The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2024
B&Q revives its iconic 'You Can Do It' slogan as out-of-home ads against DIY self-doubt
The DIY retailer brings back its heritage slogan as an OOH series telling people they can, standing against the doubt that stops them trying
B&Q
What it had to solve
B&Q's trademark 'You Can Do It' has played an integral part in the brand's heritage, but the world around people holds them back from believing they can. The task was to launch an out-of-home series that silences that doubt and inspires people to act.
How it works
B&Q owns 'You Can Do It', a slogan that has played an integral part of the brand's heritage. The world around people keeps holding them back from believing they can, so the retailer set out to silence that doubt and inspire action.
The work was an out-of-home series built on the revived trademark. Instead of inventing a new message, B&Q reissued its own slogan as the campaign idea: 'You Can Do It' became a public answer to the voices that say 'you can't', using the brand's history as the encouragement to start.
The idea rests on the slogan's stored meaning — a line the public already associates with B&Q and with doing things yourself, put back to work at a moment when self-doubt is the real obstacle. The D&AD archive records the series; the page carries no reach or sales figures.
Why it lands
- A slogan the public already knows carries the brand's stored heritage, so no new idea has to be explained before it can motivate.
- Answering doubt rather than selling products makes the message feel like encouragement, which suits a category where fear of failure stops people starting.
- Using the brand's own trademark keeps the campaign unmistakably B&Q while the tone responds to a cultural shift in confidence.
- Out-of-home puts the encouragement in public space, exactly where people meet the doubt the campaign answers.
What it did
The campaign turned B&Q's own trademark into a permission-giving message in public space, reviving 'You Can Do It' as encouragement rather than nostalgia. The D&AD archive records the series; the page carries no reach or sales figures.
What you can take
A dormant trademark can be reissued as a point of view: when the doubt is cultural, the slogan that once defined the category becomes the counter-voice that makes it relevant again
Since then
The D&AD archive records 'You Can Do It' as an out-of-home work for B&Q, keeping the revival of a heritage trademark as a reference for brand-owned slogans. The transferable idea is that a dormant line from a brand's past can be reissued as a current point of view when the surrounding culture has shifted; the record lists no impressions or sales results.
Sources
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