Big telly ads suggest big budgets. Recent research has taken me into people's living rooms up and down the country, and by far the most common gripe is that companies are ploughing millions into flashy advertising rather than lowering prices for struggling customers. B&Q has responded with a TV campaign with an appropriately ‘DIY' feel.
In this one, there's little doubt that the member of staff is just that; not a professional actor, but someone who would direct you to the paving at your local store - in this instance Alex, who is extolling the virtues of B&Q's mix-and-match bathroom suites.
The content of the ad certainly reflects consumer feeling. Tapping into the ‘don't move, improve' trend, the price-focused offer on a new bathroom suite is crystal clear. Product and price underlined with the value-for-money message could not be more straightforward.
Staff recitals of the deals have been replaced by a separate ‘offer section', which gives the offers greater prominence and leaves the viewer in no doubt about what they would be getting. However, the device - a montage of product images with the discount offer in a box - is so well-used across several retail categories that it is in danger of becoming wallpaper, and not the more attractive kind you might find in-store. This ad has lost some of the warmth and humour of previous work, edging B&Q toward basic price-led advertising and away from work with more depth and intangible but important brand values. Perhaps this is necessary in the short term, but may not be so effective in the future.
This is an ad about price, and it was always designed to be hard-hitting rather than groundbreaking. The script is very simple and very offer-focused. It's in the down-to-earth tone one would expect from B&Q, which suggests that you will get decent service from decent people. Beyond that, it does not offer too much to get viewers excited about the brand or, indeed, the bathroom suites.
Experience tells us that generating ‘talk value' produces hard sales and boosts the effectiveness of advertising, but I am not convinced that people will be rushing, hammer, or even grout gun, in hand, to tell their mates about this one. Nonetheless, it is a good, honest, ‘does what it says on the tin' marketing approach that is better than the previous, stilted staff ‘rehearsal' ads. As the new strapline suggests, ‘It's all do-able'.