• by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer @mahoney_sarah, July 24, 2024

In a move that shows just how mainstream soccer has become in the U.S., Lowe’s recent “Celebrate the Assist” campaign stars none other than Lionel Messi. The campaign, which kicked off with the CONMEBOL Copa América 2024 USA, is just the beginning of a series of soccer moves. Jennifer Wilson, promoted to chief marketing officer last month, tells Retail Insider about the campaign.

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Retail Insider: There are a lot of firsts in this news – the first campaign from Dentsu Creative, the first campaign since you became CMO. And Messi, still a relative newcomer in Miami, is a new idea for home improvement. What inspired this campaign?

Jennifer Wilson: It was imperative for us as a brand to think through how we could widen and broaden our audience. And we’re thinking about sports and live viewing because we know so many millennials and Gen Z-ers are tuning in. Those people are high on our list of targeted customers, and they are also not choosing Lowe’s first.

We want to expand our brand relevance to engage them. Many have children in their homes, and those kids play soccer. It’s also a way to be more relevant, especially to our Hispanic audience.

Our brand ambition is to be the most helpful brand in home improvement. And as we thought of partnerships and strategic ways to bring that to life, we thought of Lionel Messi. He is the most assistive player of all time. And the tournament gave us this tentpole moment. It made for a beautiful moment for our brand to enter the soccer world.

Retail Insider: How long did it take?

Wilson: As soon as we knew that there was a possibility of him coming to America, we were like, 'Let's put this vision to life.’ Internally, we called this our moonshot idea. And we knew we wanted to get into live soccer. It’s a growing sport, and Messi’s values align with our brand – he is humble, hardworking and cares about his community. That doesn’t just appeal to our customers but our 300,000 red-vest associates, who donate so much time to their communities.

Retail Insider: You got the promotion to CMO last month and have been with Lowe’s for 18 years. How does it feel?

Wilson: It’s interesting! I've lived this brand as both a merchant and marketer. I've grown up with this brand and, for the last four years, helping to shape and mold it. That perspective gives me the good fortune to say, “Okay, where do we want to go now?”

The brand's heartbeat has always been rooted in our red vest associates, and that’s why we undertook a lot of new brand positioning work to get to “Lowe’s knows.”

We know how to help our customers and go the extra mile – with savings, our loyalty program, and new apps that make it easier to do things like measure for flooring. Whether they are consumers or our professional customers, we support them when they take on new projects.

And we’re looking for ways to use that positioning to push against the category conventions.

Retail Insider: How are you doing that?

Wilson: That's what we're after as we think about our new partnership with Dentsu, and our new partnership with Spark Media. We don’t want just to be the Lowe’s everyone has known for 15 years, competing in this duopoly against a larger, primary competitor. We’ve got to push back and look for ways to break out.

Our new partnerships are part of that, and this Messi campaign is a great taste of what's to come as we push this brand forward.

Retail Insider: How will you know you are succeeding in that goal? Besides sales and market share gains, what metrics will tell you the most?

Wilson: First, brand preference, especially amongst millennials and then Hispanic millennials. We want to be their most preferred brand. Proximity is a barrier, and I can’t, as CMO, fix or adjust where our stores are. However, we can change consumers' habits, and the way to do that is by partnering with people and brands they trust, like Messi.

And you have to show up in moments that matter, like moving into a first home or having a new baby. That’s when people are open to changing habits.

Second, we’re looking for stickiness. You can roll out a loyalty program but still not drive loyal behavior. That was a big part of this campaign, and we went in super-low in the funnel. Every time Messi had an assist, we gave customers ten times the loyalty points.

And it worked. We saw high levels of engagement among both pro and homeowner consumers – they came back for repeat visits when they were getting these “10 times the points” rewards. So, repeat purchases are an important metric.