Creative impulse

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

DIY chain Do-It-All has humorously aped lifestyle and interior design magazines with three advertisements running in home-interest titles. The spreads comprise a page of text and an interior shot, showcasing a range of available furnishings. In one spot the headline "Redecorating on a budget, by Imelda Marcos" is followed by the words (in smaller type) "...would probably be a rather short and unhelpful article", after which it is revealed that the home shown is that of an ordinary consumer. Different treatments have been running on TV and in local and national press.

The client: Do-It-All

Stephen Sinclair, head of marketing

The aim in DIY advertising is to achieve clear differentiation, and also a balance between the different attributes customers are looking for. We went for a broad media mix with this campaign, but in the colour press we were trying to do something radical and far-reaching: the DIY industry hadn't used this style of advertising before, and we were out to surprise customers. We felt they wouldn't have expected this stance of a chain like Do-It-All, and wouldn't have thought we'd sell the kind of products we were actually displaying.

We needed something different and adventurous for a DIY retailer, based on quality, range, style and inspiration, and the agency handled the brief remarkably well: our research has shown that the ads have got people to go to Do-It-All who wouldn't have gone before.

The agency: GGT

Ged Parton, board group account director

In all the media we used, we were trying to communicate help to customers. In the black-and-white press we were helping people to buy the right products for their DIY jobs, and on TV we were drawing attention to our in-store customer advisers.

But in the colour press we were seeking to help customers in an area where they tend to lack confidence. There are some people who can readily come up with ideas for improving their homes and gardens, but a huge element of the population is always looking for ideas and inspiration. We wanted to show them something an ordinary consumer could achieve on a tight budget, and motivate them to say: "I could do that."

The headlines we used created engagement with the ads, drawing people in to read the copy below. We were trying to inject a bit of "attitude" into the campaign, and the "lifestyles of the not remotely rich and famous" page heading was intended as a parody of the Hello! editorial style. The names were then juxtaposed with an ordinary person's home or garden, the message being: you don't have to be rich or famous to transform your living space.