But as inexpensive furniture imported from China flooded the market, many of those makers disappeared. About a year ago, the Aldermans—who’d already counted Home Depot as a client—decided to get out, too. And suddenly, there it was: a fully equipped production facility on 18 acres of land and a seasoned staff to go with it.
“The immense space… paired with the knowledge of the tenured associates isn’t something we could have just built,” Home Depot CMO Molly Battin told ADWEEK. “Studio Orange was a unique unexpected opportunity that we were lucky to take advantage of.”
Stacie Santana, Home Depot’s senior director of marketing operations, added that Home Depot would have been “remiss” had it failed to acquire the studio. “This was one of the fastest acquisitions we’ve ever done,” she said.
And, arguably, among the nerviest.
Battin wouldn’t reveal the price tag for Project Orange but clearly “it’s a massive capital expenditure,” ventured Thomas Ordahl, a brand-development veteran who spent 13 years as Landor’s chief strategy officer before founding his own consultancy. “It’ll be years before they [realize] whatever savings they’re getting,” he suggested.
Economies of scale
On a recent afternoon, the scale of corporate’s commitment to Studio Orange is evident. Men in overalls stood atop ladders to string cable for a new server room. A warren of interior spaces has already been transformed into a suite for editing and post-production, a screening room, makeup and wardrobe, and even an “ideation room” complete with a pool table.
The doors that haven’t been repainted in Pantone 165 (Home Depot orange) soon will be.
Together with the 30 Alderman employees it hired, Home Depot maintains a full-time staff of 65 people—producers and photographers, designers and lighting techs, riggers, carpenters, and electricians. Project Orange harkens back to the days of the Hollywood studio system in which everyone and everything required to make a film worked on the same lot.
