'Wickes Stories'

Wickes uncovers the real reasons behind why Britons strive to improve their homes, with latest ‘Let’s Do It Right’ campaign Integrated campaign featuring real life Wickes customers shares what ‘home improvement’ really means to homeowners. Wickes is on a mission to shine a light on real life DIY stories, and share the ‘magic of home improvement’ through a series of ‘Wickes Stories’, created by iris. Not convinced that home improvement projects are only ever undertaken to value to a property - Wickes scoured the country to uncover the real motivation behind DIY. ‘Wickes Stories’ is the latest installment in the ‘Let’s do it Right’ campaign, aimed at those wanting a professional finish to their efforts – not just for profit, but to improve their homes for the people they love and live with. Since winning the account in January 2015, iris has been tasked with growing the brand’s audience beyond tradesman and serious DIYers to be the nations preferred home improvement brand - well-known and loved amongst everyday consumers. After launching the transformative ‘Let’s do it Right’ campaign with the introduction of the wildly popular ‘British Bodger’ last March, Wickes has seen a 300% increase in online leads & an increase in ROI by 27%. ‘Wickes Stories’ was bought to life through a competition launched across Wickes’ social channels in December 2015. People were asked to share a home improvement project and explain the story / reason behind the story - for the chance to win a £500 Wickes voucher and star in the campaign. In the first film for the ‘Wickes Stories’ series viewers are taken on a nostalgic journey as a Dad sets out to create a tree house for his son, talking about the strong memory he has of a tree house his own Father had built for him when he was a boy. As all three generations of the Hampson family set out to construct their dream house, we are shown just how much importance home improvement projects can have on a family, and the expert care and love needed to deliver. And why to avoid these turning into DIY dramas – it’s best to use the expert products and advice available from Wickes! The fully integrated campaign will roll out from March across across TV, Social, VOD, radio & press. Carat are the Media Planning and Buying Agency for Wickes, and were responsible for the media planning and buying for the campaign. Matthew Gaunt, Head of Brand Communications, Wickes: “People like you and me do, or have to do, DIY projects big and small every week. The new customers we gained over the last year have found that you can great help and advice at Wickes to make your project a success you can be proud of. So we thought it would be great to showcase and celebrate these successes, big and small, right across the UK. “ Adam Wright, Managing Partner, iris: “We worked with Wickes to create a people powered campaign that ignores the trite ‘you can do it’ conventions of the category. We want to show why real people all over the country are improving their homes and why it’s important to them that they do it right. With Wickes Stories we get to see the real motivations behind doing home improvement and it’s something we can all identify with.”