Who: Rona with Sid Lee, Starcom for media and Gorditos for production.

What: A new ad campaign called “For those who know” that uses humour to target “heavy DIYers.”

When & Where: It launched last month for the important fall season, running across TV, digital, radio and OOH.

Why: Rona asked Sid Lee to update its branding and the tone of its communications to better connect with home renovation experts.

“These are guys that don’t do it because they have to—like me—they do it because they actually enjoy doing it,” said Sid Lee creative director Brian Gill. “This is how they relax. Instead of having a guitar or sports as a hobby, they like getting their hands dirty and building things.”

Sid Lee wanted to feature these experts, but also make them accessible and relatable.

How: “We wanted to talk directly to these guys, and one of the things we know about them is they take tremendous pride in what they do and what they know,” said Gill.

The insight was to show that while some DIY experts may know a lot about tools, they have common and perfectly human (and funny) foibles just like everyone else. “We put them in these worlds talking about what they know, but we also have a little fun with them by acknowledging that not everybody knows everything,” said Gill.

The TV ads show men at work on typical DIY projects, with the renovation expert revealing a comic Idiosyncrasy. In one of the TV spots, the main character painfully mangles popular expressions. In the other, he is inexplicably suspicious of his fellow worker.

And we quote: “At Rona, we’ve shared this passion for major projects and renovations with our customers for over 80 years. DIYers who enjoy undertaking and working on renovation and construction projects inspire us every day. That’s why it was important for us to create spots they can relate to” —Catherine Laporte, vice-president, marketing and e-commerce, Lowe’s Canada