Overview

Dunelm is the UK’s leading homewares retailer, but in an increasingly competitive market, maintaining its position as the ‘Home of Homes’ was becoming more challenging. With household budgets tightening, people were still looking for ways to refresh their homes affordably, making homeware purchases an important but considered decision.

Dunelm needed a campaign that would re-energise the brand, making ‘The Home of Homes’ more than just a tagline—evolving it into a holistic and flexible brand platform that would resonate emotionally and commercially across all channels.

By doing so, the campaign achieved double-digit brand growth, an 11% uplift in sales, and, for the first time, Dunelm overtook IKEA in consumer preference.

Challenge

Dunelm faced two primary challenges:

1. Defending Market Leadership – Despite being the UK’s biggest homewares retailer, Dunelm needed to reinforce its brand distinctiveness in a crowded and competitive category. Maintaining its dominance against major competitors like IKEA required a refreshed marketing approach.
2. Consumer Behaviour & Spending Constraints – As budgets tightened, consumers sought affordable ways to refresh their homes. Dunelm needed a campaign that would connect emotionally with these consumers while clearly demonstrating the breadth of its range and value.

The solution had to deliver brand distinctiveness, emotional resonance, and commercial effectiveness—ensuring Dunelm remained the go-to destination for homeware.

Insight

Research highlighted that when money is tight, homeware is one of the few affordable ways people can refresh their spaces and express their personality. Customers weren’t just looking for homeware; they were searching for that perfect item to bring joy and transformation into their homes.

This insight inspired the campaign’s central idea:

Helping everyone ‘Find the One’ they want.

Whether it was a cushion, a lamp, or a new sofa, Dunelm made it easy for customers to discover the one piece that would make their home feel complete.

Strategy & Approach

To bring this to life, Dunelm’s brand platform evolved into something bold, flexible, and emotionally resonant. The campaign was designed to:

• Transform ‘The Home of Homes’ from a tagline into a principle that drives everything Dunelm does.
• Create a standout, flexible AV construct to showcase Dunelm’s wide range of homeware.
• Develop a fresh design system and photography approach that worked seamlessly across all marketing touchpoints.

Creative Execution

At the heart of the campaign was an engaging, memorable execution:

• Set to a reworked version of Grease’s ‘You’re The One That I Want’, the campaign playfully showed people struggling with uninspiring interiors before visiting Dunelm and finding everything they needed to transform their space.
• This joyful, music-led creative approach brought Dunelm’s range to life in an emotionally engaging and commercially effective way.

Solution

The campaign was designed to drive both brand affinity and sales performance through a mix of:

• A distinctive AV construct – A bold, music-driven campaign featuring ‘You’re The One That I Want’, ensuring instant recognition and emotional impact.
• A refreshed design system & photography approach – Ensuring cohesion across all channels and making Dunelm’s range shine across digital, social, and retail environments.
• A multi-channel strategy – The campaign worked across TV, digital, social, and performance marketing, ensuring maximum reach and engagement.

Results

The campaign delivered exceptional results, reinforcing Dunelm’s market leadership:

• Double-digit growth across all brand metrics
• Dunelm overtook IKEA in brand preference for the first time ever
• 11% uplift in sales

The success of the campaign also unlocked new marketing investment, proving the effectiveness of Dunelm’s evolved brand platform and its ability to drive both brand love and commercial success.