Castorama Magic Wallpaper
Castorama
Issue 45 | December 2017
Agency
TBWA\Paris
Creative Team
Executive Creative Directors Benjamin Marchal, Faustin Claverie Copywriters Fabien Duval, Glen Troadec Art Directors Fabien Gille, Nicolas Barrès Illustrators Paul Reyrolle, Jérémy Armand, Fabien Gille, Romain Belleville, Benjamin Marchal Digital Creation, DAN\Paris: Philippe Simonet, Guilhem Vacher, Ivan Zindovic, Julie Laroussinie Art Director Mélany Caulet Copywriter Charline Dantignye
Production Team
Lead Motion Design Christophe Courty Lead UX Yann Lupion App Developer Kamal Zitouni Production, TBWA\Else Maxime Boiron, Cathy Pericone Sound Director Fabrice Pouvreaue
Other Credits
Anne Vincent, Marc Fraissinet, François-Xavier Parison
Date
May 2017
Background
Castorama's goal was to make home improvement accessible to everyone. So, the French retailer decided to offer increasingly innovative and creative ideas to their customers to help them create happy family moments shared at home.
The ambition was to turn unique moments into magical moments.
Idea
Castorama set out to create products that would bring everyone in the family together. Could they make the simple bedtime story more involving for parents and children?
The Magic Wallpaper was an interactive wallpaper that told stories. The innovative wallpaper featured 10 characters, imagined and designed by TBWA\Paris. Each of the printed characters was a digital marker and once they were scanned into a dedicated app, they told stories. The app could be downloaded for free though the wallpaper cost €9.90 a roll at Castorama stores.
If two characters were scanned together, they interacted with each other and told a shared story. In all, the wallpaper could tell 55 five-minute stories. The stories could be told through the voice of a storyteller or in text with fun sound effects activated by clicking on certain words.
Results
9.7 million media impressions were achieved at a total PR value of €2.5 million.
Our Thoughts
While Castorama did actually make 18,000 rolls of the Magic Wallpaper (and, apparently, the standard run-rate for children's wallpaper is just 8,000 rolls) the real intention of this idea was to generate lots of PR, which it did.
Castorama wanted to reinforce their positioning as a source of inspiration rather than as a DIY store. And today, brands communicate in what they do more than in what they say. In bringing the internet of things to the bedroom, Castorama have communicated how well they understand the pressures of modern life.
If one study I've seen is to be believed, the average white-collar Dad in London sees his children for just 15 minutes a week. In this context, bedtime becomes a massively important moment.