First Friday have completed the communications programme for the launch of the ‘How Do I?’ guides for DIY retailer Homebase. The guides, created and written by Homebase, will become the definitive reference point for all Homebase staff in the UK. First Friday were commissioned by Homebase to launch the guides to 18,000 Homebase employees and produced a 3 month programme to introduce the guides to all in an imaginative and motivating way. The guides are expected to increase productivity and customer service levels at Homebase.

First Friday created the concept, materials, and managed the launch which included a teaser campaign, workshops and briefings all based around a magician theme. As magicians follow set steps to perform tricks, Homebase staff were encouraged to view the ‘How Do I?’ guides in the same way: “You can do anything if you follow the right steps in the right order”.

The first stage of the programme was an in store teaser campaign featuring posters, banners and fortune cookies with key messages to catch people’s attention and get them talking. This was followed by a workshop created by First Friday and delivered to senior managers at the Magic Circle headquarters in London. This event culminated in an heart stopping Russian roulette trick, performed by Bespoke Magic, to emphasise that sometimes you only have one chance to get it right!

Homebase staff were briefed by their respective manager’s on the ‘How Do I?’ guides and shown how to perform a card trick which generated a great deal of enthusiasm amongst the teams and ensured that the launch was memorable for all involved.

Historically, Homebase had used an intranet portal for staff to access procedures associated with technical processes. Homebase considered this method was insufficient to encourage a best practice method to build into the company’s culture.

Malcolm Beaton, head of on-shelf availability at Homebase, conceived and wrote the ‘How Do I?’ guides. He commented on the project: ‘The guide took 6 months to create; every process was documented with instructions on how to carry out procedures in a best practice format. It was essential that every member of staff at Homebase engaged with the guide and saw it as a central reference point. He continued: ‘Launching the campaign to staff was crucial to the success of the guide. This however was outside of our skill set, it was a complex message and it had to be creative, appealing and engaging.’

The ‘How Do I?’ guides will cover procedures relating to the SAP stock control system such as: replenishment, customer ordering and price control. The guide will also serve as a reference handbook for general procedures performed in the store.

Tony Wright, Training Director at First Friday said of the programme: ‘It was great working with Homebase because they were prepared to consider exciting and innovative ways to support the launch of the guides. By creating a practical yet exciting communications programme we were able to make sure every staff member at Homebase knew what the ‘How Do I?’ guides were, and at the same time motivate them to use them’.

Malcolm Beaton concludes: ‘First Friday were able to inspire a level of enthusiasm in all of our staff. From the theme they chose to launch the programme to the scripts they wrote for managers to take back into the store, it was all highly engaging, and just as importantly delivered on time’.