The mock pitch was for course STCM 459, prepared for The Home Depot. Encompassing a plan to broaden the reach to a specific target market and allow brand significance to flourish.

1. The Home Depot
Prepared For: Home Depot
Prepared By: Natalia Herbert
STCM 459
West Virginia University

2. Opulent Media
Team: Natalia Herbert

3. Executive Summary
The Home Depot (THD), known as the number one home
improvement destination in the U.S. among homeowners.
Viewed as the only stop for the do it yourself (DIY) and do
it for me (DIFM) individual. THD is the hardware
headquarters, allowing access to the tools and equipment
to make renovation dreams possible. Known for “More
savings more doing,” they also provide its customers with a
sense of pride in the home improvement projects they
complete.
We at Opulent Media are here to support THD and, find
ways to get these loyal customers familiar with many of
the underrated products THD provides.

4. Problem
Many of the brands that The Home Depot
markets do not get adequate recognition.
Considering products are not promoted as
heavily as larger name brands, consumers
and potential target markets glide past
them. This situation, in turn, causes
consumers to pivot towards those name
brands they see marketed elsewhere.

5. Solution
Use the resources already afforded to The
Home Depot and optimize the marketing
and selling of these lesser know quality
brands.
• Spokespersons to endorse brands
• Social Media
• Creating New Commercials

6. Category
Overview

7. Home Improvement Industry
• The home improvement industry is
worth 336.6 Billion Dollars, and as of
right now the growth is on a continuous
rise.
• The top players have been able to
grow and stay in the game, but have
not been able to catch up to The Home
Depot.

8. Major Players
These are the top competitors of
The Home Depot who share a
percentage of top market
revenue.

9. Market Share
83.2 Billion, 25%
253.4 Billion, 75%Sales in 2015
The Home Depot All other Home Improvement retailors
*336.6 BILLION DOLLARS in total
market shares for Home
Improvement retailors across
the U.S.

10. Threats
• Lowes is the only foreseeable threat to The Home
Depot.
• Other factors that may come into play could be a
natural disaster or the economy.
• The Home Depot is currently the only company that
can stall its progress as of right now. With revenue of
83.2 Billion dollars (30 billion more than its toughest
competition Lowes) THD is the company other
retailors try to surpass and imitate.

11. The Home
Depot Brand

12. Background
The Home Depot has a major demographic keyed in on Baby Boomers. They also attract a
demographic of individuals ages 35-49, also known as Generation X. This group borders the top
end of the Millennial generation which is all about technology. Generation X encompasses a large
amount of energy conscious individuals. For THD, they are a large majority of the DIFM segment.
Making sure that Generation X saves money while becoming energy efficient is extremely
important to them. With that being said, Baby Boomers are still the most effective target market
right now due to a variety of factors. Essentially, they will bring in the most money to THD and
will be inclined to trying products that they have never used before.
For the demographic 20-34, Millennials, it isn’t a large enough market as of yet. This age range
does not have the income for a significant amount of home improvement projects, and very few
of individuals in this range even own a home. Even though Millennials due make up a percentage
of new money Millionaires, the everyday Millennial has not reached that financially stable status
thus far. Marketing to this segment wouldn’t yield in positive results for potential revenue gain.

13. Category Share
The Home Depot is worth
83.2 Billion Dollars. Out of
336 billion, that is just under
25% of the home
improvement market.

14. Strengths
The Home Depot continuously retains the number one spot for home improvement
destination for the last decade.
The Home Depot has exclusive brands with partnered individuals.
2,258 Locations Nationwide.
Online purchasing for delivery or in store pick-up options.
Free classes to help teach new and loyal customers a variety of home improvement
techniques.

15. Proprietary Brands
- Behr #
- Husky#
- Rheem#
- Hampton bay
- Glacier Bay
- Vigoro ~
- Traffic Master
- Veranda~
- Workforce
- Millstead ~
- Pegasus
- Commercial
Electric
- Homelite (outdoor
power tools)
- HDX
- Ryobi#
- American
Woodmark~
- Workforce
- Martha Stewart
Living Omnimedia
(outdoor furniture)
- Home Decorators
Collection
These are just some of the
exclusive brands sold at THD.
These brands are some of their
top selling names and some are
brands that do not get enough
recognition.
#Brands well known
~Brands that need recognition

16. The Audience

17. Demographic
Baby Boomers spend the most money on
Home Improvement projects
Average Customer is
the age of 50
55% of Customers are
Male
Males tend to spend
30% more in home
improvement stores
Their Average
income is $60,800
33% More Males choose
THD as their #1 Choice

18. Psychographic

19. Psychographics continued
• DIYers typically have a connection to the projects that they undertake.
• The previous slide was a survey done by Lightspeed GMI/Mintel. It shows
that the more projects that a person was undertaking, the higher the
percentage of satisfaction that was associated with completing it.
• Their emotions were an incentive to purchase products to complete DIY
projects.

20. Geographic
Most DIY customers reside in suburban neighborhoods.
These consumers tend to renovate more often than those
in larger urban areas.
Urban cities have a considerable sum of attached
housing and apartments complexes. Individuals rent
these places for short periods of time, and a new
resident necessitates their place once a lease expires.
That is one of the many reasons renovations are less
frequent.

21. Most Common Home
Improvement Projects
The most common projects being
renovated are Kitchens and
Bathrooms.
The average Kitchen
renovations cost: $20,000
The average Bathroom
renovation cost: $14,000

22. Decision Makers
When it Comes to Home Improvement
Primary Decision Maker : Women. They are the
primary decision-makers, but they are not the ones
who spend the money.
Secondary Decision Makers: Men. They tend to
include input on projects that aren’t seen in the
home, but are vital.

23. Media

24. Where is the audience?
The demographic that is most receptive to
THD and willing to spend is the baby
boomers. Prior research indicates that these
individuals spend most of their social media
usage on Facebook. They are more prone to
clicking on a link taking them to another site
or product. They also are avid television
viewers and hold a vast majority of magazine
subscriptions.

25. Marketing Mix
• To be most effective in reaching out to
these customers, making sure that there
is a variety of relevant TV commercials,
Social Media post, and Magazine ads that
catch their attention.
• These are the best ways to contact
baby boomers so that they will be
receptive to the information being put
out.

26. Strategic Plan

27. Objective
• Within three to six months, push a minimum of three proprietary
brand products that will be appealing to the target market.
• Create a social media flowchart as well as magazine ads for these
products.
• Create a commercial theme series, launching them in phases.

28. Goals
The long-term goals of the campaign are to associate the
proprietary brands with brands that will help make a house a home.
Make it someplace more meaningful, more livable, not just a place
to rest one's head and brush their teeth. With that angle, we want
to make it so that when a customer uses the item at home, they are
prideful of completing a dwelling enhancement project and prideful
of using a quality brand from a destination they trust.
This push of product awareness will raise in-store brand notoriety.

29. Paid Media
The long-term goals of this campaign are to associate
the proprietary brands with brands that will help make a
house a home. Make it someplace more meaningful,
more livable, not just a place to rest one's head and
brush their teeth. With that angle, we want to make it
so that when a customer uses the item at home, they are
prideful of completing a dwelling enhancement project
and prideful of using a quality brand from a destination
they trust. This push of product awareness will raise in-
store brand notoriety.
• Paid content promotion
• Social media ads

30. Owned Media
THD has an opportunity to make sure that their
website is easily accessible and that it is readily
available 24/7.
• Hiring a new content manager would be beneficial.
• Ensuring content is regularly posted and updated to
increase interactive clicks in considerable margins.
• Generating consistent posts that reach the THD
audience would be handled by the content manager
would make sure to adhere to a schedule.

31. Earned Media
Optimizing the earned media through securing that The Home
Depot shows up in the top search results dealing with a
majority of what DIY and DIFM customers type in. These hits
will appear on sites such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo search
engines. Also, having information on social media outlets that
people will view, recognize and share with their followers. The
media outlets will include:
• All shared media
• Mentions
• Reposts
• Reviews

32. Direct Marketing
This demographic is privy to using email subscriptions
that give detailed information on products, as well as
in-mail items such as postcards. These two forms of
direct marketing is a great way to keep the
demographic keyed in.

33. The Creative

34. “
”
Pride yourself in turning a house into a home.
Tagline

35. Brands/Products
Easy to Use!
Products up for display, on the website and even magazine
ads, need to scream: Easy to Use! In dealing with baby
boomers, they lack the technical savvy knowledge which
younger demographics posses. Furthermore, if it is
simplified so that they can grasp the concept and
maneuver around different areas, they will be enticed to
use and buy it. Giving them the accessibility and choice to
do it themselves, turning them from a DIFM customer to a
DIY customer. Employing the sense of usability, reinforces
that feeling of pride and being able to accomplish the task
with minimal guidance. We need to have provided the
feeling of self-sufficiency while still lending a helping
hand.

36. Brands/Products
Proprietary brands should be visible upon
entry in all THD locations. There should also
be items that are recommended and pushed
during internet products searches. Onlooking
at website marketing strategies, there should
be banner ads composed of brands sold
exclusively at THD incorporated into the
suggested items.

37. The Theme
Everything associated with the tagline "Pride yourself
in turning an organization into a home," will connect
with the theme of PRIDE. Linking all of the proprietary
products will to an action that has the intention of
bringing pride to the customer's home. Every ad
curated for the creative aspect expresses that.

38. Deliverables

39. Print Advertisements
Baby boomers account for a majority of the magazine
subscriptions still in circulation today, so it only makes sense
to have advertisements placed where baby boomers can
detect them and have their partners go out and make the
purchase.
Print ads help the customer to visualize a product being of
use, and they have a record or photo of what it is they want
to buy.

40. Print ad 1
Joy in the home

41. Bringing joy to your life, and pride to
your home.
Pride yourself in turning a house
into a home

42. Print Ad 2
Joy in the home

43. New beginnings, new projects,
and the pride of the home.
Pride yourself in turning a house
into a home

44. Television Ads
• Placing the television ads on networks that connect
with baby boomers such as home renovations
channels, as well as major news networks.
• ABC and NBC are two major news networks Baby
Boomers tune into to stay informed on general news
and politics.
• Pairing up with home improvement channels such as
HGTV and DIY network would be another place that
the Baby Boomer target market will be reached,
having product significance hit home.

45. Television Storyboard Ad 1
Pride of Homeownership

46. Pride of Homeownership Ad #1
Couple staring at house in
frustration. Then look at each other.
Couple looks at camera then Home
Depot entrance appears.
Walking with a Home
Depot associate about all
the items the house needs
Walking down all the necessary aisle.
Smiling and talking.
Couple is back at home happy and
relaxed fixing up their home.
The Home Depot logo
flashes center screen.

47. Television Storyboard Ad 2
Garden Revival

48. Garden Revival Ad #2 Part 1
Woman in yard shaking
her head.
Neighbor comes over to
help and suggests THD
Inside THD talking to an
associate gathering supplies
Shows woman signing up
for THD gardening class
Back at home getting to
Work on garden
Flash plants

49. Garden Revival Ad #2 Part 2
Flash Tools Close up woman smiling The Home Depot logo flashes
center screen

50. Social Media Ad
Pride is what brings a home alive

51. Enjoy your home, and take pride in your lawn. Every
step matters.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE
ABOUT THE TORO LAWN CARE
TOOLS SOLD ONLY AT THE HOME
DEPOT.
Pride yourself in turning a house
into a home

52. Budget

53. Advertising Budget
The advertising budget for 2016 would be the same percentage as in 2015.
The budget is reflective of the areas where the spend will be most
effective. These segments reach the intended target audiences.
The budget split would be broken down according to quarterly earnings of
the preceding year, moreover, incorporating products intended to in the
spotlight.
The projected total for the ad spend on the new campaign efforts would
be around: $29,000,000

54. Media Analysis
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
2013
2014
2015
2016
$ MILLIONS
YEAR
Media Spend
Menards ACE Lowe's The Home Depot
This media analysis is the comparison
of THD, and it is direct competitors
annual media spend over the last four
years.
THD outspends their competitors by
millions of dollars to make sure that
people connect with them.
*The 2016 year is based on projected
numbers.
* Numbers provided exclude
partnership promotions and
international advertising.

55. Areas of Advertising Spending
94,699,408, 28%
53,047,048, 16%
48,976,900, 14%
44,725,482, 13%
96,726,558, 29%
Advertising Sectors
Cable TV
Network Radio
Network TV
US Internet Searches
All other media
In 2015 The Home Depot spent a
total of $340,175,396 on
advertising. The most significant
areas where allocation to
advertising where given are (In
order from greatest to least):
Cable TV, Network radio,
Network TV, US Internet
Searches.
*To the right is a graph of
category breakdown.

56. Conclusion

57. Conclusion
Working together with THD will provide a successful turn
around for the company. Allowing our team to improve
upon THD's goals to continue growing, retaining target
market consumers, and creating significant, reachable
profitability. Reviving segments of neglected inventory
will assist in the overall objectives. Furthermore, extend
knowledge to the always loyal Home Depot customers
who would not want to shop anywhere else.
Choosing Opulent Media would be the best choice. Being
able to connect with THD and the demographic. Ensuring
that the maximized exposure is something that will be
received flawlessly.