• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, March 5, 2022

 The Home Depot, shifting to more emotional advertising, is introducing an ad campaign to celebrate the DIY army that makes up its core audience.

The new effort, called “What kind of person comes to the Home Depot at 5:45 a.m.?” zeroes in on a selection of real customers. It’s meant to show the focus and dedication of the retailer’s diverse audience of “Doers,” from stage-set-building drama teachers to professional carpenters.

“We’re going through an evolution of our creative, focusing less on product and moving toward more emotional and people-driven stories,” says Adolfo Villagomez, senior vice president, online and chief marketing officer.

He tells Marketing Daily the shift started in late 2020, with an ad that thanked associates for their hard work during the pandemic, which generated strong positive results, both internally and with consumers.

The retailer followed that up with a humorous and heart-tugging holiday ad filmed at the chain’s Fairbanks, Alaska store, closest to the North Pole. (And, no, store associates would neither confirm nor deny whether Santa shops there or explain who buys all the tiny work gloves.)

“We got such great feedback from that spot that we went back to BBDO Atlanta, our agency, and said, 'What is the evolution of that Santa ad?’”

The current campaign is BBDO’s answer. For inspiration, agency employees prowled store parking lots at 5:45, asking real customers to tell their stories.

“All these Doers have a dream of getting something done, whether it’s big or small,” Villagomez says. “This ad campaign shows our appreciation and admiration for all these customers, who wake up early and arrive before we open our doors.”

Those Doers include its Pro audience, the building professionals who make up an increasingly important slice of the retailer’s business.

Villagomez says the campaign will run on TV, radio and digital channels, parallel with the retailer’s standard springtime promotions. Spring is the home industry’s highest revenue season.

The Atlanta-based company recently announced financial results that show those Doers aren’t slowing down, despite more than two years of pandemic-inspired nesting.

Sales for the fourth quarter of Home Depot’s fiscal 2021 rose 10.7% to $35.7 billion, and comparable sales climbed 8.1%. In the U.S., they increased 7.6%. And for the full year, sales topped $151.2 billion, a 14.4% bump and a new record.