- Back2Front Marketing
- Brand South Africa
- Brave Group
- Duke Group
- Ebony + Ivory
- Everlytic
- Grey Advertising Africa
- Grid Worldwide
- IAS (Independent Agency Search and Selection Company)
- IMC: Integrated Marketing Council
- Joe Public
- KLA
- Kantar
- King James Group SA
- M&C Saatchi Abel
- Out There Media
- Rogerwilco
- TBWA\The Disruption Company
- TILT
- TymeBank
- Wavemaker Global
- Wunderman
- Yellowwood
Massbuild
Email:
wecare@bwhouse.co.zaContact person:
Zandile MananaContact Tel:
27105948164Directors:
Zandile Manana
Massbuild Profile
Massbuild operates three main complementary brands: Builders Warehouse, which operates large home improvement stores in major urban areas; Builders Express, a chain of smaller neighbourhood home improvement stores; and Builders Trade Depot, focusing on delivering the core range for all phases of building projects, focusing on contractors.
Massmart acquired five Builders Warehouse stores operating in Johannesburg and Pretoria in 2003, bought and rebranded three De La Rey stores in the Western Cape in 2005 and now operates 30 Builders Warehouse stores in eight provinces in South Africa and two in Botswana. Builders Warehouse follows the big-box or warehouse retail format, offering home owners, DIY enthusiasts and building and maintenance contractors a comprehensive range of competitively priced products under one roof, with a large garden centre display and a builders’ supplies yard. The brand is unique in that it is the only home improvement warehouse in South Africa.
Builders Express was formed in 2005 when Massmart bought and rebranded 14 Servistar stores operating in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Massbuild now operates 28 home and garden Builders Express stores in five provinces that cater to home owners and provide a “filler strategy” for the Group – situated in convenient locations with aesthetically pleasing displays, customer-friendly store layouts and offering personalised service and advice.
Builders Trade Depot was formed when 34 Federated Timber stores were acquired and rebranded in 2005. Seven smaller stores have since been closed and after some conversions and acquisitions, Builders Trade Depot now operates 27 stores catering mostly for medium- to large-sized contractors and tradesmen engaged in building, maintenance and renovation projects. It also focuses on servicing the needs of construction entrepreneurs who need trade credit, telephonic ordering and want bulk goods delivered from low-cost outlets.
All three brands share the name “Builders”; use the “roof” end-elevation icon in their logos and the roof elevation logos are in different colours: Warehouse is in yellow, Express is in red and Trade Depot is in blue.
The value proposition
Builders Warehouse and Builders Express are both pioneers in introducing retail principles to the South African home improvement and DIY sector and attaching garden centres to hardware stores. The clean, friendly and uncluttered look and feel of the stores offers customers a shopping experience traditionally not associated with the sector. The new stores aim to introduce a ‘retail theatre’ where lighting, colour and ambience enhance the shopping experience, signage is clean and bold, and product displays are enticing.
Several of the Builders private brands, including Mastercraft hand tools and Builders Pride, have become household names, with customers assured of stringent quality control and best supplier practices. During the 2012 financial year Private Label contributed 14% to total sales.
In both the residential and commercial property markets, Builders Trade Depot’s value proposition to customers is the ability to consistently deliver an appropriate, professional range at highly competitive basket prices, combined with exceptional contractor support services in a relationship driven environment.
Marketing
The role of marketing in Massbuild is to clearly communicate the brand positioning in a manner that satisfies the different customer segment needs. Zandile Manana is the Marketing Director and to him marketing is not only about delivering and communicating value to customers, but also about managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organisation. As such Massbuild is continuously reviewing all processes that impact on delivering customer service and the group is striving for “solution-focussed” customer service, which requires that customer-facing staff and those in the procurement of merchandise have substantially more specialised product knowledge than is generally required of staff operating in other retail businesses.
The introduction of Price Cut adverts in the Massmart Group has triggered a new thought process as to how to advertise in Builders both from a campaign perspective, as well as store implementation/execution. “We have one promotion a month now (instead of two) and customers are happy with the longer promotion validity because they can now budget for planned purchases and this is establishing some form of price trust”, says Manana.
Culture
The culture in the organisation is driven through the Builders Formula for Success. This culture has been defined by the staff and identifies the behaviours, practices and business principles that drive business success and those that detract from it.
The formula is measured quarterly and feedback is provided to staff as to how the Builders Formula for Success is lived in the organisation. This formula has not only added tremendous value in integrating the three business units from a people perspective, but has also created the platform to support everyday business and growth strategies.
Future outlook
The Massbuild five year plan includes roll-out of new stores and aligning the brands to service key markets, while continuing to be known for best ranges, best quality, in-store experience and innovation.