Marketing Strategy

With an increasing number of female consumers interested in do-it-yourself household repair and maintenance activities, the Graf Hardware Corporation decided to launch a line of tools geared for female needs and tastes. These tools will differ little from their generic counterparts but will boast attractive and colorful handles and the grips will be smaller, made for the female hand. A marketing strategy for this new line of female-oriented tools will include television marketing, targeted advertisements in certain magazines, and clever use of product display units. Billboards, print ads in newspapers, and radio spots will be used as well.

This multi-pronged marketing mix will reach the widest range of consumers. Because female do-it-yourselfers come from a wide mix of demographics, the tools will need to be marketed to a number of different sectors. Therefore, household repair magazines are only the beginning of the advertising campaign. In fact, television ads should be the primary focus of the Graf Hardware marketing strategy. These ads would emphasize attractive young women as well as seniors who use the tools proudly. The slogan for the campaign should reference the attractiveness of the tools, with a line something like, "Power tools aren't just for men." The ads should also incorporate humor: taking advantage of the stereotype that women do not like to use power tools or make household repairs. The marketing strategy should appeal to women who don't feel confined by traditional male-female stereotypes.

The marketing mix will also demand clever placement of these specialty products. In do-it-yourself hardware stores like Home Depot, for instance, the Graf line of female-oriented tools should have their own display. Colors like pinks and lively patterns will attract the eye of consumers who have not even seen the television ads. Good display will encourage impulse buying. Moreover, the line of tools should be averagely priced so as to encourage women to select the Graf line as opposed to other brands' of tools. Pricing them too high would discourage buying while pricing them too low will make them appear cheap.