The "Hidden Room Collection" campaign by HomeBox made a resounding impact in the market.

Product Creation:

This was not just a brand campaign or activation. It was product creation. By an agency. And not a gimmick. But a genuine meaningful product that also created a NEW furniture category.

Market Reception and Consumer Behavior:

The narrative resonated strongly with consumers, igniting conversations about the living conditions of domestic workers. As homeowners became more aware of the collection, there was a notable shift in behavior. The market saw an increased interest in products that contributed to social causes, with customers actively seeking out HomeBox's collection as a means to make a difference.

Media Impact and Sentiment Shift:

The earned media ROI of 16.4:1 highlighted the idea's ability to capture the media's attention, amplifying the message far beyond the initial investment. Furthermore, the sentiment shift from 64% negative all the way to 78% positive after the communication went live showcased a changing public opinion and acceptance of the underlying message.

THE SOLUTION: CREATING A NEW COLLECTION.

"The Hidden Room Collection," a new product line, created by an agency, that helped transform domestic househelps’ rooms into spaces that felt like home.

The agency collaborated with layout planners to analyze room data, identifying the six most common layouts.

In partnership with furniture designers, we crafted cost-effective, aesthetically pleasing, and compact furniture tailored to these layouts, enhancing the living spaces of domestic workers.

This new collection was launched with a short documentary film highlighting domestic workers' living conditions, addressing cultural stigma directly.

The film directed homeowners to explore a new collection for househelps online.

But challenging deep-rooted socio-economic prejudices led to negative sentiments towards Home Box's initiative.

Despite backlash, Home Box persisted in improving domestic workers' living conditions.

The brand shared heartwarming transformation stories, capturing homeowners' surprise and

happiness, engaging social content that attracted more homeowners to embrace the initiative.

Insight:

329 domestic workers in the Middle East were asked about their favorite place in the homes they work in, and out of all the places they spoke about, the workers’ rooms, their living spaces, remained hidden. And they stated how it depressed them and made them feel lonely.

It is a segment that the home furniture and furnishing category, in general, has always excluded in their products and their communication.

Additionally, 96% of home owners across the Middle East admitted that the one room they hide when guests come home is their domestic worker's room.

In contrast with the luxurious, decorated and anointed homes they live in, this disparity and inequality needed to be addressed.

Strategy:

We wanted to transform and decorate the hidden rooms, bringing them out of their darkness into the light.

And in doing so, include domestic workers as a segment in furniture design and marketing.

BACKGROUND & CONTEXT:

329 domestic workers in the Middle East were asked about their favorite place in homes they

work in.

Among all the spaces they mentioned, one remained hidden: Their own room, described as a

source of depression and loneliness.

Additionally, 96% of home owners in the region admitted hiding their domestic worker's room

when guests came over, with 60% stating it was because the rooms lacked appeal. 80% felt

embarrassed by their domestic househelps’ rooms. 52% would show the rooms if they were in

better condition, and 41% said they’d reveal them with better furniture.

In response, our strategy aimed to disrupt the furniture retail category, bringing these hidden rooms into the light with a focus on making a positive change.

STRATEGIC CHALLENGE:

How could HomeBox uplift the living spaces of female domestic workers, turning their often- hidden rooms into welcoming spaces that feel like home?

STRATEGY: BRING THOSE HIDDEN ROOMS INTO THE LIGHT, DISRUPTING THE FURNITURE RETAIL CATEGORY.

We focused on disrupting the furniture retail category by making a positive change.

We set out, as an agency for HomeBox, to create and launch a new furniture collection – and a new category – that would uplift the domestic househelps’ living conditions and their hidden rooms.

We wanted to show that no matter how tiny the rooms were, HomeBox could decorate them, overcoming space restrictions, and make domestic househelps in homes feel like they belonged.

THE SOLUTION: CREATING A NEW COLLECTION.

"The Hidden Room Collection," a new product line, created by an agency, that helped transform domestic househelps’ rooms into spaces that felt like home.

The agency collaborated with layout planners to analyze room data, identifying the six most common layouts.

In partnership with furniture designers, we crafted cost-effective, aesthetically pleasing, and compact furniture tailored to these layouts, enhancing the living spaces of domestic workers.

PROMOTING IT:

This new collection was launched with a short documentary film highlighting domestic workers' living conditions, addressing cultural stigma directly.

The film directed homeowners to explore a new collection for househelps online.

But challenging deep-rooted socio-economic prejudices led to negative sentiments towards Home Box's initiative.

Despite backlash, Home Box persisted in improving domestic workers' living conditions.

TV news, talk shows and media features helped highlight the inequality and propagated

a positive change, along with continuing to promote the collection.

Micro-influencers shared positive word of mouth, highlighting the unspoken inequality and showcased their preferred products from the collection and expressed their intent to purchase items for their house helps.

The four collection ranges (Cooper, Hamptons, Oslo,Vanilla) were accessible through web,

mobile, and flagship stores.

In-store pop-ups allowed homeowners to experience typical domestic workers' rooms,

transformed by Home Box's "The Hidden Room Collection."

Recognizing that standard furniture does not fit these small spaces, Home Box introduced a

generative layout simulator tool to facilitate room remodeling based on size, layout, and desired

items.

The brand shared heartwarming transformation stories, capturing homeowners' surprise and

happiness, engaging social content that attracted more homeowners to embrace the initiative.

A narrative short film, featuring domestic helpers, challenged this disparity.

The film directed home owners to uncover a new collection for their house-helps - online and in-store.

But challenging culture and people's prejudices, resulted in negative sentiments towards the initiative from Home Box.

Despite backlash, Home Box was persuaded to persist with changing the living conditions of domestic workers.

TV news, talk shows and media features helped with highlighting the inequality and propagating a positive change, along with continuing to promote the film and the collection.

In stores, the shopping experiences were disrupted. home owners experienced cramped living spaces of their house-helps. Feeling what their helpers felt, guilt-tripped them, driving and provoking purchase.

Layout generators and configurators helped choose products fitting room sizes and budgets.

Shoppers started sharing their stories of purchasing The Hidden Room collection from Home Box for their house-helps.

And eventually, sentiments changed from negative to positive.

By tapping into the unexplored segment of female domestic workers, we created significant cultural and societal impact, bringing light to the cause, and shifting the way homeowners perceived the rooms they allocate to their helper.

A post-campaign survey to gauge perception impact on homeowners, indicated 84% of mass affluent homeowners targeted agreed said their house-helps were deserving of more.

And in turn, the initiative drove a significant upturn towards its core cause, with 78% positive sentiments (vs. -64% negative sentiments when it first launched).

This data validates the boldness of marketing and the perseverance of stay true to the intent behind an initiative that could have been misinterpreted and manipulated to harm the brand’s image.

We also achieved $4.1 million earned media value.

We reached 110+ million people.

We uplifted of 137,000+ hidden rooms.

And we contributed to a change in the law on living conditions of domestic workers too.