Home improvement retailer Wickes is the first brand in its industry to launch a campaign on TikTok, partnering with leading global influencer marketing agency, Takumi.
The #MyWickesMyWay campaign, which involved seven content creators each producing a video on the social media platform, is designed to drive awareness of Wickes’ range of products and reach a new audience with authentic and creative content.
Working with TAKUMI, the TikTok creators were tasked with adapting existing trends including DIY tips and transformation hacks to create cultural moments and increase product usage. The sponsored posts encouraged viewers to engage with the brand and its campaign hashtag; driving user-generated content by participating in hands-on home improvement challenges.
Supporting Wickes’ vision to increase home projects and to be the partner of choice for home improvers and local trade, the campaign has delivered over 612,600 views and 120,000 likes as well as a combined reach of 442,000 and engagement rate of 17.9%.
The further investment by Wickes in influencer marketing, and in particular in emerging platforms such as TikTok, is the latest example in a growing trend. According to TAKUMI’s recent whitepaper research – Into the Mainstream: Influencer Marketing in Society – over the next 12 months, 35% of marketers are considering working with influencers on TikTok and almost three quarters (73%) are now allocating a greater proportion of their resources to influencer marketing than they were a year ago, including sectors less traditionally associated such as architecture, engineering & building (73%).
The campaign also comes at a time of growth for the home improvement sector. The British Home Enhancement Trade Association said an estimated £4.94bn could be spent on improving homes and gardens before Christmas, roughly £550m more than last year, with more than a third of consumers planning jobs. And new research from Wickes has revealed that over half (53%) of those working from home throughout the pandemic admit to deliberately ‘sprucing up’ areas of their homes so they look better on a video call.
Shelley Allison, Head of Marketing – Core at Wickes, commented: “We’re so excited to announce our first TikTok campaign and to lead our sector on this fast-growing and dynamic platform. It’s the ideal space for creating fun home improvement content at a time when consumers of all backgrounds are either discovering or re-engaging with this area.
“We want to help the nation feel houseproud, and as we’re all spending more time inside our four walls, we want to encourage new audiences to engage with our brand and home trends. The #MyWickesMyWay campaign helps to deliver important awareness for Wickes as the go-to destination for all things DIY, inspiring consumers to go out and get creative with new tips and tricks.”
Mary Keane-Dawson, Group CEO at TAKUMI, says: “We were delighted to support Wickes through its first TikTok campaign, delivering high-quality and engaging branded content.
“Increasingly, we are seeing brands from a wider variety of sectors turn to influencer marketing, and they are considering activity on new and emerging platforms alongside more established ones.
“But in addition to growing awareness and reaching new audiences, TikTok campaigns can also generate sales and drive intent to purchase. 15% of consumers have been influenced to purchase a product or service promoted by influencers on TikTok according to our research.
“As TikTok continues to rapidly grow its user base and become more familiar to consumers and brands, we increasingly expect to see others join Wickes in realising its potential.”
Matthew and Ryan, TikTok creators, concluded: “Over the past few months we’ve been exploring different types of content to keep our TikTok fresh and diverse. DIY hacks allow us to learn and create such fun content which our audience can replicate themselves, so it made total sense to bring a Wickes DIY paint hack to our platform. It was really fun to transform a room into a Galaxy DIY room in a simple way which can be easily replicated so people can do the same!”