The Official England Toolkit
from Advent
In the tool trade we are all very aware of the importance of quality and branding. Some companies spend millions reinforcing brand awareness to ensure that their brands remain as visible and as powerful as possible.
It is also well known that in times of recession, brand awareness and advertising can pay off because purchasers want to use trusted and reliable brands and tend to focus on those when times seem tough.
As part of Advent Tool’s ongoing strategy of focusing on quality and branding a new exciting hand tool range for the professional tradesman has been created. By working with the FA (Football Association) Advent has been able to license the use of one of the most recognised brands on the globe, The Three Lions Logo of the England football team to produce the Official England Toolkit.
I would have liked to been at the meetings that came up with the strategy, but in fact the idea has paid off handsomely, with predicted sales targets being shattered many times over. The lesson might then be – sometimes it just pays off to be original and also to have a clear idea of the interests of your target market.
Some readers may have already seen a preview of The Official England Toolkit but for those who haven’t, it consists of a tape measure, a spirit level, a hard hat, a hi-vis vest, a multi- purpose builders bucket and a toolbox. I am sure that you would agree that not only is this limited range a good way of getting the logo seen, but they are also products that are regularly purchased and used in very visible ways, so have a lot of “me-too” appeal.
I was sent a couple of products to review, the tape measure and the level, and I think these were carefully chosen because Advent Tools still wants to make the point that despite the England logos and colour scheme, the products are quality and just as serviceable and useful as “normal” Advent tools.
I confess that I am a tape measure junkie, no matter how many I have I always seem to lose them or need them in more places than in my workshop, car, office, etc etc….!
The Advent Tape measure in England colours is really quite striking. It is sold individually on a specifically designed self merchandising blister card that is easy to display and easy for a purchaser to check how it will work and what the actual face of the measure looks like.
There is a large white Three Lions badge centre on in the boss of the measure housing, and this is completely surrounded by a rugged, rubberized outer housing. My experience of these rubberized housings is that they genuinely help the handling of the tape measure, but are also very good at absorbing shocks that inevitably occur when tapes are dropped – as they always will be.
The width of the blade is 25mm wide and is shaped into quite a sharp curve. This makes the tape quite rigid in use and I was able to get a “stand-out” of over 2.6 metres before the tape “broke” the curve. With a very handy and increasingly “standard” length of 5 metres, packed into a relatively compact body this tape can be clipped onto a belt, pocket or tool belt quite easily.
I was also taken with the very visible acid yellow colour of the tape face. This allows the crisp markings to be easily seen. Feet and inches are marked on the “top” of the tape and mm, cm and metres are marked on the bottom. Users have quite a few extra help points on the scales. For example there is a tiny diamond equivalent mark at 50mm on the inch scale – this is a very common measurement for carpenters especially, so it helps to have it on both scales of the tape.
Every 10 cm on the metric scale the marks are big and marked in red so it is easy to count up in tens. Every foot on the imperial scale is marked with a black point and a big F. Finally, 16 inches and 32 inches are also separately marked to make it easy for stud wall marking.
Handling of this tape is easy, and is helped by the fact that the lock button is large, easily slideable and easy to unlock with a simple thumb movement. Underneath the tape is another lock button that is a simple press and release for when the lock button is not needed. I found that the return spring action was not too fierce, requiring only a bit of slowing with one hand to guide it safely home without slicing any fingers.
The verdict is that this tape measure is well up to job for professional trades people and other users alike. The fact that it clearly has other added appeal to fans of the beautiful game, and England in particular means that it has a good place in the marketing strategy and affections of the fans.
Many readers may not know about the “kappa by Advent” brand of levels. They are orange in colour, are made in Europe and are guaranteed accurate to the required standard of 0.5mm in 1 metre.
They also have large easy to read bubbles in the vials. These vials are sealed and Ultra Violet resistant so will remain easy to read and accurate throughout the working life of the level. The rubberized plastic ends of the level have shock absorbing properties and there is a hole through the accurately machined extruded alloy body by which the level can be hung up when necessary. All in all, the standard “kappa by Advent” level is another product that will withstand the rigours of site and trade use.
All that Advent has changed is the colours – the body of the level is painted a blue with the Three Lions logo. This is very distinctive, but does not interfere with the utility of the level, which remains as easy to use as the original.
I can foresee that there will be some users who will want to acquire all the other “England” branded tools and kit, because it is different and distinctive without being gimmicky. Underneath the paintwork are quality tried and tested tools. So, Good Idea, Advent!
