Currys Unveils Hilarious Campaign Spotlighting Trade-in and Recycling Initiatives

Currys, the UK’s largest tech retailer, is set to make a splash with its latest trade-in and recycling campaign by AMV BBDO and Spark Foundry.

Raising awareness of a number of ‘enhanced’ trade-in offers that will see Currys payout above-market prices to customers for old TVs, smartphones and domestic appliances, the work positions Currys as the destination for electricals recycling.

In each of the spots, consumers are urged to embrace more circular buying behaviours by trading in old pieces of tech that they no longer need in a Currys store, unlocking great discounts whilst reducing the volume of e-waste going to landfill.

108,000 products were traded in at Currys last year (May 2022- April 2023), with an average value of £130 being paid out to customers per transaction. From food processors to TVs, from mobile phones to game consoles, all the old, unwanted tech is then redirected up to Europe’s largest repair lab – Currys’ 500,000 sq foot facility in Newark – to be harvested for parts, refurbished and re-sold, or recycled. Together, this vast facility assesses almost 3 million items a year, making Currys one of the nation’s leading tech re-users and recyclers.

This process is part of Currys’ ‘Long Live Your Tech’ commitment to helping its customers keep tech in circulation for longer, partly through its in-home and repair centre operations as well as encouraging and incentivising re-use and recycling.

Under the newly launched brand platform Beyond Techspectations, the campaign once again showcases the brand’s team of experts’ commitment to go above and beyond for its customers. In a series of 15’ and 30’ spots, viewers are treated to hilarious scenarios where Currys colleagues are fully prepared for the shocked reactions from customers learning about the trade-in offer. With media strategy led by Spark Foundry, the campaign has been optimised by activating Spark Foundry’s first-party data identity solution to ensure relevant cut through and powerful brand impact across Video on Demand, Digital and Social.

Dan Rubel, brand & marketing director at Currys said, “We are proud to offer recycling, trade in and repairs to our customers every day of the year, enabled by our enormous Repair Lab in Newark. These services mean consumers can do right by the planet and their pocket simultaneously, and especially right now with the launch of a range of enhanced trade in deals on TVs, mobiles, consoles, as well as many other appliances. That means major value even for tech that is completely broken and unusable.

“The offer is accompanied by our ‘How Much’ ad campaign, one that uses outlandish humour to get across the outlandish value Currys is offering on unwanted tech. Humour in advertising not only lightens the mood, something we all need, but it's also an important way to dial up the memorability and cut through of a brand's messages. We hope people enjoy it, and that they act – the more tech we can collect and recycle, the better.”

AMV BBDO senior business director & AMV x Green lead Jonny White said, “We’re always looking at ways in which creativity can impact positive sustainable behaviour change, which is the fifth part of Ad Net Zero’s action plan, and this campaign is a great example of that. Sustainability doesn’t have to be serious and, through the use of humour, Currys are helping to engage the British public to take their unwanted old tech into stores for recycling and to get money off”.

Sophia Bates, managing partner at Spark Foundry UK said, “Currys’ Trade-In proposition directly closes the value-action gap, giving consumers what they need – a way to be more sustainable whilst also saving money. To tell this impactful story, we took a video first approach, running multiple product creatives across CTV, YouTube and Social channels, we closed the purchase loop with hard working Display Media to drive consumers onsite and in-store. We also used Currys’ first party data to build out unique in-market audiences for each product, ensuring our storytelling delivered personalisation at scale.”