If you’re tuned into the 2024 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments (also known annually as March Madness), you may have seen a few spots from Home Depot. The home improvement giant has invested heavily in advertising with the NCAA this year, announcing an extensive partnership that will provide them marketing opportunities throughout the 3+ weeks of play. 

Overall, advertising for both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournament has seen tremendous growth going into 2024. 

But it’s not just the richness of the advertising buy that is the win for Home Depot – it’s how they’ve executed it. Home Depot’s “Tips from the Tool Shaq” nails several key elements for a successful marketing campaign that are worth acknowledging.

The Home Depot March Madness Campaign 

Home Depot’s “Tips from the Tool Shaq”campaign is a content series that features Home Depot associates and basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal (hence the name). The series shows tips for common spring projects that are play-on-words for basketball or march madness terminology. 

The campaign includes:

• Television ads
• Social media content 
• Shorts on YouTube
• A Website with tutorials 

Most of the content is repurposed from the video clips and intended to saturate their audiences’ viewing across different platforms. 

Why It Works: Audience Nostalgia 

The puns are wonderful, but there are several reasons why this campaign works well. 

First, it has a very clear audience. Retailwire quoted Home Depot’s SVP and chief marketing officer as saying: “The Home Depot’s customers are also big sports fans, and March Madness is one of the most exciting times of the year.”

Besides being sports fans, Home Depot’s audience are, of course, homeowners. In 2022, the average age of first-time homebuyers was 36, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This is up from 33 in 2021. According to an investment report in 2018, Home Depot’s average shopper is around 50 years of age. This puts their target audience between, say, 36 and 60 years of age. 

And who is one of the most recognizable figures in both sports and pop culture from when this age group would have either been a kid in front of a TV with their parents or an active member of the NBA fan base? That’s right.. Shaq. 

Shaquille O’Neal was active in the NBA from 1992-2011. The 4-time NBA Champion has been a known media personality, dabbling in movies, music and other forms of entertainment throughout his career. He’s a recognizable (and nostalgic) figure for many.

The choice to feature Shaq shows an appreciation for who Home Depot’s core audience is and what they will find entertaining. 

Why It Works: Relevance and Relatability

Secondly, the tips that are presented in the campaigns are simple, common projects that the average Home Depot customer has likely tried or is at least aware of. Tips range from painting, simple builds and planting seeds. Each tip is simple, quickly covered in a few minutes or less and easy to follow.

Plus, the connection between these tips and March Madness feel easy and clever, bridging two of the audience’s key interests. 

Here are some of the best ones:

1. How to Protect the Paint https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e73uDHcNqmQ
2. How to Build a Bench https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJcI_pTZW9I
3. How to Avoid a 1 Seed Upset https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r1I9C_e2vo

What other brand spots are you enjoying this March Madness?