Oak Brook, Ill. — Armed with the insight that paint shoppers are looking for a style-inspired, personalized experience rather than a traditional trip to the hardware store, Ace Hardware set out to reinvent the paint departments of its locally owned stores. The retailer unveiled its new Paint Studio in more than 3,200 locations across the country in May, supported by its largest-ever advertising campaign.Paint is considered a signature category for Ace, and the department sits close to the front of all of its stores to garner the highest visibility. The Paint Studio features a boutique-style experience with private label Clark+Kensington and collections from Valspar Corp., Minneapolis. (Valspar is the exclusive manufacturer of paints sold at Ace, including Clark+Kensington.)Ace displays the collections in drawers, a nod to the way cosmetics are often merchandised, and on racks with bright lighting along with tools to simplify the color-selection process. The Paint Studio was designed to give shoppers “the sense that they can navigate through the department with good service and validation help from the store associates,” says Mary Rice, president and general manager of the Ace Paint Division. “Our target is to be able to accommodate the needs of almost any customer who walks in, but clearly the color story is guided and directed at making it easy to shop for color.”Research by both Ace and Valspar revealed a need for succinct product offerings that consumers could understand. From opening price points to high-premium items, the studio offers details about the value propositions of its paint products. “The collaboration from both sides allowed us to do an amazing job of pulling together a plan that works in our stores,” says Rice, adding that the earlier conceptual research was done by both companies independently while consumer testing on everything from labels to the proposed in-store environment to speaking with the retail community was a collaborative effort.One of the key components to the department redesign is an uncluttered entryway that allows for “both color and stylized room scenes or ideas to shine through,” says Rice. “Our intention was to make it clean enough that shoppers could be comfortable in the space; where they could choose color and not be distracted.”The Clark+Kensington display includes large samplings of color augmented by pamphlets that teach consumers how to use different combinations together, along with room scenes they can recreate on their own. Color-coordination cards are also available on the Valspar side, as are mini-palettes displayed in drawers.The curated palettes are intended to create specific moods, says John Anton, vice president and general manager of the Ace business unit at Valspar. “If the consumer wants a carefree mood or a serene mood, she can open a drawer and the colors have all been designed to be complementary. The cosmetic cues have really helped us change the perception of the paint department.”Deployment of the Paint Studios began last September, and Ace hit its mark of having the majority of its stores converted by May 1 – the beginning of painting season. As one of the largest initiatives in the retailer’s history, the time was right to introduce the new in-store environment to help deliver “a promise that we weren’t able to offer to paint consumers before,” says Rice.A “Helpful is Beautiful” ad campaign includes TV, radio and print advertising along with social media and digital marketing extensions. “We look at it like we’ve only just begun,” Rice says. “Clearly all the efforts that go along with promoting the program are going to be important, but our teams have a dedicated plan to building paint out in the coming weeks, months and years. This is not a one-shot wonder; it’s about getting people to understand that there’s a new place in town to shop for paint, and it will be a different experience. All of these elements networked together are going to make the experience that much better and more robust than consumers would get elsewhere.”Anton says the 360-degree campaign uses “every touchpoint we had to let people know that there is a new, enhanced experience at Ace if you are interested in a painting project.”Certified interior designers were stationed in select stores, and Valspar also utilized a 50-person dedicated sales team called the Color Crew to train Ace associates on color-design theory and hues. “If we can train the Ace associates to be color experts and understand color theory and what is complementary, that can be a compelling point to get people into Ace stores,” says Anton.Grand opening events over the Memorial Day weekend yielded high volume and strong sales, and additional promotional events scheduled for the July 4th and Labor Day weekends were intended to drive traffic into the new studios as well. “We believe we’re on the right path to growing our business more than double digits over the next five to 10 years,” Rice says, noting that the paint department posted 181% growth over last year’s Memorial Day weekend, and represented nearly 25% of total sales compared to last year’s 10%.The Niven Marketing Group, Carol Stream, Ill., designed and manufactured the in-store environment in conjunction with Ace and Valspar. Color merchandising materials were handled by Britton Marketing Group, Fort Wayne, Ind.; Colwell Colour, Kendallville, Ind.; Color Communications Inc., Chicago; and Tribuzio-Hilliard Studio Inc., Greensboro, N.C.FCB, Chicago, handled the creative for the “Helpful is Beautiful” campaign, while Spark, Chicago, handled media buying. A promotional website (ThePaintStudio.com) developed by GSD&M, Austin, Texas, went live on May 1 to help consumers find inspiration, explore color and get painting tips and advice. All public relations efforts were handled by DBC PR+Social Media, Washington, D.C., and New York, and LaForce+Stevens, New York.All of the usual tangible sales metrics are in place to gauge the program’s success, says Anton. “But at the end of the day, it will manifest itself in market share. If we’re driving market share, then we know we’ve been successful together with Ace.”
