Halfords’ new ad campaign gives a strong indication of its latest strategic direction.
The car parts and specialist retailer is promoting its relatively new Autocentres arm with a series of short adverts and a sponsorship deal.
It is a canny move in a difficult retail environment and reflects Halfords’ emphasis on its Autocentres as a primary route to growth. This part of its business, which Halfords bought in 2010, is the fastest growing and the potential is being exploited.
The ads are each only 10 seconds long, and are part of a sponsorship deal with TV channel Dave. They will run before and after motoring programmes such as Top Gear.
The adverts use humour to get their point across, depicting customers showing their gratitude to Halfords staff for fixing their cars. Humour is a perennially popular way for retailers to engage customers and tends to grab attention, and Halfords pulls it off well in its collection of quick ads.
They also show a range of customers, from older women to young men, but this broad range on its wide appeal doesn’t completely chime with its choice of channel and TV programmes – Dave and Top Gear are perhaps more tailored to mainly male viewers.
While the motoring theme seems sensible, it would be interesting to see who Halfords reaches with the deal and whether it tallies with who it wants to target. But emphasising this addition to its business model will no doubt help in tough times.
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