Tradies are the new, affluent cohort that deserve our attention.
DPR&Co recently partnered with Workwear Group to develop a campaign for the 100-year-old KingGee brand. Aside from the honour of working with an Australian apparel icon, the project was a profound learning experience for our team.
As is normally the case, our work began with a comprehensive research process. Along with establishing the standard control metrics around awareness and purchase intention, our journey of discovery shed light on a paradigm shift in attitudes among a group that had once been seen as ‘lesser’ than their university educated counterparts.
What we found was a cohort of tertiary educated people who were more than proud to call themselves tradies. Their jobs are now more skilful, their workforces more diverse, their expectations higher, and their workplace behaviour more professional. In many cases, post apprenticeship, they are big earners who like the good things in life. Most aspire to work for themselves and build wealth. And they are more gender and ethnically diverse than ever.
We’d seen hints of this shift previously, while delivering trades-focused campaigns for Apprenticeships Victoria and members of Victoria’s TAFE sector. But the depth of this shift led us to frame our thinking within the context of what we called ‘the rise of the tradie’.
KingGee’s ‘You Wear the Crown’ campaign was our response to the societal shift that’s taken place over recent years.
5 things we learned about marketing to tradies
- Talk down to them at your peril. Many tradespeople struggled through high school, where a classroom setting simply wasn’t a learning style that suited them. Having experienced kinaesthetic learning and excelled, they now have a strong sense of self-worth. Speak to this sense of aspiration and you’ll be rewarded.
- They earn big early. While others are still paying HECS fees, tradies are learning on the job. Three or four years on and they’re a fully qualified tradie earning 6-figures on Big Build projects. No kids and plenty of fun tickets make tradies a high value target for many smart brands. You can position big-ticket products (boats, utes, homes, electronics) to this audience without frightening them.
- Emotion works. Tradies respect direct communication. And they’re a susceptible to great storytelling as anyone. For KingGee, for example, we learned that younger (under 25yo) tradies have tremendous respect for a century-old brand that’s weathered the perils of time. ‘Since 1923’ has become part of the KingGee brand lockup.
Similarly, they are inspired by the success of others in their field. ‘Rising to the Top’ is an expression we found to be highly resonant. These are people on a mission to succeed.
- They’re mobile. For most tradies, their phone is their primary communications channel. Make mobile delivered communications a priority.
- They’re diverse. More so than most cohorts, diversity is a key attribute for tradespeople. The number of female trades people is growing rapidly. CALD communities also over-index in this group.
If you’re looking to inspire a trade or trade-related audience, we’d be thrilled to help.
