UNIT 20 : Advertising

B&Q: Build A Life

B&Q - Build a Life - 2020 - YouTube

Introduction

The B&Q is the UK's leading home improvement and DIY retailer which gives buyers multiple different opportunities to purchase products based on interior to exterior furniture, lighting and flooring, painting and decorating, all that kind of stuff in order to make someone's home potentially better than it already was.

Their advertisement "Build A Life" was released in 2020 and gives an impression of togetherness when it comes to remodeling or working on a home in general, showing the happiness that comes with it within the family.

Aims and Objectives

This advertisement is promoting the idea of creativity and what can be done with the products mainly shown without the advert which can be purchased from B&Q. It is also an advertisement campaign that promotes the idea of building a better life with what can be found in store and also the idea of family becoming closer with each other, to form a strong bond with each other because of how their homes have become more like their home.

Target Audience

The suggested target audience for this advertisement is mainly for a demographic based in the working class, and possibly people who are above the age of about 25 who started to get their lives together - buying homes, starting families etc. Also looking at this from a psychometric point of view, the reformer wo0uld be the one who would see this advert as something that would help out on their self-improvement - based on how their own skills work - and prefer the quality over the price.

B&Q is also a store which is only available in the UK, meaning looking at geographics, the advertisements are only aimed at those within this area, as even the voiceover in the video is someone with a British accent.

Within the advert there are items such as painting / construction type things being used, but from the point of view of the of the tool, and not showing the face of the person using it, meaning it can be anyone who can have the ability to be creative with these different skills that B&Q is encouraging.

Key Messages

This advert shows that B&Q focus more on the audience rather than the product, the way that the people within this advertisement are shown to be from multiple different backgrounds connote the idea that wherever they are from they are still welcome to create their own life in a home with their family with the help of the products.

A key mention is another company The Range, which a similar kind of place to B&Q, which may be preferred when searching for specific items that B&Q might not have (and vice versa). For example, looking at the range’s website it shows that a certain kind of paint appears to be fairly cheap at a first glance, whereas the exact same paint can be found on the B&Q website for a literally just a pound cheaper, which as odd as it sounds may be exactly what someone is actually looking for. 

Another thing to mention is the common ground between the consumers and audience, which shows importance because clearly it does not matter whether they are doing this as a job or if they are doing it just for their own home improvement, the products will still be helpful for them. The also advert develops a trust with the audience because there is children within the video which promotes a safe environment for them.

B&Q is also a store which is only available in the UK, meaning looking at geographics, the advertisements are only aimed at those within this area, as even the voiceover in the video is someone with a British accent.

Within the advert there are items such as painting / construction type things being used, but from the point of view of the of the tool, and not showing the face of the person using it, meaning it can be anyone who can have the ability to be creative with these different skills that B&Q is encouraging.

Representation

The Build a Life advertisement itself is represented through the campaign logistic model called Flight/busting, as it mainly showed up on television during the covid period and never really showed up again. This made an effect on the consumer as it will target how everyone was feeling in the moment for people were staying at home a lot so would need something to keep them occupied.

Within the advertisement video there is also an inclusion of different family types in order to gain the attention of people from different backgrounds to inspire them to live normally without the fear of being ridiculed for doing something, like this, which is considered to be 'normal'.

The advertisement also defies the common stereotype of families, as this is usually represented as a nuclear family with two parents and two children, which only a couple of times may be seen in the video as the majority of them show to have more than just two children.

Campaign Logistics

When it comes to campaign logistics

Choice of Media

When choosing which media to use

Call to Action

Call-to-Action: Showing the logo at the end of the video / link to their website at the bottom of the billboards.

Response Mechanism: Easy for the consumer to know where to get the products shown.

Reaction: Active - go out of their way to get to the shops or on to the website, and use the products if they get any.

Feedback: They review the product so anyone else buying the products will be able to see if it is to their liking.

Legal and Ethical issues

The Build A Life advert may have some ethical issues that could somewhat cause harm  to their audience. This may include the idea that the advert is bringing along the idea of starting your own life from something you already have. This can mean that there may be younger people who get inspired by this and want to buy their own products to ‘build their life’ but as they are young would have to ask their parents, so may end up being let down. The use of children in the advert could also be an ethical issue, but is not because before being used in the video would have had permission from their parents. This can also link to having something signed by everyone who appears in the video, giving permission for them to be used in this.

Regulatory Bodies

Within the B&Q advert, the regulators used would mainly include

approaches (representation):

gaining attention

celebrity endorsement

slogan / taglines