Ace's ad campaign puts accent on paint - Ace Hardware - Brief Article

Home Channel News, June 18, 2001

Latest 'Lifestyles' installment designed to bolster brand image

OAK BROOK, ILL. -- Almost four months after Ace Hardware launched its new "Lifestyles" ad campaign on cable television, the buying group is still sorting out the impact of that campaign on its dealers' sales. But the co-op is confident enough to use its latest installment to help reinvigorate sales of Ace-branded paint.

The Lifestyles commercials specifically target non-traditional hardware-store shoppers -- a growing portion of whom are women. This is especially relevant for the paint category. Most surveys show women are influencing the purchasing of home decor products to a greater degree than ever.

But those women aren't buying Ace paint. While paint remains the No. 1 retail and wholesale category for the co-op, its Ace-branded paint captures only around 3 percent of the total retail paint market, ac cording to Dave Myer, Ace's senior vp retail merchandising. "And it's not growing," he added. "Ace research has shown that seven out of 10 customers have never bought Ace-brand paint."

The 30-second spot, called "Colors of Life," broke just before Memorial Day on cable stations nationwide, with a particularly heavy scheduling on the Oxygen and Lifetime networks. It shows, among other things, a teenage girl in wild tied died clothes lying on her bed while chatting on the phone. At one point she jolts the needle of her record player, making a painful scratching sound. The camera zooms in on the wall be hind her and shows the paint, which is called "Serenity." Then there is a footnote: "Serenity not guaranteed."

The commercial closes with the mother of the family relaxing on her couch and thinking to her self, "Finally, some time at the end of the day to enjoy my home." Just then, the father and son who are cooking in the kitchen send a bowl of spaghetti crashing to the floor. The mother sighs and smiles, and the camera closes in on the paint on the wall, which is called, "Wishful Thinking."

The commercial is designed to bolster the brand image of Ace paint among shoppers. Ace hopes the paint will no longer be seen as just a can of chemicals that goes on sale around Memorial Day and Labor Day, but as an intimate expression of its customers' lives, values, virtues and foibles.

Myer noted that Ace paint has also been "a victim of an undazzling presentation in the stores." So earlier this year the co-op hired designer Gordon Purvis to develop a new paint department for Ace stores. About half of the 1,800-square-foot department, which was on display at the coop's spring market, is devoted to paint, and the other half to paint sundries and other related products. It is distinguished by a platinum halo above the checkout area. The department, which is also called Color Your Life, is currently being tested in 10 stores, and is scheduled to be rolled out to the co-op sometime this summer.

Kinder, gentler ads

When asked about the success of the Lifestyles campaign in general, which Ace launched at the end of February, Sheryl Flaws, Ace's advertising manager, was vague, but said reaction had been positive. "We've gotten great initial feedback. People have called and said things like, 'We can see our home,' or 'We can see our grand son's nursery,' They have really related in a very personal way," she said.

The commercials, which are being aired on cable stations including Lifetime, HGTV and ESPN, are a series of 30-second spots that portray people in their homes at various stages of life. They show vignettes of first-time home buyers, new families, expanding families, empty nesters and young single people.

"We took the ads out of the stores and put them into the home," Flaws said.

Ace hopes the new approach will reach non-traditional customers. Ace's traditional loyal customer base consisted of male heads of households, and its old commercials were geared toward them: 15-second spots that communicated in the quickest manner possible that paint or power tools were on sale.

The new ads reflect the fact that times are changing, and life's projects are a little more evenly distributed -- from changing diapers to changing fuses. The commercials not only recognize that women are doing more home improvement projects, but also feature fathers waking up to feed babies and young single men taking pride in their cooking abilities.

Ace's whole marketing approach is more holistic now. Whereas the old approach focused on things you could buy -- "pieces and parts," according to Flaws -- the new approach is organized around projects and is not limited to commercials but includes circulars, store displays and even the way associates sell to customers. Flaws gave the example of a January circular that highlighted home organization. "It didn't just feature products, but included checklists for projects that people might want to do, like organize the closet."

Flaws said sales of home organization products rose significantly in January as a result.