Tannery Road Hardware Creative Brief No. 14 · Tool rental launch
Kingston, N.Y. · Monday, November 30, 2026 From Priya Raman, Marketing Manager To Small Hours Studio

Tool rental opens in all four stores on March 6. Hardly anyone knows.

We need fourteen pieces of work that get first-time renovators in Kingston, Beacon, Hudson and Catskill to reserve a tool for a spring weekend.

Background

Since September the Kingston store has rented out tools as a trial: 140 of them, from tile saws to floor sanders. In twelve weeks that came to 1,912 rentals, and six renters in ten had never bought anything from us.

On Saturday, March 6, rental opens in Beacon, Hudson and Catskill too. Outside Kingston, almost nobody knows we do it.

Who it’s for

People of 25 to 40 in a first house or a long rental. They’ve watched the how-to video and bought the tile. What stops them is a $180 wet saw they would use for one Saturday.

They aren’t nervous about the work. They resent buying the equipment.

“I don’t want to own a floor sander. I want the floor done by Sunday.”A renter in the Kingston trial

The one thing the work must say

You don’t have to own the tool to do the job yourself.

Why they’ll believe it

  • 140 tools on the shelf, from $12 a day. The tile saw is $34.
  • Every rental starts with a five-minute lesson at the counter.
  • Reserve online, pick up in ten minutes, bring it back dirty.

What we want people to do

Reserve a tool for a weekend in March or April. We’ll call it a success at 2,400 rentals across the four stores by April 30, eight weeks in.

How it should sound

Like the person behind our counter: knows the answer, and never makes you feel foolish for asking.

What we need

4Window posters24 × 36 in, portrait
6Social videos15 seconds, vertical, clear with the sound off
2Radio scripts30 seconds
1Counter card5 × 7 in, with the price list
1Emailto our 18,400 loyalty members
14pieces in all

Mandatories

  • Our logo, unchanged, on every piece.
  • The words “From $12 a day.”
  • Real tools and real staff from our stores. No stock photos.
  • Wherever a saw or sander is running: “Safety glasses come with every rental.”

Leave out

  • Discounts and coupons.
  • Contractors. They get their own brief in the fall.
  • A new tagline for the stores.

Timeline

  1. MonNov 30

    Briefing at the Kingston store

  2. MonDec 14

    Two routes, as sketches and lines

  3. FriDec 18

    We choose one

  4. MonJan 25

    Finished work for approval

  5. MonFeb 15

    Files to the printer and the stations

  6. SatMar 6

    Launch in all four stores

Budget

$38,000

For the ideas, a one-day shoot in the Kingston store, the radio recording and print-ready files. We buy the printing and the media.

Approvals

Priya sends one list of comments within two working days of each stage. Two rounds of changes are in the budget. A third is a conversation.

Questions

Ask Priya by Friday, December 4. After that we’ll assume the brief is clear and you’ve started.