Anyday Campaign – John Lewis | Clapboard Ad Archive

Job Well Done - Screwfix | Clapboard Ad Archive

Screwfix’s Job Well Done campaign, created in partnership with Five by Five to coincide with the 2021 football season, pushes beyond traditional sponsorship by fusing the rituals of football fandom with the everyday pride of tradespeople across the UK and Ireland’s retail market. Marking its eighth year as a Sky Sports football sponsor, the brand expands its reach with the addition of Soccer AM, Quest, and S4C, orchestrating a nine-month activation that draws clear parallels between the discipline of skilled work and sporting achievement. The creative core of the campaign—ident spots featuring tradespeople completing tasks before being interviewed in the distinctive style of post-match football press—latches onto easily recognizable sports broadcast tropes and reframes the completion of work as a shared cultural performance. This approach, which Clapboard classifies as FORMAT#12—Parody or Borrowed Format, blurs the boundaries between pitch and job site with the insertion of sponsorship boards and tongue-in-cheek voiceovers that elevate everyday professionalism to the level of sporting heroics. The narrative leans into the transition out of pandemic restrictions, shifting from last year’s home-bound messages to a celebration of renewed normality, shared effort, and positive energy—resonating deeply with a core audience of tradespeople who see their skill and work ethic mirrored in the passion of football. By embedding itself at the heart of football coverage and appropriating the rituals of sports media, Screwfix signals to its customer base that their craft deserves the same recognition and celebration as match-day performance, reinforcing its reputation as a stalwart ally to the trade and DIY community. This positioning is especially significant given the competitive context—where rivals like B&Q, Wickes, Toolstation, and Travis Perkins all jockey around themes of partnership, expertise, and accessibility, but few so effectively connect brand with cultural capital or speak so directly to the pride of job satisfaction. The campaign earns 63/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. By leveraging sport’s most familiar formats to champion everyday professionalism, Screwfix demonstrates that retail sponsorships can transcend visibility and become a genuine narrative platform for customer advocacy and community celebration.

We’re better with pets - Pets at Home | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

We’re better with pets - Pets at Home | Clapboard Ad Archive

Pets at Home’s 2021 campaign We’re better with pets, developed in partnership with The&Partnership, asserts the retailer’s ambition to own not just the transactional but the emotional heart of the UK pet care sector through an unapologetically empathetic narrative. Positioning itself as a dedicated companion along every step of the pet ownership journey, the brand leverages a creative approach defined by everyday, relatable depictions of life with animals: moments of muddy paws, sleepy routines, anxious vet visits, and the pure, uncomplicated camaraderie that pets provide. Underpinned by a core truth that resonates universally with animal lovers — the notion that life’s hardships and happiness are both markedly improved by a faithful four-legged (or two-winged, or scaly) friend — the campaign sidesteps grandiose visual storytelling and eschews overt symbolism, instead grounding itself in lived realities and the daily rituals familiar to millions of UK households. The communicative strategy demonstrates a clear understanding of its target market: individuals and families for whom the care of pets is deeply emotional and for whom retail decisions are increasingly influenced by perceptions of support and expertise beyond mere price and product. What Clapboard’s taxonomy would classify as FORMAT#10—Associated User Imagery, the campaign’s creative device constructs its authority through the faces, spaces, and gestures of authentic pet owners, casting Pets at Home not as a brand removed from these lives but embedded within them, offering veterinary care, grooming, and the counsel of pet care advisors as an essential infrastructure for responsible and rewarding pet care. Amid fierce category competition — from value-driven chains to the relentless convenience of e-commerce giants — Pets at Home shrewdly leverages this campaign to deepen loyalty and trust by assuring customers their relationship with their pets is mirrored by the brand’s relationship with them. In a market environment where competitors emphasize price, variety, or ethical premium, The&Partnership positions Pets at Home as the option that both understands and actively participates in the emotional reality of pet ownership. The campaign earns 59/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. For an industry often preoccupied with features and utility, We’re better with pets exemplifies how brand relevance is built through resonance with the emotional value customers place on the everyday experiences that define their category.

The Throne - Very | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

The Throne - Very | Clapboard Ad Archive

The Throne campaign from Very, delivered by Grey for the UK retail market in 2021, reframes the perennial back-to-school rush as a singularly empowering rite of passage, elevating the act of returning to the classroom into a moment of regality and newfound confidence. Anchored by a glancingly symbolic creative premise, this film-driven effort leverages the metaphor of a throne to evoke the emotional peak of a very big school moment, positioning Very as the brand that equips students to feel nothing short of royalty as they step into new academic chapters. In a crowded retail services landscape populated by the likes of ASOS, Zalando, Next, Boohoo, and Marks & Spencer, Very stakes its claim on a dual promise: a vast, on-trend fashion selection spanning high street and celebrity labels, and the immediacy of free next-day delivery via Collect+. The campaign’s narrative sidesteps literal storytelling, instead allowing visual exaggeration and symbolic framing to communicate the core benefit — that shopping with Very confers a sense of status and positivity as significant as a coronation, removing the stress and uncertainty from one of the most culturally resonant milestones in British family life. This is an approach that sits squarely in Clapboard’s FORMAT#9 — Symbolize the Benefit, where the product’s impact is imprinted not through direct demonstration but through aspirational metaphor. Social channel links integrated throughout the campaign amplify its reach and relevance with a digital-native audience, inviting ongoing engagement across Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest and asserting Very’s fluency in multi-platform brand storytelling. By focusing on symbolism and emotional resonance at a key conversion moment, Very and Grey connect with both parents and young shoppers navigating the pressures and possibilities of the new school year, demonstrating how convenience, style, and retail confidence can coalesce in a single, memorable campaign experience. Clapboard rates this 63/100. The Throne matters because it reminds the category that emotional symbolism — not just tactical messaging — can drive both affinity and action at the moments that define a generation’s relationship with retail brands.

Screen Pollution - Multiópticas | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

Screen Pollution - Multiópticas | Clapboard Ad Archive

Multiópticas’ 2019 campaign Screen Pollution, crafted by agency LLYC for the Spanish retail market, confronts the escalating issue of digital eye strain through a concept that aligns screen overexposure with environmental contamination, a metaphor that dramatizes the invisible yet pervasive damage caused by excessive screen time. The campaign’s single film asset employs what Clapboard’s taxonomy identifies as FORMAT#3—Symbolize the Problem—eschewing literal depictions of eye fatigue in favor of a symbolic representation that positions screen time as a form of pollution, thereby elevating the conversation beyond individual health to a societal and cultural level. Targeting professional services audiences, Screen Pollution effectively quantifies the problem by citing that the average person spends over 4,000 hours annually in front of digital devices, transforming abstract discomfort into a tangible, measurable threat. The film’s narrative refrains from traditional storytelling or testimonial formats, instead relying on visual allegory and a clear, urgent message that encourages viewers to reconsider their relationship with technology and adopt protective habits for their visual health. By integrating Spanish language and cultural nuances, the campaign secures authenticity and resonance within its local market, enhancing engagement and empathy. Beyond awareness, Multiópticas leverages its authority as a specialist in eye care to position itself not just as a retailer but as a responsible health advocate in the digital age, supported by accessible online resources that deepen the conversation and invite interactive audience participation. The campaign’s strategic use of symbolism invites reflection on the broader implications of screen pollution, linking personal well-being with environmental analogies to underscore the urgency of change. Clapboard rates this campaign 67/100. Screen Pollution matters to the industry because it demonstrates how retail brands in the professional services space can transcend product promotion by adopting culturally relevant metaphors that engage consumers in meaningful dialogue about contemporary health challenges.

294 - HOK-Elanto | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

294 - HOK-Elanto | Clapboard Ad Archive

HOK-Elanto’s campaign 294, developed in partnership with Bob the Robot and launched in the retail sector in 2020, is a striking example of brand-aligned documentary storytelling responding to the exceptional climate of the COVID-19 pandemic. Framed around the revealing statistic that cashiers ranked as the 294th most prestigious profession in Finland according to a pre-pandemic study, the campaign confronts this undervaluation head-on, recasting frontline retail workers as indispensable figures in social continuity during crisis. Through an observational short documentary, the work foregrounds the lived realities of grocery store employees, healthcare professionals, and other essential staff at the epicenter of daily resilience—aligning the HOK-Elanto brand with public empathy, gratitude, and a nuanced understanding of value beyond economic metrics. The campaign’s documentary approach sits squarely within what Clapboard’s taxonomy defines as FORMAT#10—Associated User Imagery, authentically portraying the people who kept Finnish society afloat under extraordinary pressure and transforming common perceptions of occupational hierarchy and heroism. Rejecting abstraction or didactic messaging, the film relies on first-person testimony and the day-to-day context of grocery retail, ensuring relatability for audiences who see their own communities and routines reflected back with dignity. This content platform serves a powerful dual function for HOK-Elanto: reinforcing its role as an actively engaged, community-focused retail brand while strengthening customer association with real-world values like solidarity and respect for essential labor. In a marketplace crowded with functional promotions and omnipresent discount narratives, 294 stands apart by making the collective emotional experience of the pandemic into a storytelling asset—one calibrated for post-crisis expectations of corporate citizenship without falling into sentimentality. The campaign earns 63/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. By documenting and spotlighting those often taken for granted, this campaign signals to the broader industry that authentic, unscripted storytelling can elevate brand perception and redefine cultural value propositions in sectors as everyday as retail.