Cut the Cord
When Milwaukee® Tools Australia launched the M18™ Cordless Mitre Saw we knew it was going to create a stir in the industrial tools market. Mitre Saws tend to be power hungry, so the idea of running on a battery was sure to generate a fuss. It was also bound to cause some controversy as the Australian Facebook account had now grown larger than the parent USA page, with a substantial international following and this product was an Australian release, not available to the rest of the world.
I decided to keep the concept simple beginning with a teaser, afterall this product would no longer be limited to a power socket, it was time to 'Cut the Cord'.
The campaign was off to a flying start, speculation on what was coming was everywhere. The sales reps in the field were run off their feet. I had everyone's attention, including USA Headquarters.
The Milwaukee M18™ Mitre Saw launched in Australia in September 2014
Of course the first thing everyone would want to know was if this Mitre Saw was any good, so I contacted Paul Jones, our Product Trainer and asked him to video testthe tool and see how many cuts we could get from a single 4Ah battery.
When the result was over 100 cuts it was clear we were going to need more stock!
The entire first shipment sold out in a week, with back orders exhausted for the following two shipments.
Of course the first thing everyone would want to know was if this Mitre Saw was any good, so I contacted Paul Jones, our Product Trainer and asked him to video testthe tool and see how many cuts we could get from a single 4Ah battery.
When the result was over 100 cuts it was clear we were going to need more stock!
The entire first shipment sold out in a week, with back orders exhausted for the following two shipments.
Interest in the product wasn’t restricted just to Australian tradies, as by now the Australian Milwaukee® Facebook account was the biggest in the world.
The posts were being shared globally and became so popular by public demand Milwaukee® USA released the product to the rest of the world in March 2015
Our biggest rivals at the time were Makita, who launched a cordless planer (ours was still in development) in December 2014 with the headline Cut the Cord – not the Power
In April 2015 Makita finally launched their own version of a cordless Mitre Saw, but it weighed twice as much and required two batteries to operate.
Their advertisements were starting to look rather familiar…