Cummins picks up second Woolworths hardware brand with Masters appointment
Woolworths’ struggling Masters brand has appointed Cummins and Partners as its lead creative agency, ending months of uncertainty surrounding the pitch, Mumbrella understands.
Cummins, which had been tipped to pick up the account, already works with the sister brand of Masters, Home Timber and Hardware, an account it won last December, with Woolworths now appearing to have consolidated its hardware creative under the one agency.
Cummins produced its first campaign for Home Timber and Hardware in March. The agency declined to comment.
The appointment comes at a delicate time for Masters with the chain held partly responsible for the poor performance of Woolworths’ core supermarket business.
Sources have said the time and resource spent propping up Masters has been a major distraction for Woolworths management.
The Australian Financial Review reported earlier this month that analysts and investors believe Woolworths pushed up supermarket margins to record levels to fund its ill-fated home improvement strategy.
Masters has handled the majority of its recent creative work in-house, but the appointment of Cummins signals a renewed to push to step up its marketing as it looks for a lift in performance.
Both Masters and Home Timber and Hardware are wholly owned by the Woolworths and Lowe’s joint venture.
Steve Jones
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probably a good move – the current Home ads are great, while the current Masters ads are terrible (hipsters with banjos, really?)
when in strife, turn to the best.
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That’s about Masters’ 4th creative agency in the last 12 months. Good luck Cummins
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Great move. Cummins is a class outfit.
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Agree with 1238, their Home stuff is great. This one’s a much bigger ask; very interested to see whether they can rescue this massively miscalculated retail foray.
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Love the home stuff.
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why give it to Cummins, why not take it in house, use Cummins and other agencies on a job specific/freelance basis and save millions??
Same as the ABC has just done.
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@why(6) – attracting and retaining ‘good’ people out to Bella Vista is a challenge not even money can solve. Agency people just seem to like their morning latte from quaint Surry Hills coffee shops, not from dreary business park coffee carts in North Western Sydney industrial corridors.
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@why…
Because the best thinkers are still in the agencies. There’s definitely a future for in-house but at the moment i’d be inclined to use them for collateral material once a solid propoition has been developed by an agency. Masters is a disaster despite having a comparable product/service to Bunnings. Right now it appears that the right advertising campaign might be the most effective way to counter its problems. You could play a test match in their carparks for lack of patronage.
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Advertising and marketing may get people through the door once, but they really need to concentrate on providing and retaining quality staff with product or hardware industry knowledge, not grocery experience. People will return and prefer the shopping experience if they can offer better service and advice than the other major, whilst still keeping the low pricing angle.
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@Gg800. I think the issue is bigger than that. Bunnings flourished during the great renovation period from a few years ago and its customers have become stuck on. Masters entered too late, a bit like the Mining Tax, after the rush had declined and now there’s no real reason to switch. ‘Go where the tradies go’ covers the expertise angle in this stable and Masters needs a new proposition that may well include altering their offerings. Woolies chasing Coles is exactly how they should not do this.
Hopefully C&P can come up with a new angle that feeds back into the whole customer experience, but its hard to identify a gap in the market.
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Sean is up there with Ted Horton as one of Australia’s most inspired advertising minds of our generation. If anyone can revive Masters’ fortunes, Sean’s agency can.
Having said that, if it’s a dog and there’s little differentiation, all great advertising / marketing will do is shine a brighter light on its flawed offering sooner.
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Cummins seeming like the buzz agency in Melbourne at the moment. A lot of good clients coming their way. Hopefully the work follows.
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