Farrow & Ball's 'modern' proclamation
Insight. Strategy.
As someone who, in the height of house renovation, once won a £10 bet that I could name the F&B colour by eye in a sample of 20 colour tests, my relationship with F&B colours has been intense and, in the early noughties, chequered.
I remember vividly the look of contempt in 2008 when the plasterer who was working on our house heard I’d chosen to adorn my sitting room with Elephant’s Breath and that my bathroom would take on the warm glow of Dead Salmon. He shook his head despairingly and wished me ‘good luck with that’. Baffled at how the home of preposterously named paints could elicit such disdain, I embarked on the first coats of my chosen (and glamorously named) wall colour, Clunch.
And. Then. I. Understood.
Back in the day, despite the colours being undeniably unique, the painter’s ‘user experience’ and practical reality of living day-to-day with a super-matt, artisan paint finish which would pucker, scratch or stain if any under 10 year old even stood in the same room, made this a painfully expensive and impractical lifestyle choice. And it demanded three coats for full coverage.
Nightmare.
But Farrow & Ball colours remained (to this day) a lifestyle pain worth enduring.
Wind forward many years and F&B still offers all its colours, now in the choice of a ‘Modern Emulsion’ finish. What does this mean? Gaudy, shiny finishes? No. Reduced depth of colour? No. Simply, paint that gives easy coverage and is tough and forgiving of any household who, well, dares to actually live in their house…
So, when I saw the first airing of BMB’s F&B advertising this week, not only did the ad raise a big, belly laugh of painful recognition, but it also elicited that feeling of ‘I wish I’d done that ad’.
These three 60 second vignettes achieve so much that is bang on for what F&B does uniquely, as it (presumably) sets out after a booming Lockdown of home improvements to seize hearts and paint brushes of more of Britain’s home makers. It is insight and USP magically expressed by:
Acknowledging its audience’s house-proud peccadillos in a head-on way
Diffusing with humour much of the potential snobbery or elitism around the brand
Showcasing the awesome finishes and colour ways that make F&B different
Recognising the only significant barrier I assume the brand has had to next level growth (its hitherto lack of fit with real home living)
Introducing the new ‘washable and wipeable’ Modern Emulsion in a tantalising end line reveal
As a brand loyalist, it made me warm to the heart of the brand (where before I had only really loved the colours) and, I imagine, for those who have been put off by its lack of practicality, or felt alienated by its poshness, I suspect it will do the job of bringing many new Lockdown home-focused new users into the brand.
Bravo Farrow & Ball and big up to BMB.
And if you ever need a new colour naming consultant, you know where I am.