Background & Context:

329 domestic workers in the Middle East were asked about their favorite place in homes they work in.

Among all the spaces they mentioned, one remained hidden: Their own room, described as a source of depression and loneliness.

Additionally, 96% of home owners in the region admitted hiding their domestic worker's room when guests came over, with 60% stating it was because the rooms lacked appeal. 80% felt embarrassed by their domestic househelps’ rooms. 52% would show the rooms if they were in better condition, and 41% said they’d reveal them with better furniture.

In response, our strategy aimed to disrupt the furniture retail category, bringing these hidden rooms into the light with a focus on making a positive change.

Creative Challenge:

How could HomeBox uplift the living spaces of female domestic workers, turning their often-hidden rooms into welcoming spaces that feel like home?

Solution:

Introducing "The Hidden Room Collection," a new product line that empowered homeowners to transform their domestic househelps’ rooms into spaces that felt like home.

Working closely with an agency, we collaborated with layout planners to analyze room data, identifying the six most common layouts.

In partnership with furniture designers, we crafted cost-effective, aesthetically pleasing, and compact furniture tailored to these layouts, enhancing the living spaces of domestic workers.

Execution

The campaign started with a short film highlighting domestic workers' living conditions and addressing cultural stigma directly.

The film directed homeowners to explore a new collection for their house-helps online.

But challenging culture and prejudices led to negative sentiments towards Home Box's initiative.

Despite backlash, Home Box persisted in improving domestic workers' living conditions.

TV news, talk shows and media features helped with highlighting the inequality and propagating a positive change, along with continuing to promote the collection.

Micro-influencers shared positive word of mouth, highlighting the unspoken inequality and showcased their preferred products from the collection and expressed their intent to purchase items for their house helps.

The four collection ranges (Cooper, Hamptons, Oslo,Vanilla) were accessible through web, mobile, and flagship stores.

In-store pop-ups allowed homeowners to experience typical domestic workers' rooms, transformed by Home Box's "The Hidden Room Collection."

Recognizing that standard furniture does not fit these small spaces, Home Box introduced a generative layout simulator tool to facilitate room remodeling based on size, layout, and desired items.

The brand shared heartwarming transformation stories, capturing homeowners' surprise and happiness, engaging social content that attracted more homeowners to embrace the initiative.

Impact:

• 137,000+ rooms improved for 137,000+ female domestic workers.

• Law changed with Federal Law No. 9 in favor of improved conditions for Domestic Workers.

• Sentiments shifted from 64% negative to 78% positive.

• Brand awareness increased +43%.

• Brand love increased +43%.

• Shopper preference increased +26%.

• Recommendation increased +42%.

• Purchase intent increased +22%.

• Contributed to +17% overall sales volume growth in H2-2022 vs H1-2022, overshooting targets by +112.5%.

• The collection achieved 83% sell-out of its entire stock in H2-2022, going +33% beyond the target.