Hornbach

Hornbach is an international chain of DIY stores with its headquarters in Germany and 150 stores spread across Europe. Rubrik has produced Hornbach Sweden’s direct marketing – in the form of advertising, project and product leaflets – and store signs since 2016. In spring 2017 Rubrik was also tasked with producing a communications strategy for Hornbach’s social media channels in Sweden. 

Challenge
The majority of the material published previously on Hornbach Sweden’s social media channels was legacy content from Germany that had not been adapted for a Swedish audience. In conjunction with the launch of its new webshop in autumn 2017, Hornbach Sweden decided to adopt a new overall approach which included a new communications strategy. The aim of the strategy was to strengthen Hornbach Sweden’s creative brand positioning and to link the communication more clearly to the company’s brand image. At the same time, Hornbach Sweden decided to expand the production of content for its social media channels.

Solution
The strategy work was based on research into existing steering documents, the German social media strategy and the store’s own customer surveys. We interviewed store staff to define customers’ most common questions, problems and mistakes and held workshops to identify priority target groups, competitors and business objectives. We then produced a channel concept with communications challenges and solutions, summing these up in personal portraits of Hornbach employees and inspiring customers, instructive DIY/gardening schools and playful video animations designed to get more customers to dare to take on their dream projects. 

Result
In March 2018 we began producing content for Hornbach Sweden based on the new communications strategy. Each quarter Hornbach has an editorial meeting with Rubrik’s project manager, writer and designer to create content based on a content calendar. The response to the new content has been very positive. The number of followers has grown markedly, as has the interaction with Hornbach’s followers on Facebook and Instagram. Hornbach Sweden has also been praised by its parent company in Germany, which is eyeing up Sweden’s new social media strategy.

“Rubrik helps us both with our day-to-day production and at peak times. They are fast, flexible, quick-thinking and easy to work with.”
Sara ter Borch, Marketing Coordinator, Hornbach Sweden