Topps Tiles is the UK's leading tile retailer, for consumers and traders alike, with over 370 shops nationwide. We've worked alongside them for more than five years — on brochures, magazine advertising, point of sale and national television — helping the brand move from selling a product to selling a feeling.

The challenge

Nobody buys tiles very often. A typical Topps Tiles customer comes back once every seven to ten years, so the brand can't rely on the rhythm of repeat purchases to stay front of mind. It has to earn attention in the long gaps in between — and it has to be the name you think of when the moment finally arrives.

That meant a real shift in positioning. Topps Tiles had every practical credential — range, scale, trade trust — but the brand talked about product when its customers were dreaming about rooms. The job was to reposition the biggest name in the category as an aspirational brand, without losing the authority that made it the biggest name in the first place.

The idea

We started with the brochure, because it was the purest expression of the problem: page after page of product. We took it from a catalogue to a piece of inspiration — photography that evokes emotion, stimulates the senses, and puts tiles at the front and centre of a customer's decorating plans rather than the end of them.

Stop showing people tiles. Start showing people their home, with tiles.

Once the brochure set the tone, the same thinking rolled out across everything customers touch: point of sale in over 370 shops, magazine advertising in titles like Elle Decoration, and seasonal campaigns that carried the new, more luxurious feel through the year.

On set: taking the brand to national TV

The repositioning earned its biggest stage with national television advertising. Here's a behind-the-scenes cut from the shoot — the scale of a TV production, in service of a brand that used to live in a product catalogue.

The outcome

The brochure was unlike anything Topps Tiles had produced before, and the client was delighted with it. More importantly, it worked as a proof of concept for the whole repositioning: from there we moved on to POS, magazine advertising and seasonal campaigns, each one encouraging customers to think beyond the product and imagine their life — and their home — with tiles.

Five years on, we're still working together. In a category where your customer disappears for the best part of a decade between purchases, that continuity is the point: a brand built patiently, consistently, and everywhere it shows up.