First aid for Plascon commercials

The first of two different executions is set in a doctor's consulting room and portrays a specialist physician treating an ailing patient, a wooden chair, with Plascon Woodcare Exterior Ultra Varnish. The caption reads: 'Symptoms: Warping, fading, cracking, blistering and peeling. Treatment: The Plascon Woodcare range'. The campaign creatively demonstrates the product's theme: 'Woodcare keeps wood healthy'.

The second shows a devoted young woman in an intensive care ward at the bedside of her seriously ill partner, a front door. One half of the door has already been healed with an intravenous course of Plascon Woodcare Exterior Waterbased Varnish. The copy reads: 'Symptoms: Warping, fading, cracking, blistering and peeling. Treatment: New Plascon Woodcare Interior and Exterior Waterbased Varnish is a non-drip, low odour, quick-drying addition to the Woodcare range'. Humour is used to emphasise that 'Woodcare keeps wood healthy', so there's no need to experience any "wood emergency".

"The big idea was to create a humorous image in the minds of the DIY target market and to build brand recognition of Plascon's Woodcare range. We wanted to rejuvenate the Woodcare communication whilst ensuring that our 'Wood specialist' positioning was clearly portrayed. The execution generates top-of-mind awareness in the market most likely to use the product," says Darrin Mail, Senior Brand Manager at Barloworld Plascon.

"Our media placement focuses on general interest, sport, male, and home improvement magazines which deliver the message in an environment where the reader can study the products at leisure."