DEWALT was a category leader and had developed a large and loyal following for their brand. However, this loyalty was being eroded at the store level. Retailers were using the DEWALT brand as a loss leader, then selling other products with higher margins to customers on the floor. It was a challenge for DEWALT to react to this, as they had relationships with the retailers, not the end-user. DEWALT had to get control of the customer relationship without upsetting the retailer. In order to do this, they had to create a large customer database in order to build relationships and ultimately increase product sales. They were starting from ground zero – they had no electronic customer data.

To establish a large and dynamic customer database that could be used to create a direct relationship with the end-user. The database would include an extremely detailed profile of a wide range of related interests, including past purchases and purchase intent. The data would then be utilized to create personalized, timely offers specific to individual needs.

The initial list was created by manually inputting 60,000 names from warranty cards and trade- show contest entries. A mailing sent to these respondents asked them to complete the survey with 60 field profile questions, such as “what type and brand of tools do you currently own?” and “what tools are you planning to buy and when?” To motivate respondents to provide this much information, we created the ‘DEWALT TOUGH GUY’ program, where a combination of discounted prices, tips and how-to information through coupons and a website. In order to expand the database further, respondents were also asked to encourage friends to make purchases. The ‘friends don’t let friends buy cheap tools’ program offered a free DeWALT jacket if five friends actually made purchases with the coupons provided. The information provided was used to create personalized offers. For example, if a customer told us they were planning on buying a Skil Saw next July, they would receive a bundled offer from us that would a include Skil Saw and other tools.