P1 - CDM

B&Q Build a Life Campaign

The B&Q Build a Life campaign revitalized perceptions of the B&Q brand. The purpose was to show the public that home improvement isn't just for builders, its for everyone, and the life you want can be built yourself with a little work and help from B&Q. The campaign ran through 2019 and 2020. The purpose of the document is to report on the quality of the B&Q Build a Life Campaign and goes into thorough detail about each aspect of the campaign and why it was so successful.

Aims and Objectives 

The aims and objectives for the B&Q Build a Life campaign are clear; it changed the way that the majority of the public view the B&Q brand. A vast amount of people believe they aren't capable of completing their own home improvement work or DIY work and that they would require a builder or someone professional to be able to do it for them. However, B&Q aimed to alter those views and create a more positive and 'Can do' attitude towards home improvement, by using various channels of media advertisement, the B&Q Build a Life campaign changed how many people see DIY work and made a lot of people believe they could build their own life. This was the purpose of the campaign and due to the campaigns success, Uncommon Creative Studios (The company that proposed the campaign idea to B&Q) won the 'Rebrand or relaunch strategy of the year' category at The Drum Awards for Marketing. Evidently, B&Q's aims and objectives with this campaign were fulfilled and they rebranded to a more inclusive brand where anyone could use the products at B&Q to build their own life. Overall, the advertising aims of the B&Q Build a Life campaign is to create awareness and increase sales.

Target Audience

The target audience for the B&Q Build a Life campaign has a broad audience; from first time buyers, to families renovating and even people renting their homes. However, to delve deeper into the target audience for the Build a Life campaign you have to consider the demographics and psychometrics. Overall, out of all the psychometric profiles (Aspirer, explorer, mainstreamer, reformer, resigned, struggler and succeeder) the Build a Life campaign is mainly advertised towards people who fall into the explorer and mainstreamer. The Build a Life campaign is catered towards these psychometric profiles specifically because, explorers are the types of people who like to discover new things and are attracted to innovative brands, therefore, they will be attracted to B&Q because the campaign advertises the brand as innovative. This is because the advertisements heavily focus on using B&Q's products to create your own dream life and they use direct address to connote to the consumer how you have creative freedom with what you want to make and it is specific to you; this means that people in the explorer profile would be intrigued as they are interested in discovering new things which could include making new things themselves with the help of B&Q. Furthermore, the campaign is catered towards mainstreamers as well because mainstreamers make up 40% of the population and they are part of a large group of like-minded people; B&Q tried to advertise the Build a Life campaign to as many people as possible to show them that DIY work is for everyone. This means that mainstreamers, who make up a majority of the population, will see the advertisements around the UK and on the internet and will be interested in their own DIY work because that was the intention of B&Q: to show the mass public that they can create their own dream life.

Key Messages

The main key messages proposed by the Build a Life campaign is comfort and functionality and it is clear to see through how the campaign was advertised. However, the campaign advertisement does have aspects of safety as well. The Build a Life campaign promotes comfort through the advertisements because B&Q is trying to portray to the public that B&Q is there for them and is able to supply them with their needs to create their own comfortable, dream life; through the Build a Life campaign, B&Q is rebranding themselves to a company willing to support you and assist creating your own dream life, therefore, presenting themselves as a comfortable brand. The comfortable advertising can be seen in the B&Q billboards like this one:

This is an example of advertising that promotes a comfortable brand because the billboard is reassuring consumers that with the help of a hammer, which you can get from B&Q, change isn't scary and you're perfectly capable of changing your home to your dream home. Evidently, this means that the advert is comforting and encouraging which is the positive message that B&Q wanted to send to the public. Furthermore, the advertisement proposes functionality because B&Q are telling the public that with their products and what they offer, you can build your own life, therefore connoting how the functionality of B&Q products will assist you with creating your own dream life. Additionally, the advertising campaign suggests safety because it is telling people that with B&Q, it is safe to do your own DIY work and you don't have to rely on professionals as danger is not a worry.

Approach

The campaign is approached in an encouraging and positive manner, reassuring you that you are able to do DIY work on your own home. B&Q did not use shockvertising at all throughout the Build a Life campaign however they did use celebrity endorsement in a unique way in the online video advertisement. The Build a Life advertisement video is an emotional advertisement that captured the spirit of DIY to connect with people at home during the lockdown of COVID 19. The video was narrated by actor Rory McCann, therefore, people who are aware of him or like him may be more willing to go to B&Q as a celebrity they like is a part of the advertising campaign.

Representation

The B&Q Build a Life campaign was quite inclusive, although the bill boards and real life advertisements had nothing to do with race or ethnicity. The Build a Life video published online include a large variety of people from different cultures and many people of different races and ethnicities. B&Q did this intentionally to further prove how everyone can do it regardless of profession, gender, race or any other factors. Although B&Q included a wide variety of people from different ethnicities and age groups in the promotional video, the target audience is very broad and is not accustomed to a certain demographic, the only people that B&Q would not of been advertising to is people who are too old or too young to do any DIY work however people of all ages are included in the video to create the homely and nostalgic feeling that the video has which creates a personal connection with the consumer and the brand. 

Campaign Logistics

The B&Q Build a Life campaign started in 2019 after B&Q partnered with Uncommon Creative Studio to create the campaign. With the campaign, B&Q attempted to make a personal connection with the people of the UK and this aim was further pursued as COVID 19 put the United Kingdom into lockdown at the beginning on 2020; B&Q saw the lockdown as a perfect opportunity to strengthen their connection with the people of the UK as it was a difficult time for the country and B&Q tried to lift their spirits. The campaign ran through 2020. 

Choice of Media

B&Q used multiple different media channels to advertise their Build a Life campaign; primarily, billboards and an online promotional video to create a personal link with the consumer. Perhaps B&Q chose to advertise on billboards and with a promotional video because the Build a Life campaigns aim was to reach as many people as possible to tell them they 'can do it' and many people will see the billboards when out in public. Additionally, the internet is used by millions of people daily so the Build a Life video would of been seen by many on the web. Therefore, B&Q chose effective media channels to advertise their campaign in the way they intended to.

Call to Action

A call to action is an instruction to the audience designed to provoke an immediate response, often used phrases are 'call now' or 'visit a store today' and it is used as a marketing technique to prompt an immediate sale. However, B&Q did not take the common marketing approach with the Build a Life campaign. Compared to usual advertising campaigns, B&Q's Build a Life campaign was much more personal and softer; no advertisements included call to action phrases like 'call now' as the billboards were more to plant a positive thought in the consumers head that they can do it to and B&Q believed that once they let the public know they are capable of DIY work then they will come into B&Q without prompting through advertisements. Uncommon Creative Studios are not known for generic advertisement and this is clear to see with the B&Q Build a Life campaign as it is much more than just an advert of the products B&Q has to offer.

Legal and Ethical Issues

One legal and ethical issue B&Q would have to consider is copyright. Copyright is an issue that all creative studios have to consider before publishing an advertisement and B&Q is no exception. B&Q and Uncommon Creative Studios have to ensure that they do not include any copyrighted music or intellectual property that isn't owned by them unless they have had permission by the owner to use their property. If B&Q does not abide by the copyright laws and uses someone else's intellectual property in their advertisements they could face hefty fines or potential imprisonment. 

Regulatory Bodies That May Be Involved

A regulatory body that may be involved with the B&Q Build a life campaign is ASA. ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) is the UK's independent advertising regulator and they ensure that advertisements all across the UK media stick to the advertising rules. The Advertising Standards Authority may be involved with the B&Q Build a Life campaign because they would have had to check the advertisements that B&Q published to make sure they fit all the advertising codes written by the CAP and that the advertisements are suitable and up to standard for the viewing of the UK public. ASA takes action and bans adverts that are: misleading, harmful, offensive or irresponsible so B&Q had to ensure their advertisements did not breach these categories so that they were fit to show to the UK public. ASA did not get involved with the B&Q Build a Life campaign because B&Q's advertising campaign did not breach any of the rules set by the ASA. B&Q's advertisements didn't lie or tell you it would make your life immediately better if you buy their products, they were honest and truthful, therefore ASA had nothing to get involved with for this campaign. 

Bibliography

The Drum. (n.d.). B&Q: Build a Life by Uncommon. [online] Available at: https://www.thedrum.com/creative-works/project/uncommon-bq-build-life.

Psychometrics - target audience - GCSE media studies revision - BBC bitesize (no date) BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zy24p39/revision/3 (Accessed: 07 October 2023).

Smith, H. (2021) B&Q: Build A life campaign, Creative Review. Available at: https://www.creativereview.co.uk/bq-build-a-life-campaign/ (Accessed: 08 October 2023).

Advertising Standards Authority | Committee of Advertising Practice (no date) About the ASA and cap, ASA. Available at: https://www.asa.org.uk/about-asa-and-cap/about-regulation/about-the-asa-and-cap.html (Accessed: 09 October 2023).