Hornbach’s spring campaigns by Heimat have always been evocative films so cinematic you can almost smell the soil and certainly feel the passion. This year’s is a walk on the very, very, very wild side, “a campaign that only the No.1 project hardware store could conceive,” Heimat admits.
The two-minute film features rampaging plants that steal a car, illegal car races and vomiting bushes. The idea is that if you don’t look after your garden in spring: It will simply find its own way to the nearest Hornbach store – no matter what it takes. Even the music is extraordinary. While the last campaign used a rendition of a Johann Sebastian Bach prelude to set the tone of the Made by You campaign, this time the original song gives a voice to the plants on the run, in the style of 1980s hair metal. Listen carefully to hear actual requests by the plants, Fertilise us. Respect us.
The campaign is running on all channels, from OOH to social media and launched with a handful of six-second long complementary teasers on digital channels. The full film will be shown on TV, along with the 30- and 45-second adverts, airing, for example, during the night of the Oscars and at half-time of international sports matches, as well as in cinemas. Unlike earlier campaigns, this one relies on spin-offs to set the scene – two behind-the-scenes adverts, three Scary Stories and a Hornbach advert about permanently low prices are all part of the campaign. As are the protagonists of the campaign, who customers can actually encounter in the real world. How and where exactly, however, has not yet been released.
“We had so many ideas during campaign development,” explained Guido Heffels, founder of Heimat, describing the project for his long-term customer. “We could have made an entire motion picture. Or even a series.”
“We see every new campaign as an opportunity to add a new remarkable chapter to the Hornbach brand book for their customers,” added Thomas Schnaitmann, head of international branding at Hornbach. “The core is always the project hardware store; the packaging is always surprising and fresh.”
Apart from the additional challenges caused by the pandemic, producing a campaign of this complexity was an ambitious undertaking. Swedish collective, Traktor, directed the film, with Stink Berlin’s Moritz Merkel producing. British cinematographer, Anthony Dod Mantle (who has won numerous awards, including an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire) was responsible for cinematography. It was edited remotely by Rick Russel at Final Cut in London. The song was composed and produced by Finger Music & Sound Design in London.
Credits:
Agency: Heimat Berlin
Production Company: Stink Berlin
Director: Traktor
Music: Finger Music & Sound Design
Sound Design: David Arnold (LOFT)
