Case Bauhaus − Boldness that breaks boundaries

Objective

Bauhaus launched its price-focused marketing last October.

"We started thinking about how to communicate the price argument in an interesting way. We wanted to do something completely new and exceptional in terms of branding," says Jussi Salminen, Marketing Director at Bauhaus.

This gave rise to the idea of Hintavaalit (the Price Election), a branded entertainment programme, which was linked to municipal and regional elections in Finland.

Solution

Around the advertising concept, a brand entertainment programme Hintavaalit -  Suuri tulosilta (Price Elections - Big Results Night 2025) was built, timed to coincide with the results broadcasts of the municipal and regional elections. Hintavaalit were shown on online streaming service Ruutu, TV channels Nelonen, Liv and Jim, as well as streamed on the most-read news media in Finland, IS.fi.

The campaign was promoted through a multimedia campaign in Sanoma's digital network, a special print solution for Helsingin Sanomat, Aamulehti and several other newspapers, such as the front page of HS, and several smaller advertising spots, and on the radio  Suomipop channel.

Bauhaus had also an extensive outdoor and social media campaign. The price election was visible in the Helsinki city, among other things, with its own election tents.

"The background is the desire to shake up the industry. The advertising must be appealing, conversational with its target group and strongly in tune with the times," Salminen stresses.

Results

"What initially seemed like a completely crazy idea eventually turned into a tremendous marketing work that was seen and heard," says Client Partner Heidi Isohanni at Sanoma.

The average number of viewers of the Hintavaalit programme over seven days was almost 600,000 and the IS.fi stream garnered 1.5 million views.

"It has been great to see that Sanoma, which talks a lot about courage and courageous action, has really shown that in this collaboration as well. It's not just words, it's deeds," Salminen says.

Bauhaus is planning a multi-year effort around price-focused marketing to strengthen the vitality of the brand.

"There are so many players in the industry. We want to be the number one choice for consumers. There will be more crazy marketing activities in the future," Salminen assures.

As brand entertainment, Hintavaalit was an execution the likes of which has reportedly never been done before.

"Hintavaalit was an exhilarating project. We made brand entertainment and comedy at a time when news was absurdly gloomy. We brought joy to the people, which is what made this project special and certainly what made it stand out," says Lasse Nikkari, Head of Formats and Branded Content at Sanoma.

"I strongly believe that the marriage of comedy and marketing is very effective. I hope to see projects in brand entertainment with a more scripted aspect. This was a concrete step in that direction."