The Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) and Independent retail wholesaler groups are backing consumer awareness campaign, National Home Improvement Month.
The campaign is the initiative of the suppliers’ trade association BHETA and many of its members and leading brands are sponsors and supporters of the campaign.
The line-up of supporting businesses includes Stax Trade Centres, Home Hardware (South West) and Decco alongside the BMF in this industry initiative to stimulate consumer interest in home improvement.
The National Home Improvement initiative has stepped up to a month-long campaign for April following its launch as a week in March 2018 when it engaged with 11 million consumers.
Using and responding to the consumer in this increasingly digital and social media world, the campaign will use the social media tools to encourage and motivate the customer to re-engage with home improvement projects using the registered tag line ‘Love The Home You Live In’.
The campaign will include online and traditional consumer and social media, including broadcast and national/regional press. At its heart will be the dedicated National Home Improvement Month website featuring ideas and information, blogs and ‘how to’ videos. There will also be marketing materials for retailers including point of sale, posters, and press ads, to enable them to promote their participation and drive sales at store level.
Not ignoring the trend of ‘Do-it-for-me’ and the use of tradesmen, the Builders Merchants Federation will also be promoting the campaign through its members’ branches recognising the importance of the white van man and the jobbing builder to the home improvement sector.
BMF CEO, John Newcomb, said: “The BMF is delighted to support National Home Improvement Month this year and we will be encouraging our members to take part too. It’s an excellent platform for both our merchant and supplier members to raise awareness of the importance of materials supply to enable both home and garden improvement.”
69% of Brits reportedly do not love the home they live in, so, National Home Improvement Month will be encouraging consumers to improve one area of their homes during the month of April. To help with this challenge, National Home Improvement Month has recruited BBC presenter, DIY enthusiast and property developer, Georgina Burnett, to be an official ambassador for the National Home Improvement Month challenge.
Commenting on the launch of the 2019 campaign, Paul Grinsell, Home Improvement Director at BHETA, said: “We had some great learnings and very positive feedback from last year’s campaign and I’m delighted that we have secured the industry backing to develop the concept still further.
“As before, we have two key objectives – to galvanise and renew consumers’ interest in improving their homes and gardens and to drive sales of home and garden tools, products and consumables through the UK home improvement and garden retail channels. This means both inspiring and enabling today’s consumers to re-engage with projects such as home extensions and renovations, garden makeovers, redecorating, ‘old school’ DIY and hobby gardening. Equally, we need to recognise the generational skills gap and target the younger generation of Millennials with social media-fuelled enthusiasm for a new style of DIY, upcycling, and craft.
“The whole industry needs to appreciate that we operate in a mature market and a digital age and as such we need a platform such as this to show that home and garden improvement is fun and fulfilling, given the right tools, products, knowledge and advice.”
National Home Improvement Month is a joint initiative between BHETA and The Relations Group, a specialist broadcast PR company. For more information about getting involved with BHETA and National Home Improvement Month, contact Paul Grinsell at BHETA on 0121 237 1130 or email pg@bheta.co.uk.
