This Is Home - Lafarge | Clapboard Ad Archive

Lafarge Zimbabwe’s This Is Home campaign, developed by Shift Engage and released in the real estate and construction sector in Year 2021, strategically positions the cement brand not as a transactional material supplier but as a foundational pillar of national identity and growth. With a narrative that elevates the everyday into the iconic, the campaign weaves Lafarge into the very story of Zimbabwe’s infrastructure — from cities and landmarks to residential homes and the roads that connect them — underscoring the company’s longstanding presence in the nation’s progress. By harnessing patriotic symbolism and emotionally evocative visual language, the TV commercial targets a broad audience unified by their pride in the country’s development, implicitly inviting viewers to see their own communities and aspirations reflected in the physical structures enabled by Lafarge’s cement. What Clapboard’s taxonomy would classify as FORMAT#9—Symbolize the Benefit, the creative approach sidesteps transactional rationales, testimonials, and direct product demonstration in favor of presenting cement as a metaphor for strength, unity, and continuity; the material itself becomes a stand-in for resilience and a promise of a better future. This technique distinguishes Lafarge’s positioning from competitors in a market where functional claims—such as durability, value, or cost-efficiency—typically dominate, leveraging emotive identification to build brand equity and association with national achievement. The agency’s choice of the film medium amplifies the campaign’s intent, allowing sweeping imagery of iconic infrastructure to serve as touchstones for a collective sense of home, further embedding Lafarge as both a constant and a catalyst in Zimbabwe’s ongoing transformation. The campaign earns 54/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. Though the work favors symbolism over overt persuasion, it stands as a key reference for brands in industrial and commodity categories seeking to move beyond product parity and claim cultural authorship within their markets.