch, Black & Decker, and DeWalt are the brands with the highest number of products on offer in the "power tools and accessories" category of the online store of Ace Hardware Philippines. With 148 branches nationwide, Ace Hardware Philippines is one of the Philippines's leading hardware chains. 
In said category, Bosch, Black & Decker, and DeWalt have 26, 25, and 17 products on offer, respectively. The store has no Stanley power tools on offer in the category.
Makita, Milwaukee, Bosch, and DeWalt are the brands with the highest number of products on offer in the "cordless drills, impact drivers, and wrenches" category of the online store of Horme Hardware. Horme Hardware is Singapore's biggest supplier of hardware for do-it-yourself (DIY) and home improvement projects.
In said category, Makita, Milwaukee, Bosch, and DeWalt have 57, 25, 24, and 20 products on offer, respectively, while Stanley and Black & Decker have only 9 and 4 products on offer, respectively. 
Makita, Hikoki, Bosch, and DeWalt are the brands with the highest number of products on offer in the "corded drills, impact drivers, and wrenches" category of the online store of Horme Hardware.
In said category, Makita, Hikoki, Bosch, and DeWalt have 56, 22, 15, and 13 products on offer, respectively, while Stanley has only 9 products on offer. 
Makita, Bosch, Hitachi, and Dremel are the brands with the highest number of products on offer in the "power tools" category of the online store of CT Hardware. CT Hardware is "Malaysia's top choice for quality products for trade and DIY."
In said category, Makita, Bosch, Hitachi, and Dremel have 580, 220, 109, and 105 products on offer, respectively, while DeWalt, Stanley, and Black & Decker have only 68, 10, and 4 products on offer, respectively. 
RESEARCH STRATEGYIn determining the brand recognition of the specified power tool brands in Southeast Asia, we employed a number of strategies. First, we checked if the information is readily available in the public domain through industry reports, lists, rankings, or surveys. We checked if market research firms have recently published reports on the Southeast Asian market for power tools. Industry reports often identify the top players in the market, and players with the highest revenues are, more often than not, the most popular or most recognizable brands. We were unable to find any, however, and the closest reports available are paywalled reports on the global power tools market. Freedonia, Kenneth Research, and ICR World identify the key players in the Southeast Asian market, but these key players can only be seen in the full reports. Lists, rankings, or surveys of the top, most popular, or most recognizable power tool brands in the region do not appear to be publicly available as well. The relatively smaller size of the region's market for power tools may be the reason behind the lack of information. 

Second, we reviewed the websites, publications, and disclosures of power tool manufacturers, particularly Stanley Black & Decker, which is the parent company of Black+Decker, Stanley, and Dewalt. We looked for articles mentioning each brand and Southeast Asia too. We figured these manufacturers may have identified their top brands in Southeast Asia in their disclosures, or articles about the financial performance of these brands in the region may have been published. Our plan was to rank brands by revenue. Unfortunately, this strategy produced very limited information. For example, Stanley Black & Decker's disclosures, such as annual reports, investor presentations, earnings call transcripts, and press releases, do not offer any information specific to Southeast Asia or the countries within. All we were able to find were articles about Bosch's growth in the region. The information is not specific to power tools, however; Bosch has diversified businesses in the region, and power tools are just one of these businesses.

Third, we attempted to triangulate the desired information by looking at the power tools offered by leading online hardware stores in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Our assumption is that the brands with the highest number of products on offer are most likely the most recognizable brands. Ace Hardware in the Philippines, Horme Hardware in Singapore, and CT Hardware in Malaysia were the online stores we found where products can be filtered by brand. (Ace Hardware Indonesia does not appear to sell power tools online.) This second strategy proved more helpful than our first two strategies, as we were able to identify the power tool brands that appear to be popular in individual Southeast Asian countries.