The Home Depot, radio’s third largest brand advertiser of 2020, has a new creative agency of record. The home improvement giant has selected BBDO for its creative campaigns, according to Ad Age.
“They do a fantastic job of combining art and science throughout the creative process,” a Home Depot spokeswoman said. “This relationship reflects our internal team’s partnership to create new and exciting customer experiences together.”
The Atlanta-based retailer ran 2.0 million spots on radio in 2020, a year that saw its sales shoot up 20% to $132.1 billion as millions of Americans, cooped up at home from the pandemic, tackled a raft of home improvement projects. Home Depot was radio’s top brand advertiser in 2019 with 2.6 million spot occurrences, according to Media Monitors which tracks advertising in 110 markets.
While some may shrug off the retailer’s monster 2020 as a byproduct of the pandemic, Neil Saunders, Managing Director of GlobalData Retail, says it was no small feat. “Sustaining three quarters of growth above 20% is extremely difficult in terms of the pressure it puts on the whole operation from supply chains to stores,” Saunders, wrote in a recent research note, as reported by Ad Age. “In our view, Home Depot has managed this period in an exemplary fashion.”
As Americans re-open their wallets for vacations, entertainment and apparel in 2021, BBDO will be tasked with developing creative to keep customers flowing through the big box retailer’s doors.
"The Home Depot is a remarkable company, an extraordinary business, and one of America’s most iconic brands," said Andrew Robertson, President and CEO of BBDO Worldwide, in a statement. "Being given the chance to help tell its story is true privilege.”
The Home Depot began a review for a new creative shop in November after it fired The Richards Group, its agency of record for 25 years, following racist remarks made by agency founder Stan Richards during an internal ad review for client Motel 6.
Home Depot named OMD its media agency of record earlier this year.
The retailer spent $1.1 billion on advertising for the year ended Feb. 2020, up 3% compared to the same period one year earlier, according to Ad Age’s Datacenter, which ranked the chain as the 43rd largest advertiser in the U.S.