Ruggable:
From Challenger to Category Leader
How do you take an aspirational, design-led brand and scale it to a broader, more mainstream audience - without losing its distinctive edge?
As Ruggable’s Senior Marketing Director, I tackled a critical overreliance on Meta, where performance had plateaued and posed a risk to sustainable growth. The solution lay in broadening our audience and building brand equity through locally resonant creative and strategic media choices.
I led the strategy which saw us expand beyond our design-led niche to target home-proud consumers who favoured trusted UK retailers and were sceptical of online only brands. Kantar audience data identified London as our most valuable region, offering both scale and intent. A focused partnership with ITV—supported by their Backing Business initiative—enabled us to deliver a high-frequency, peak-time TV campaign that built familiarity, trust, and long-term brand impact.
The results were impressive. A 31% rise in traffic over the 6 weeks of airtime despite a 45% reduction in digital performance spend, a 33% increases in organic searches for Ruggable and a new record of 80% year on year growth during Black Friday showing the campaign built for the long term, whilst also benefitting us in the short term.
Introducing House Lingo
Our creative approach was a strategic pivot. Until this point, Ruggable’s assets were developed in Los Angeles, with a distinctly American aesthetic and tone that failed to connect with sceptical UK consumers.
Recognising the need for locally resonant storytelling, I leveraged my network to source a nimble, independent creative agency and delivered a fully localised campaign on a lean budget of under £150k.
With Hyacinth Bucket as the inspiration, the result was ‘House Lingo’: a culturally attuned platform built around the idea that what you put in your home says a lot about you.
Fronted by comedian Ellie Taylor, the campaign struck the perfect balance of warmth, wit and relatability, helping Ruggable feel fresh, familiar, and unmistakably British.
Making it integrated
Bringing it to life beyond TV, I extended the campaign across key owned and earned channels to drive engagement, consideration and loyalty. We launched a digital PR push to generate lifestyle and interiors coverage, tapping into themes of personal expression and home styling.
Influencer briefs were tailored to align with the House Lingo narrative, encouraging creators to share what their home says about them - bringing authenticity and reach to new audiences. Email marketing played a crucial role in deepening engagement, using segmentation to deliver personalised content and drive traffic to our site.
To build loyalty and brand love, my team launched a competition giving customers the chance to win a one-on-one session to discover their own House Lingo: turning a brand campaign into an interactive, shareable experience that sparked conversation and repeat visits.