Wilson outlined four key performance indicators the brand will be most focused on:

1. Increasing brand preference drives traffic to stores.

2. Measuring traffic to stores is “exponentially critical.”

3. Value perception scores versus her competitive set for both pros and homeowners.

4. Loyalty to Lowe’s. She calls it a “one more trip mentality” to get consumers to choose Lowe’s a little more often instead of switching back and forth.

Breaking down the brief

Lowe’s ran its creative review in-house instead of using a consultant because Wilson said the brand has “a very sizable sourcing group.”

The company ultimately picked Dentsu Creative after issuing a brief that challenged the competing agencies to defy category conventions, while also staying true to the home improvement sector. Dentsu Creative recognized that the pieces were in place already with the brand’s “Lowe’s Knows” campaign last year. That platform gave Lowe’s a chance to be more consistent with its creative output instead of relying on the peaks and valleys of certain events like holidays and the spring lawn and garden rush.

“We were looking for a partner that didn’t approach creative for creative sake,” Wilson said. “We were looking for a partner that strategically could leverage creativity to drive business results.”

The brand believes its red vest associates are differentiators, so it wanted to use them to “show that we really understand people better, so we can help them better,” said Laurel Flatt, chief client officer, Dentsu Creative U.S.

With 300,000 RVAs, showing them off in its marketing also helps fend off purely digital competitors like Amazon, where expert help is nonexistent.

The brand looked at Lionel Messi as a potential ambassador, but it needed an idea that lent itself to more than just Messi kicking a soccer ball around for the sake of kicking a soccer ball. The agency-client team viewed Messi—who has more assists on goals than any soccer player in the world—as the perfect way to “bring to life this idea of assisting people, whether it’s on the field, in our communities or in our aisles,” Wilson said. “That was really the strategic umbrella behind this campaign.”

Messi also opens the brand up to reach new groups of consumers. “When we put our existing customer base on top of who’s watching live sports and soccer, it’s a whole net new audience that we’re talking to,” Wilson said.