Wickes and St Luke’s Unveil 'Proud as a Peacock' Campaign

Home improvement retailer, Wickes, unveils its first major brand campaign, which is based on the idea that the DIY giant has everything its customers need to make them feel ‘as proud as a peacock’.

It’s the first brand work by creative agency St Luke’s, since winning the account 12 months ago. The new integrated campaign, which breaks in December to run across national TV, VOD, POS, CRM, radio, sponsorships and social including a bespoke TikTok filter.

The TV campaign comprises three 20-second films, all featuring people browsing in a Wickes showroom, choosing designs, and visualising their new kitchens and the compliments they will receive from their friends and family. The three films each focus on Wickes’ kitchen ranges, price, and the design and installation help they offer.

One film centres around a couple discussing how their neighbours will react when they come to inspect their new kitchen. Thinking of their delighted remarks, a flurry of colourful peacock feathers emerge from the woman’s back, symbolising the unbridled pride she feels over her new kitchen. In another film, we meet a man who imagines his mum’s reaction when she sees his new kitchen, with peacock feathers appearing as he imagines her jokingly asking when she can move in. In the third film, a man sets the scene by saying to his partner “You know what your sister is going to say though?” As the woman imagines her sister asking if they’d mind if she got a matching kitchen, feathers fan out behind her back.

Wickes has built a rich heritage of pride since its launch over 50 years ago. This work marks an evolution of strategy for the brand as it evolves “feel house proud” and introduces its new campaign line “Feel as proud as a peacock”.

The new campaign anchors it to the brand platform away from the focus on embarrassment, instead honing in on the pride aspect, to reflect the feeling of optimism that accompanies a home improvement project. Phil Spencer, property guru and ambassador for Wickes Kitchens continues to be the voice-over for the campaign.

The peacock feathers are designed to be a distinctive symbol that Wickes can carry forward, not just in major brand campaigns but trickling down to other media POS, email and the website to ensure consistency and ubiquity.

“Our campaign reflects the real sense of pride that Wickes’ customers feel after improving their homes,” said joint chief creative officer at St Luke’s, Richard Denney. “Pride and peacocks go hand in hand, and research showed that even younger generations make that connection. We're proud as a peacock to share this exciting new work and we look forward to developing this idea in future campaigns,” he said.

Gary Kibble, chief marketing and digital officer at Wickes, said, "When completing any kind of home improvement, you want to feel a sense of pride in the work and the results. With Wickes, this is guaranteed, and this feeling of pride forms the central idea of our new campaign. It is also a great opportunity to align our creative execution to our brand purpose, helping the nation feel house proud.

"Working with St Luke’s has brought fresh ideas and energy to our marketing, building on past work but with a more positive and distinctive focus."

St Luke’s has launched tactical work for Wickes through the year, including an OOH stunt van asking the new prime minister “New Cabinet, Keir?” after the Labour general election win; and an outdoor campaign using Wickes tools cutting blue-ribbons heralding new store openings.