Bathroom etailer Victoria Plumb’s new campaign is designed to promote low prices by reminding shoppers of its low overheads compared with store-based rivals.

Victoria Plumb’s ad explains that its customers pay for products not salesmen

It’s a clever idea and builds on its previous, and cheeky, campaign ‘We shopped around’, which encouraged shoppers to find inspiration in rivals’ stores but to then compare prices and buy from Victoria Plumb.

The new ‘Salesman’ TV ad immediately catches the viewers’ eye by showing a fully suited-and-booted showroom salesman in a bath tub with a very uncomfortable-looking woman. The salesman then disappears and the woman relaxes, as the ad’s voice-over explains that by buying online the consumer doesn’t end up paying for extra costs such as sales staff, ending with the new strapline ‘Quality bathrooms, not costly showrooms’.

The ad, by agency CheethamBell JWT, highlights the retailer’s prices by showing off individual products and price reductions.

The campaign also includes the increasingly common but good tactic of running supporting online activity that allows visitors to the retailer’s website to directly shop for products featured in the ad.

Victoria Plumb marketing manager Sam Jenkinson says the campaign “emphasises that we are able to offer quality bathrooms at low prices, because we don’t have the same overheads as our bricks-and-mortar rivals”.

Explaining why its prices are keener in a humorous and memorable manner works well and will no doubt resonate with shoppers and help establish its position as a cheaper online alternative to shopping in store.

Victoria Plumb