Carpet ads in fight for floor sales market

The carpet industry is launching an attack on the popularity of wooden and laminate floor coverings with an advertising campaign to revitalise its sector. The Carpet Foundation is rolling out a &£1m campaign this week to reverse the trend for alternative floor coverings and imported carpets, which it claims account for 65 per cent of carpets sold in the UK.

The foundation represents 14 of the UK’s carpet manufacturers and 1,200 independent retailers.

The campaign aims to win over young professionals who are buying homes for the first time and are looking to improve them following their initial purchase. The foundation also believes that it is this group in particular that has pioneered the trend towards hardwood floors.

The ad, which has been created by London-based production firm Great Guns, will run for five weeks across terrestrial and satellite channels. There will also be a print campaign across 15 home titles, which will break in November. Media has been bought by Birmingham-based agency Smart Media.

The ad shows a woman having a difficult journey home from work in the rush hour, but she cheers up as soon as she returns to her carpeted home. It uses the strapline “Come back to carpet.”