In the spotlight:

"Get It Fixed"

2025 Bronze Effie Winner

Effie is about awarding ideas that work, educating about effective marketing and showcasing the best work to enhance learning in our industry.

CAMPAIGN NAME

Get It Fixed

CATEGORY

Multi-Market: Retail

CLIENT

jem & fix

LEAD AGENCY

Uncle Grey

CAMPAIGN DESCRIPTION

Scandinavia is a region with a strong do-it-yourself culture, shaped by high labour costs and a deep-rooted focus on home life. Consumers take pride in improving and repairing their homes themselves, making home improvement an important part of everyday life.

At the same time, brands operate within a unique cultural context influenced by Janteloven (The Law of Jante), an unwritten social code that discourages arrogance and self-promotion. Traditional claims of superiority are often rejected, making trust and authenticity essential for success.

In this environment, the ultimate ambition for a brand is to become folkelig - the people's choice - by being perceived as approachable, helpful, and genuinely part of the culture rather than simply selling products.

THE CHALLENGE

The Scandinavian DIY retail market is highly competitive, with strong price pressure and little differentiation between retailers. While Jem & fix was well known for its fixed low prices, this strength had become its greatest weakness. Consumers increasingly associated low prices with low quality, resulting in lower brand esteem than key competitors despite strong awareness and relevance.

At the same time, Jem & fix was accelerating its expansion across Sweden and Norway, making it essential to build a brand platform that could work across the entire region. The challenge was to move beyond a price-led perception, create a stronger emotional connection with consumers, and broaden the brand’s appeal without compromising its low-price positioning. Ultimately, Jem & fix needed a unifying brand narrative capable of building trust, respect, and long-term growth across Scandinavia.

STRATEGIC APPROACH AND EXECUTION

To support its Scandinavian expansion, Jem & fix needed a brand platform that could resonate across Denmark, Sweden, and Norway while broadening its appeal beyond its traditional audience. The strategy was built on a simple insight: although homeowners and DIY enthusiasts constantly plan home improvement projects, they often postpone them with excuses such as lack of time or money.

This inspired the revitalization of the long-standing brand promise, "Get It Fixed." Rather than focusing purely on low prices, the platform repositioned Jem & fix as a helpful partner encouraging people to finally tackle their unfinished projects. Humor became the key emotional driver, transforming a rational price message into an engaging and relatable brand story.

The campaign featured a series of dialogue-free films and visuals showing everyday DIY situations going humorously wrong when projects were left unfinished. Designed to work seamlessly across all Nordic markets, the creative combined entertaining storytelling with tactical product and price messages. Supported by a distinctive visual identity and relatable characters, the platform strengthened brand appeal while reinforcing Jem & fix’s core promise of affordable, reliable solutions.

Clear evidence of success:

Became the strongest brand in the category (BrandAsset Valuator)

Increased penetration by attracting new customer segments

Drove commercial growth through long-term brand building

Established a scalable platform for Nordic expansion

RESULTS

Record net profit of DKK 458.3M (€61.4M), up +41.7%
+70% growth in Brand Esteem
Double-digit brand search growth across all three Nordic markets
+15% increase in profit margin
+12.3% growth in web traffic
+8% increase in store footfall
Established a scalable growth platform across Scandinavia.

WHY A BRONZE EFFIE? Here's what the jurors said.

"Consistent humor, a great scalable creative platform, strong business metrics, and a good understanding of Nordic culture."

"The profit impact is very impressive. Considering both the long- and short-term effects, the understanding of cultural differences, and the use of BAV as a measurement tool are all strong points."

"The strongest element is its strategic discipline and unwavering focus on brand building.
The case correctly identified that its core business problem was a brand problem ('low esteem'), not just a price problem. Its strength lies in its total commitment to solving this.
It set the right objective: it didn't aim for cheap sales; it aimed to change brand perception by increasing esteem.
It built a hard-working platform: the 50/50 media split was a brilliant retail strategy, allowing the brand to build long-term emotional equity while simultaneously driving short-term sales.
It was built for the business: the choice of dialogue-free, physical comedy was not just creative; it was a smart, scalable solution for a multi-country expansion.
This is a fantastic example of how investing in brand perception can be the most direct path to long-term profitability and business growth."

"The case clearly demonstrates the enormous power of humor in marketing as a driver of engagement and receptivity. Exceptional results require brave marketing that stands out. The shift from being a purely tactical advertiser to creating entertaining marketing also highlights the power of brand building. Achieving these results in such a highly competitive market is not easy."

Check out the full Case Study!