Powersheds: from back gardens to broadcast growth with TV

Key Points

• Powersheds are specialists in all things Sheds, but the market was dominated by manufacturers posing as retailers. Customers wanted simplicity: 91% wanted online shopping to be simpler, and 55% were willing to pay more for simplicity. Seeing an opportunity for growth, they tasked media agency Republic of Media with growing awareness and increasing sales.
• They partnered with Channel 4, HGTV and Really to reach upmarket, 45+ homeowners in contextually relevant programming across linear, streaming and sponsorship during the key sales periods of the year, spring and summer.
• Nearly 50% of all respondents recalled all campaign elements, huge year-on-year site traffic numbers matching up with high-reaching contextual placements and massive jumps in revenue year on year.

The Challenge

Powersheds is an online retailer for wooden sheds of all ranges, from potting sheds all the way to garden rooms and offices. Despite a market that showed major growth opportunities, the brand's share of the market was at just 8.8%, with the rest of the market dominated by manufacturers posing as retailers.

The truth was that the first-time shed buyers were overwhelmed by choice and left frustrated by the experience. While returning customers were looking to avoid making the same mistakes again. What both groups were looking for was the same thing: simplicity. 91% wanted online shopping to be simpler, 55% were willing to pay more for a simpler experience, and 64% were more likely to recommend a brand that made things easy.

As a result, Powersheds knew they could offer customers this simplicity. They handed media agency Republic of Media a clear set of objectives: grow awareness and increase market share.

The TV Solution

To grow awareness and market share, Republic of Media got to work in crafting an approach that would do just that for Powersheds. The idea was a simple one: Republic of Media would combine the exceptional craftsmanship, superior materials, rapid delivery and outstanding services to make the experience effortless and affordable.

With brand awareness sitting at under 5%, the challenge was clear – grow market share. Republic of Media knew that if they could spend ahead of their market share, this Excess Share of Voice (ESOV) would deliver market share growth.

Using the principles of Ehrenberg-Bass around growing penetration to increase growth, Republic of Media need to focus on the largest and most scalable demand pool. By profiling sales data, they were able to find a key growth audience, upmarket homeowners aged 45+ - a group looking for simplicity and ease when buying their new shed.

Linear TV was the perfect channel for this audience, with its ability to deliver reach, credibility and long-term demand. Accounting for 45% of long-term advertising profit, it was critical to delivering sustainable growth for Powersheds.

The Plan

With the strategic direction in place, Republic of Media put their plan into action. When thinking about the timing of the campaign, Easter and spring represented the optimal season for Powersheds. The period matched up with peak demand and offered the biggest single opportunity to influence shed purchases. This led to the campaign kicking off in May and running through till October, when people start to put their garden away in preparation for winter.

To build long-term brand affinity with short-term measurable impact, Powersheds needed to reach the older, upmarket, house-proud audience when they were most receptive, showing the superior quality and affordability of the brand. Leveraging research from WARC, Republic of Media was able to show that brands that were deliberate in their media choices delivered the biggest impact. This led to them opting for both spot airtime and sponsorship to deliver impact, with PR and social campaigns building brand fame. The campaign was designed in a manner that would support both direct response and long-term brand growth, as buying a shed is a yearlong journey.

Audience research highlighted that 41% of adults take home inspiration from TV, and 74% said they take inspiration from Channel 4 home improvement programming. Powersheds partnered with Channel 4 to deliver the campaign, being seen in high-end contextual programming like Grand Designs, Location, Location, Location and Chateau DIY.

Across Channel 4 partner channels HGTV and Really, programming like Property Brothers and Fixer Upper rounded out the contextual programming on linear. This programming selection was mirrored across streaming with genre buys against the audience in contextual environments to deliver results.

To support the linear and streaming campaigns, Republic of Media added a 6-month sponsorship, covering the key sales period, in the form of Inspired Homes across Really and HGTV across both linear and Discovery+. This sponsorship was extended beyond the screen with social integration across HGTV social pages in co-branded messaging. This activity would turn contextual relevance into action, growing both the Powersheds brand and business. Activity across the touchpoints reached 51% of the target 45+ homeowners audience.

Results

The campaign was a massive success for Powersheds, with Republic of Media’s approach proving to be a winner. The campaign delivered standout brand recognition with 80% of respondents recalling seeing at least one element of the campaign and nearly 50% recalling all the campaign elements.

This recognition translated into site traffic with a massive jump in visits year on year when the campaign was live on air. And this site traffic increase had an impact on sales for the brand. To increase market share and grow sales, Powersheds saw a massive increase in website revenues jumping 256% by the campaign's end.

Databank

Sector: Retail & e-commerce

Brand: Powersheds

Campaign objectives: Grow sales, increase awareness and improve market share

Target Audience: ABC1 Adults 45+

Budget: £430,014 (source: Nielsen AdIntel)

Campaign Dates: May – October 2025

TV Usage: Spot and Sponsorship

Creative Agency: Propaganda Advertising

Media Agency: Republic of Media