By changing their attitudes towards sun protection throughout the UK, tradesmen up and down the country began to use suncream in the summer months. A form of sun protection proven to reduce the risk of skin cancer.

Any suncream products used must comply with regulation EC No 1223/2009 and ISO 24444:2010. Which we adhered to thoroughly.

Last Summer, Wickes moved from home improvement to health improvement by launching Tradesman’s Suncream; a fun, no-nonsense way to make sun protection relevant to the trade.

Available in Brickie’s Bronze, Plasterer’s Pink and Apprentice White, the free miniature paint pots replaced the language of a beauty brand with the language of tradesmen. Helping remove the stigma of using suncream for UK’s most-at-risk workers.

The range was available for free at all Wickes stores nationwide throughout summer. Pots were named after the most-at-risk trade jobs e.g. Brickies Bronze. An on-pack leaflet included safety tips and directed customers to a microsite for more advice.

Pots were given away at experiential stands during peak trade hours and key dwell areas inside store. We took the campaign further by partnering with cancer charity Skcin, where nurses offered UV skin cancer checks which can detect the disease before symptoms appear.

We dropped pots at large building sites prior to the hottest predicted week and created a ‘How to spot for skin cancer’ video on Wickes’ ‘How-to’ YouTube page. To help raise awareness the pots were sent to trade influencers and as interest escalated, the initiative was picked up by one of the country’s biggest DJs; Absolute Radio’s Christian O’Connell, who ran a nationwide competition highlighting the campaign.

• The campaign picked up over 12 million media impressions in just 48 hrs

• Pots were distributed to every Wickes store in the UK, getting into the hands of over 20,000 tradesmen across the summer

• The campaign’s charity partner Skcin saw a 160% increase in website visits

• Nurses conducting UV checks at the stores reported a record number of ‘recommended referrals’ for an external event, allowing tradesmen the opportunity to seek help at the crucial ‘early stage’

• Sign-ups to Wickes’ Trade loyalty scheme increased to over 2000 a week during the initiative

• The campaign became so successful, the UK Government have decided to back the initiative for Summer 2018

Home improvement brand Wickes weren’t losing ‘trade’ customers to a competitor, they were losing ‘trade’ customers to skin cancer. In Britain, tradesmen die from skin cancer more than any other workforce due to working outside in the sun and a general disregard towards sun protection.

By launching the ‘Tradesman’s Suncream’ products, we moved Wickes from home improvement to health improvement, turning the tradesman’s trusty paint pot into a pot of protection. Enabling Wickes to connect with a hard-to-reach audience where previously, conventional marketing had failed.

The starting point was unearthing the shocking fact tradesmen were dying at a rate of one a fortnight in the UK. But there was hope; 85% of cases are preventable. Persuading tradesmen to use sun protection however, wasn’t going to be easy.

Health education, sun protection products and their marketing clearly weren’t connecting with tradesmen. Research told us they saw wearing suncream as weak, unmanly or even getting in the way of a good tan. We needed something truly different if we were to resonate with this group.

So we repositioned Wickes from home improvement to health improvement and took the much-loved paint pot and turned it into a pot of protection.

By replacing the language of a beauty brand with the language of tradesmen, we created a totally new way to connect with UK’s most-at-risk workforce. Grabbing their attention and helping change behaviours towards sun protection across the country.

‘Let’s do it right’ is the endline and philosophy of home improvement brand Wickes. So when we discovered the shocking fact that their largest customer group – tradesmen, are dying at a rate of one every fortnight due to skin cancer from working in the sun, we knew they had to ‘do right’ by their biggest customer and help tackle this issue.

But there’s a problem. Research discovered many tradesmen don’t use suncream, seeing it as weak, unmanly or even getting in the way of a good tan.

We needed to do something truly unique to stand out and break the habits of this tough audience.