Jetcityimage/Getty Images

If there’s one thing giant companies love, besides making money, it’s encouraging folks to spend on their products through advertising. Tool brands are no exception to this. Spending any amount of time in front of a TV is sure to acquaint you with a brand’s latest marketing materials. At the same time, there are some tool brands that you likely know, yet you can’t think of a single time you’ve seen them advertised via commercials. Snap-On is one such tool source, with its lack of in-your-face advertising being by design rather than a marketing team flub.

While Snap-On does market itself, having run print ads and similar campaigns throughout its history, it doesn’t go all-out. This may seem like a big mistake and a missed opportunity to accumulate countless new customers, but the fact is, this approach is core to the company’s operation. The minds behind the brand don’t see such expenditures as necessary. Instead, it focuses on making direct sales to tradespeople in need, allowing the quality of its tools to speak for itself. It relies on those who utilize its product to understand that, while they do cost a pretty penny — like Snap-On’s cordless power tools, which are crazy expensive — the quality is second to none. Word of mouth and reputation do all the heavy lifting.

Snap-On continues to grow and evolve as a company, while still maintaining an old-school approach to business. Evidently, it has brought success, which is why the brand is confident enough not to bother with TV spots or ad campaigns.

In an era where companies go above and beyond to advertise their products, Snap-On is something of a throwback in its avoidance of modern marketing techniques. Its method of getting the word out about its offerings is supported by its equally old-school distribution practices. Instead of putting up physical locations or taking up retail square footage, it relies on online and direct-to-consumer sales. Snap-On trucks drive around, sell customers the tools they need, and move on to the next stop. Ever-confident in their product, they see it as a given that buyers will be satisfied, continue to make purchases, and encourage others to do the same. Thus, it’s now widely considered a premium brand, an expensive investment built to last.

Simultaneously, Snap-On has put in the work to modernize its image. Much of this advancement has stemmed from the acquisition of various companies, which have enabled it to expand its reach in the tool industry. For example, Snap-On purchased Mountz in 2023, giving it a stronger presence in torque tools, measurement, calibration, and documentation products. Two years earlier, Snap-On’s purchase of Dealer-FX pushed the company in a more digital direction. Dealer-FX’s software management capabilities, communication systems, diagnostics programs, and more are now a prevalent part of Snap-On. At this point, around 40% of the company’s products feature software elements.

At the end of the day, it’s up to individual interpretation whether Snap-On tools are worth investing in. Beyond individual assessments, though, it’s clear that the brand is doing something right. After all, it stands to reason that business wouldn’t be going so well, and we’d see more obvious advertising, if it needed a boost beyond its reputation.