
Home improvement can be a challenging proposition, particularly if you donât know a socket wrench from a round head ratchet.
Two retailers, The Home Depot and Loweâs, have been helping consumers solve these problems for the past few decades, and they basically have the market cornered. In terms of brand perception, theyâre neck and neck, ranking No. 8 and No. 5, respectively, on YouGovâs most recent survey of Americaâs best-perceived brands.
To stay on top of the industry, Atlanta-based Home Depot is focusing on a blended strategy, appealing to both construction professionals and the average consumer, while upping its ecommerce and in-store customer service game.
âOur goal is to help both professional contractors and average consumers solve problems,â said Kevin Hofmann, Home Depotâs CMO.
A dual message
For Home Depot, professional contractors make up just 3 percent of its customers, but generate 40 percent of its revenue. The key to the retailerâs success is helping professionals do their jobs efficiently and cost effectively while educating amateur home remodelers and tinkerers to help them build confidence.
For contractors, Home Depot offers cheaper bulk pricing, and sends them frequent updates on new product availability and product quantity.

âWe have a much more intimate relationship with them,â Hofmann explains. âThey donât need a store map; they know our store. The marketing challenge there is more relational. Itâs, ‘How are we helping them make money on their job?’ Itâs more B-to-B versus B-to-C.â
For the rest of its consumers, who visit the store four to six times a year, their Home Depot runs are vastly different, not only from contractors, but from occasion to occasion.
âSometimes theyâre there to pick up paper towels or laundry detergent, other times theyâre there because theyâre doing a $30,000 kitchen remodel,â Hofmann said. âTrying to pick up those signals is a big challenge, and itâs a different type of message.â
More than 50 percent of Home Depotâs marketing spend is digital, including Google search, Spotify and Pandora ads, with the rest allocated to TV, radio and print.
âThe contractors are heavy mobile usersâtheyâre hardly ever in front of a tablet or PC, and theyâre more interested in product features, specifications, price and if we have contractor-like quantities available,â Hofmann said. âThe average consumer is engaging in once- or twice-in-a-lifetime purchases: granite versus quartz counter tops, figuring out what that means.â Thus, consumer-focused messages include home improvement tips and how-tos, while contractors focus on product specs.
Home Depotâs tagline, âMore Saving, More Doing,â which its current agency, The Richards Group, debuted in 2009, appeals to both audiences.
âOur position is to be an everyday, low-price place,â Hofmann said. âYou donât have to wait for a sale or a gimmick. You know that youâll find a great value. Our message to the marketplace is, Home Depot has the best brands and best products. We help you save time and money and turn a house into a home.â
At your service
Home Depot is one of the largest ecommerce retailers in the U.S., with online sales growing from $500 million in 2009 to $5 billion in 2016, including 19 percent growth in online sales in the fourth quarter of 2016. However, the retailer heavily focuses on the in-store experience and service, prepping its associates for the massive amounts of questions customers might have.
âYouâre going to bring in a spark plug for your 1979 snowblower and say, âI need one of these.â If the associate doesnât know the answer to that, youâll be disappointed,â Hofmann said. âOur associates need to be able to answer those questions, and weâve extended that promise online, with 24-hour chats to answer questions.â
Home Depot’s executives walk the talk, too, donning the iconic orange aprons to shadow employees and serve customers at Atlanta-area stores every Thursday.

âYou learn so much in the aisles,â Hofmann said. âWeâre trying to walk in the shoes of our front-line associates, because thatâs our differentiator. There are lots of places you can buy a drill. We want you to come to us because weâre not just interested in the transaction, but in the relationship and in your lifetime purchase behavior. The holy tenets of retail are convenience, selection, value and service. Convenience, selection and value tend to get people in, and service is what brings them back.â
To appeal to the many consumers who research products online and pick them up in store, Home Depot added new features to its app that let customers virtually try out products. For instance, you can place an image of a faucet on your counter top or snap a photo of your wall to see which shades of paint look the best on it.
âOne of the biggest barriers for consumers is visualizing, so weâve blended the physical and digital world,â Hofmann said. âWeâre solving the challenges of home improvement with digital tools: knowledge, know-how, buying guides, expertise. It may not result in an online transaction, but it results in a more confident, knowledgeable consumer in the store, buying paint. People are more likely to buy paint from a place if they can say, âthey helped me out.ââ
The âHomeâ Atlanta built
Throughout its history, Home Depot has helped out the city where itâs headquartered, too. The company began in 1979 in Atlanta after its founders, Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, were fired from Handy Dan Home Improvement Centers. Still located on a sprawling complex on the outskirts of the city, its ties to Atlanta run deep: Marcus helped fund the construction of the Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the Western Hemisphere, and Blank owns the NFLâs Atlanta Falcons and the cityâs MLS team, Atlanta United.
âOur founders have poured so much back into the community,â Hofmann said. âBernie Marcus basically funded the aquarium out of his own pocket. The aquarium is open all the time for veteransâtheyâll take disabled veterans or amputees and swim with the dolphins and belugas.â

So far, 1,300 veterans have participated in that program, and through its charitable foundation, Home Depot has committed $250 million to helping homeless veterans.
Staying true to its foundersâ mission is important to Home Depotâs continued success, as well.
âWeâve been gifted with a valuable, well-regarded brand, so we want to stay true to it,â Hofmann said. âWeâre distinctively orange, and we have a blue-collar vibe: itâs cool to have paint on your jeans and smell like sawdust. Thatâs a big part of what we think about every day.â
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