- UK’s leading garden centre launches major new multichannel Spring campaign
- A humorous 30-second film acts as a passionate call-to-arms, motivating the nation to push the joys of spring further
LONDON, 30th April 2024 – Dobbies, the UK’s leading garden centre retailer, has unveiled a major new multichannel campaign, ‘Spring’s OUR thing’ developed in partnership with creative agency elvis.
Dobbies has worked with elvis to create a new spring campaign, positioning the brand as champions of garden living: the act of being in and enjoying your garden space to work, play and grow. Showcasing this ethos alongside Dobbies’ product range, the campaign aims to increase awareness and consideration, and give customers reasons to visit frequently around the spring season.
The campaign is grounded in the insight that people feel more optimistic in spring than in any other season. New research from Dobbies by Censuswide shows that 71%[1] of Brits say being close to nature helps them relax and 41% of respondents who use their garden for activities say being in the garden brightens their mood.
A quirky, humorous 30-second hero film, directed by Alex Cooper at Lobster, acts as a passionate call-to-arms, motivating one and all to push the joys of spring further, with a little boost from Dobbies. The character-driven spot features one person delivering a script to camera and to the nation, showing the character in various gardens while interacting with a different gardener, product and situation each time.
Across all media, the executions feature a motivational narrative, reminding the nation that Dobbies has all they need to help them maximise the season in their own way. Digital display and social carousels use playful and bold typography to spotlight key product categories, while digital audio executions feature a female voiceover announcing the arrival of spring and encouraging audiences to visit Dobbies. The audio ads harness dynamic features to target key audiences, locations and shopping habits across the season – something which has proven effective in boosting listen-through rates for Dobbies’ previous campaigns.
Campaign activity is running across video-on-demand, social, digital display, audio and shopper channels. Media planning and buying is by EssenceMediaCom and Clean Digital, and PR is by Frame.
Kirsty Rockey, Head of Brand, Dobbies Garden Centres, said:
“We know that people feel more optimistic in spring than at any other time of year, with this backed by our recent research, and that many are looking forward to seeing their gardens bouncing back to life. With this campaign, we’re demonstrating how liberating and rejuvenating being in touch with nature can be, and motivating customers to make the most of it. We’re the champions of garden living, and showing people that Dobbies is the place to go for all they need to make the most of their gardens this springtime.”
Neale Horrigan, Executive Creative Director, elvis, added:
“This new campaign for Dobbies has allowed us to bring in more colour, positivity and unexpected delights to this optimistic season and showcase how the power of the garden improves and enhances lives, all executed in a fun and humorous way. We’re encouraging gardeners to dig deeper, grow greater and relax…relaxier!”
*The research was conducted by Censuswide with 2007 nat rep consumers in UK 16+ between 22 March-25 March 2024. Censuswide abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society, which is based on the ESOMAR principles and are members of The British Polling Council.