For instance, the set built as a den features a caramel brown midcentury modern sofa by StyleWell (a Home Depot brand) as its hero product. But there’s also a gold metal coffee table from Home Decorators Collection (another Home Depot brand) and a wall covered in walnut Art3D wall panels—still another house brand. The featured product, Wiles said, will be “paired with other private-brand products in the set to bring the whole thing together. It’s a story.”
Aware of Studio Orange’s ability to create images with high production value, Home Depot also hopes to turn the facility into a revenue stream with a pilot program called Orange Apron Media. If a national brand’s product appears in a shoot and its executives like what they see, Studio Orange will plan and execute a custom shoot—for a fee—on behalf of that brand.
“Orange Apron Media is a big opportunity,” Santana said. “We can tap into national brands and have revenue coming in from projects like that.”
Home Depot’s third click
Ultimately, Project Orange’s most ambitious goal will be the most challenging to achieve, which is broadening and enhancing what consumers think of when they think of Home Depot.
One reason the company green-lit the whole enterprise was to have the means to produce videos—which are, of course, the preferred form of content online. “We’re speaking to the younger customers—we need to be on social, we need to do some TikTok,” Wiles said. “You can do more of those things because you have the in-house staff to pull it off.”
The videos made here are frequently instructional (say, how to assemble a bathroom vanity) but they can also be inspirational. This summer, for instance, Studio Orange produced a short titled “How to Create a Gamer Space.” The three-and-a-half-minute production didn’t spotlight any products in particular but was instead meant to “help you think through the process” of creating a game room, Hudson said. “That’s different than something we would have done ten years ago.”
In Ordahl’s view, Studio Orange’s content represents what he calls a “third click” in Home Depot’s brand evolution. In its early years, he said, the company established itself as a one-stop, big-box destination for homeowners. After that, it worked to position itself as a source of expertise and instruction.
“Now they’re going to a third level,” he said, “trying to inspire you around home projects, to move you emotionally. They’re progressing along this continuum to own a more ephemeral space of emotion and dreams.”
