Ace Hardware Positions Itself as ‘The Home Convenience Store’

Ace Hardware is amplifying its place as a retailer in its own category — distinguishing itself from Home Depot, Lowe’s and Amazon – in a new advertising campaign from O’Keefe Reinhard & Paul that establishes Ace as ‘The Home Convenience Store.’

The positioning leverages the 5,000+ store-large national footprint of the retailer-owned cooperative and its presence in its customers’ neighbourhoods as well as its wide and deep product offering and number-one ranked customer experience ranking.  The call to action in the new campaign: “Around the Block. What you need in stock. With people who know their stuff,” speaks to Ace’s ability to help its customers solve everyday home projects with all the tools and items needed in a store nearby, complete with expert advice.

“Ace is in a very different position than the large-box retailers. We are more about home preservation than big home renovation,” explained Kim Lefko, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer of Ace Hardware Corporation. “This positioning lets us own the easy fix, replace, repair solutions and builds upon Ace’s very unique place as a community focused store that is there with the right advice and products for our customers.”

The advertising includes ‘A New Kind of Place,’ a 30-second ad that will run nationally and online that speaks to Ace’s convenience positioning. In a first for Ace, the campaign also uses an array of social and digital online media channels that tell the Ace story from the consumer’s point of view including a mix of canvas, carousel, video and posts on Facebook and Instagram. Media is handled by Spark Foundry.

“This new multi-channel campaign puts Ace in front of the millennial consumer, enabling us to take our message to new homeowners and a younger audience,” said Lefko. “It also will introduce new customer-centric offerings over the course of the campaign.”

“This is a bold positioning for Ace that directly takes on the competition by celebrating its heritage in helping customers with its convenience and high-touch service,” explains Tom O’Keefe, CEO of OKRP. “It’s not every day you get to create a whole new category for such a famous established brand, but we believe this campaign will help make Ace more top of mind for everyday home solution needs.”

The advertising will break on national television on September 24th and can be seen on networks including USA, HGTV, Food Network, ESPN, NFL Network, Animal Planet and DIY, among others.