Dear B&Q, Thank you for simultaneously instilling deeper, incremental, meaning into your brand and returning to the foundational memory structures of “You can do it when you B&Q it”.
You've pulled off the magic combination of... Significantly freshening things up (by connecting to a deeper human motivational space (Achievement / Triumph over Adversity))... And remaining familiar at the same time (with the indelible tagline).
Thank you for not being afraid to lean into the dark-side and for showing that there's gold to be had in the shadow, by overtly dramatizing the self-doubt inherent in the DIY struggle. DIY, is after all, hard.
In the past, “You can do it when you B&Q it” had a light-hearted and empowering sense of permission and optimism about it. And was definitely memorable, not least because of the assonance of “do it” and “B&Q it”, but also due to the sheer repetition and volume of ads.
But it didn't have any of the tension, the contradiction, the paradox that is so central to the human condition and connecting with people at a deeper level. That lack of tension might explain why, over the years, you pursued different variations on the theme: “Unleash the B&Q in you”; “Change made easier”; “Making it easier”; “Let's Create”; “Let's do it”.
Yes and, now you've found a tension, something along the lines of: DIY is a struggle and rife with self-doubt, because it's fiddly, too hard, too big etc. But the sense of achievement, the triumph of completion and success in over-coming that adversity, feels amazing.
Thanks B&Q. And right on time for the crucial UK Bank Holiday season too. Brilliant stuff. Ned (Disclaimer: I freakin' love DIY, precisely because of the sense of achievement, so you're preaching to the converted)