And if we started to change together - Castorama | Clapboard Ad Archive
Castorama’s 2022 campaign And if we started to change together, developed by Publicis Conseil, anchors France’s best-known DIY retailer at the intersection of sustainable living and everyday home improvement, unveiling a heartwarming brand film that puts responsible consumption at the center of its narrative strategy. With its signature Change makes us move forward, Castorama leans into its five-decade legacy as a facilitator of positive domestic transformation and realigns this proposition with a sharper focus on ecological responsibility, deploying its familiar beaver mascot as the creative lynchpin. This beaver’s return as both an emotional and comical protagonist succeeds in demystifying sustainability, turning it from a daunting ideal into an approachable reality, while giving Castorama’s values both a relatable face and a conversational voice in French households—an approach directly mapped to FORMAT#8—Ongoing Characters or Celebrities in Clapboard’s 12-format taxonomy. By rooting the campaign in everyday scenarios and infusing them with gentle humor, Castorama sidesteps the typical gravitas of CSR advertising and lands its message with humility and warmth, making incremental change feel possible rather than prescriptive for its broad consumer base. In a crowded retail market where rivals like Leroy Merlin emphasize empowerment through expertise and scale, Brico Dépôt champions value for professionals, and Weldom and Mr. Bricolage leverage local proximity and community service, Castorama is opting for brand recall based on emotional affinity and the normalization of responsible action, rather than transactional differentiation or overt expertise. This campaign’s ability to blend narrative continuity—the beaver mascot as a trust-building device—with clear messaging on ecological home solutions demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of brand-building in a low-involvement, habit-driven category, reinforcing Castorama’s role as both facilitator and advocate for customers seeking to make their lives—and their homes—a little greener, together. Castorama earns 58/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. This campaign proves that consistent character-driven storytelling can be a potent driver of brand purpose in retail, particularly when it lowers barriers to engagement with sustainability and positions ecological change as a shared, everyday pursuit.
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