Rona is going after professionals and DIYers in its new creative platform, uniting them over a shared love of home improvement and construction.

The retailer is putting its brand identity front and centre. Its new creative work showcases different archetypes, including eavestrough and yard-cleaning homeowners on a mission, but also pros building and lifting homes.

The platform is about showcasing that DIYers and contractors share a common denominator in that they’re all makers, explains Julie Desrochers, creative director at longtime agency partner, Sid Lee.

“That’s the North Star of this new campaign platform, it’s their mindset,” Desrochers says.

Catherine Laporte, senior vice-president of marketing and customer experience at Rona, tells strategy this insight stems from a recent brand repositioning that’s seen Rona land on the insight that it’s more effective to advertise based on feelings about home improvement, rather than focusing on demos.

By placing the brand’s identity at the center of their communications, the home-improvement retailer also wants to celebrate its entrepreneurial heritage, while rallying creators and builders using motivators like joy, camaraderie and the ability to redouble efforts in the face of adversity.

While consumers are facing inflationary adversity, Laporte points to two key factors in driving retail within its sector: the weather and interest rates potentially coming down.

Laporte adds that Rona has seen a large uptick in pro business thanks to favourable March conditions. Homeowners, meanwhile, are drawn to stores with last week’s spring-like conditions to buy mulch and other garden supplies.

“It’s well depicted in the TV spot, and there will be others following specific to other activities,” she says. Shopping at Rona is not all about big projects, she stresses, but it can be a bunch of smaller purchases too.

The campaign is being rolled out across the country on a variety of platforms including out-of-home in locations like Toronto’s Union Station (pictured above), television, radio, internet, social media and print.

“Our goal is to be everywhere, and relevant,” Laporte says, as it aims to target millennials but also its core 35-to-55 audience.

Ad spend, Laporte says, is a double-digit hike compared with previous efforts, as funds have been redirected from Lowe’s, whose remaining locations have been rebranded after the parent sold the Canadian retail business in late 2022.

“We wanted to make sure… this is the masterbrand speaking,” Laporte says, explaining that historically, Rona versus Lowe’s has resonated as more of a pro brand.

The buyer is Starcom, music is composed by Circonflex.