FENSA wanted to create a 30-second commercial as their first ever foray into TV advertising. Simple, right? Not when it needed to catch an audience’s attention, educate viewers and influence their purchase decisions. And did we mention the product wasn’t chocolate cake and puppies, but doors and windows?
The challenge
If your boiler is on the blink, most people know to seek out a registered engineer. But few are aware they should be doing much the same thing when upgrading their double glazing.
Since 2002, FENSA has been authorised by the UK government to issue the renowned FENSA certificate: proof that your window and door installations are compliant, energy efficient and registered with the local authority. And this proof is vital if you want to sell your house!
UK law also requires homeowners to notify their local authority if replacing windows or doors, but approved FENSA installers can self-certify that their installations comply with building regulations, taking the task off your hands.
However, many homeowners don’t know what questions to ask a prospective installer. By educating people to seek out FENSA certificates, more installers should be motivated to become FENSA approved, and less houses will be fitted with windows and doors that aren’t up to standard.
TV advertising was therefore required to raise awareness, increase understanding and make FENSA certificates a natural part of the purchase decision.
What we did
Our mission: To educate homeowners on the benefits of using a certified FENSA installer.
We worked with CMDi, a leading brand strategy and communications agency for building and construction organisations. They brought all the industry knowledge, and we were only too happy to complement it with our film production muscle.
The TV advertising spot was anticipated to reach homeowners across the UK via social media as well as digital programmatic and commercial TV channels, so it was vital we produced the perfect content for the organisation’s needs.
Creative and directing team James Clancy and Graeme Hill worked together to bring the story to life using a mixture of live action and 2D animation.
We used hand-drawn animation mixed with live action to bring charm and warmth to the commercial content. The visual creative used the familiar yellow sticky note to reinforce the key message: “remember to ask for a FENSA Certificate.”
Our aim was to portray FENSA as a credible, trusted and supportive organisation that offers real value to homeowners.
The result
Launching in early 2019, FENSA’s awareness campaign has brought about transformational growth, helping to grow profits, protect homeowners and promote compliance with industry standards – and we’d like to think our production skills contributed to this success.
“The Gate provided us and our client FENSA with a highly professional and creative start to finish TV advert production experience,” said CMDi.
“The whole team were a joy to work with and the quality of thinking was as good as the final production values. Their understanding of a complex subject matter was evident right from the pitch stage and their attention to detail was outstanding.
We’re delighted with the final result and are confident it will support the success of the first campaign of this type ever undertaken by FENSA.”
