Stanley Hand Tools, which became a division of Black & Decker last year when B&D merged with Stanley Works, is one of the major players in that marketplace. Through its digital offerings, it sells itself as both innovative and supportive.

Website

The most noticeable thing about the Stanley website is the overwhelming amount of yellow and black backgrounds that cover the main page. Stanley’s logo, of course, is bright yellow with black letter. After you’ve visited the site, you won’t soon forget that.

The other dominating feature on the home page is a large central image of three innovative tools with brief explanations of what they do: The 3-in-1 tripod LED flashlight looks very tempting to get on jobs where you need both hands and you’re working in a dark area. But, before you know it, the image is replaced with a “premium plane.”

The overriding idea that is continually communicated on the site is that Stanley is innovative and supportive. These large product images showcase the former while the white box to the right of those images on the front page works more toward the latter idea. The box is entitled “Most Popular” and has a success of links to tape rules, knives, hammers, screwdrivers, levels, laser tools, and plenty more. Providing this handy list allows consumers to easily get directly to what they want or need.

Scrolling lazily across the bottom of the screen are the new and innovative products from Stanley, such things as the Xtreme Instant Change Handsaw System, which has “easy blade changes in a matter of seconds.” Or a 16” level that lights up to make seeing what you’re doing easier. Each innovative item has its own page with an image and copy that’s got to be right out of the catalog. For example, here’s what is said about the 16 oz. curve claw graphite hammer:

• Patented 70% larger strike face improves striking accuracy
• Forged oversize steel head for a bigger sweet spot
• Rim tempered reduces indices of chipping and spalling And so on.

The two themes are again highlighted on the navigation bar along the left side of the site. The top link is for “New Products” while the second is “Customer Support,” which leads to a very straightforward collection of helpful links as well as access to live chat with a customer-support rep. Downloadable catalogs and brochures also help consumers with issues on specific products.

Stanley uses video very effectively. Mark Bennett from MyFixItUpLife.com, hosts a series of simple yet somehow compelling videos that show off Stanley’s products and all of the neat little built-in tricks. Bennett’s everyman delivery makes any rehab job seem accessible to any schmo with a hammer.

The support idea is reinforced again with two links in the center of the page: Solutions and Support. Solutions has tool-use tips, such as to never weld a hammer. Support goes to the area mentioned above that also features the live-chat option. The Support area also features conversion charts (fractional inches to millimeters, anyone?

Another example of how innovation is being promoted heavily by Stanley is seen on the bottom left of the home page; That valuable real estate is devoted to large Twitter and Facebook logos that link through to the company’s social-media pages in case you need more immediate tool news than the Website can give you.

Stanley’s Twitter page (@stanleytoolssec) features the thoughts of Scott Bannell, the vice president of brand management at Stanley. The “sec” add-on to the Twitter handle connotes “Stanley Tools and Security” — the brand’s full moniker, which few might recognize. Stanley Tools might want to ask Twitter for @stanleytools, which is unused, instead.

Bannell, as the brand’s official tweeter, seems to mostly retweet do-it-yourself advice, tips, and ideas to the more than 3,200 followers. A typical tweet might read as follows: RT @ExtremeHow_To: How to Sand and Finish Wood Floors. Still, it’s nice to see a personal presence, and an executive, take the reins.

The United Kingdom also has a Stanley Twitter account (@ukstanleytools) that has more than 540 followers. This Tweeter seems to post more original commentary than the U.S. counterpart. Follow this and you might find the following suddenly popping up on your Twitter page: “Apparently handyman skills are a thing of the past and DIY dads are being replaced by "technosexual" men - we hope not!!”

Stanley Tools has two Facebook pages, though only one’s official. One is a group page that consists solely of the Wikipedia description of the company and has so

mehow gained 41 people who “like” it. The other page, the true Facebook home of Stanley, has more than 4,000 people who like it. The page provides a place for consumers to declare their brand support (“Keep up the good work you have very good tools”) and ask practical questions (“Is Stanley 33-632 Measuring tape still available? I need one for replacement. Please advise.”)

There are also occasional updates from the folks at Stanley, such as ”The Stanley Security Solutions blog ‘Security Speaks’ has a new post on protecting your holiday packages. What do you do to ensure things you order arrive safely? Click the link to read more and join the conversation.”

The site also includes a slew of Stanley-related photos, including from the Stanley-sponsored NASCAR team Elliott Sadler.

The “Notes” section features press releases that don’t feel oppressive in the slightest. And the Boxes area of the site attempts to inspire conversation among Internet users, asking questions such as “What are the best cities to work on?” or trying to get people to write essays about their favorite tools.

No matter if you’re hammering in the morning or evening, you can be sure someone at Stanley is right then trying to make the hammer just a smidgeon better than when your mother or father taught you how to avoid smacking your thumb with the “strike face."