BERLIN, GERMANY – The European home improvement superstore HORNBACH is launching its autumn communication campaign with a monumental work of epic proportions – a film that couldn’t be more fitting for these exceptional times. But made the HORNBACH way.
Instead of turning the spotlight on fear and worry, HORNBACH prefers to place the emphasis on courage and taking on challenges. These attributes are ascribed to the brand like no other. It goes without saying that HORNBACH and HEIMAT Berlin are still focusing on DIY and not losing sight of the project in the third decade of their passionate and resoundingly successful partnership. It is all perfectly summed up in the slogan: ‘It seems impossible. Until you do it.’
Faced with his decrepit washbasin, the tiny DIYer seems to have an impossible task ahead of him. Yet he tackles it head-on with his willpower and his arms and he ultimately succeeds in pulling off this almost superhuman feat: the new washbasin has been fitted; the hero has returned to his normal size. You just simply have to set about the task as HORNBACH’s brand communication continuously promotes.
Besides the visually stunning production, this charming self-will also contains a large slice of humour. That’s because the protagonist not only has to deal with the fiddly nature of the project, but also contend with a fly that is attacking him throughout.
‘The positive power that is generated by completing a project has never been as valuable as it is right now,’ says Thomas Schnaitmann, who is responsible for HORNBACH’s brand activities ‘That sense of achievement after having created something with your own hands is enduring and emboldens people to
take on further challenges.’
The time and effort that went into the production of the advert can be seen in all its details. The director was none other than the American Tom Kuntz, probably one of the world’s most frequently decorated directors. Camera duties were handled by US-based Dutchman Hoyte van Hoytema, whose CV already includes the Bond film Spectre and the Christopher Nolan works Interstellar, Dunkirk and, most recently, Tenet. Digital post-production was undertaken by Untold from London, while the music came from 2WEI. The entire production process was held together by TPF under the leadership of the producer Michael Duttenhöfer. ‘Organising a mammoth project of this kind during the coronavirus pandemic is definitely on a par with the pluckiness of our DIY hero,’ explains HEIMAT founder Guido Heffels. ‘Arranging coronavirus tests for everyone involved in the shoot, having reduced personnel on the set, taking everyone’s temperature, constantly making fine adjustments from a distance. But then anything is possible when you actually do it – with courage and a level head.’
CREDITS
Campaign: ‘It seems impossible. Until you do it.’
Media (international): TV, digital (video, display, social media), POS, radio, poster.
Period: social media ad premiere for the HORNBACH fans from 17.09; on TV and online in Germany and Austria from 18.09.
Other countries: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Luxembourg, Netherlands
Agency: HEIMAT Berlin
Production: Tony Petersen Film Berlin Director: Tom Kuntz
Music: 2WEI
Sound design: Loft Tonstudios GmbH
