Suncraft Using Stanley Brand to Push New TV Mount Line
Suncraft Solutions is licensing the Stanley name for a 10-piece lineup of flat-panel TV mounts that will begin shipping next month through Amazon, Michael Roach, general manager, told us on a press tour in New York. Suggested retail prices of the mounts will range from $30-230.
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Suncraft, an OEM supplier for other mount brands, steel display units and accessories for the commercial market, is in discussions for brick-and-mortar distribution through CE nationwide and regional chains as well as home improvement stores where Stanley has a solid presence, Roach said. Cross-promotions between the mounts and Stanley’s tool business are a natural, and while there are “ways to leverage the relationship,” no bundling deals or promotions have been announced, he said.
Fixed and tilting mounts will ship by the end of July, full-motion designs will deliver in August, and two or three additional models are slated for September, Roach said. The company’s strategy is to give consumers an easy path to do-it-yourself TV mounting. That means for now it isn’t planning to go through custom installers, Roach said. On how the company will differentiate with Stanley-branded products in an increasingly crowded retail market, Roach said it will focus on “innovation and solid products at a good price point.”
It also doesn’t hurt that Stanley is a widely recognized name in a sea of competitors with little brand recognition, he noted. Stanley rates at 98-99 percent “aided awareness” in consumer research, Roach said. “Pretty much every household in America has a Stanley product,” he said.
Suncraft is promoting the Easy Move gas-shock articulating arm technology that provides a “fluid motion” to the Stanley full-motion mounts. It’s also pitching its “Measure, Mark and Mount” system, which it calls a combination of “easy-to-follow instructions” that guides consumers through the installation process. Instructions are included with product packaging, and www.stanleymounts.com will have an installation video for each mount model, Roach said.
Affordable pricing is key to Suncraft’s approach. Pricing for mounts and installation has had to track downward pricing in TVs, he said. “When TVs were $1,500-2,000 for a 40- or 50-inch product, the cost to install it was $150-200,” he said. The labor cost was 10 percent of the TV purchase price, which he called “not bad,” and the mount itself was another 10 percent of the TV price at another $150-200 for a basic model. Today, the typical $400-499 selling price of a 42-inch LCD doesn’t leave much room in the budget for installation, so Suncraft will focus on the DIY consumer, he said. “We wanted to make it a very attractive price for consumers so that it’s an easy add-on,” he said.
On how Suncraft will leverage the Stanley brand through distribution, Roach cited opportunities in different mount categories for projectors, desktop monitors, multiple-mount units, soundbars and shelves for set-top boxes including disc players and game consoles. The goal is to expand into the home space where consumers can “make the connection between the brand and the product,” he said.
Safety is another message Stanley is using to educate customers about the need for mounts. Roach cited a recent report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission that said every two weeks a child is killed by a falling TV or a piece of furniture (http://1.usa.gov/X83Yle). “Their endorsement is that every flat-panel TV needs to be mounted to the wall,” Roach said. “I look at that and say, ‘I love the idea.'”