Selling tiles ranges from what you can buy in B&Q, right through a crowded marketplace of me-too retailers, up to a rarified retail strata of exceptionally beautiful, tastefully executed stone and ceramic creations. This is the place where David Scott Tiles live.

The standard route for a client like this in a regional market is to take some high-end catalogue shots, insert some superficial positioning copy and send it on out there. Instead, we mapped out their market and their competitors, then created an entire platform for them: the idea that at this end of the market you’re buying art that you live and interact with. Art for life. From this start we created a visual brand and a new aesthetic sensibility, produced a TV campaign and then went on to create some visually stunning press and outdoor advertising. It’s like nothing else out there – which is the whole idea, surely?

We gave the client lots of ideas for their summer 2010 campaign but this one pushed their buttons the most: funny, surreal, a bit retro and an imaginative showcase for their beautiful range of Rex Extra Light tiles. Besides the creative and art direction, we also did the post-production on all these ads ourselves.

But because it has our client’s name on it, it gets the same care and attention as something that’s running nationally.

The idea isn’t just to showcase beautiful tiles. It’s to reframe the entire discussion. To create a strong emotional connection with the brand and communicate something that goes far beyond just selling tiles: a refined aesthetic appreciation that David Scott Tiles shares with their customers.

This was David Scott’s spring 2010 campaign. Besides having a slightly surreal Wes Anderson quality to it, it was tactically designed to appeal to business travellers and appeared as 6-sheets and an unmissable 96-sheet site at Belfast City Airport that’s only recently been taken down after a year and a half.