Launching Farrow & Ball into B&Q: Protecting a premium brand while unlocking a new growth channel
“Sarah is definitely someone you want in your team.
An experienced results focused marketeer with the great ability to align marketing plans with sales implementation and commercial success”.
Launching a premium brand into a mass retail environment — without compromise
Working with Farrow & Ball to successfully launch their iconic, design-led brand into B&Q’s national retail estate and diy.com.
The challenge was clear: unlock a significant new growth channel while protecting the brand’s premium positioning and heritage. From in-store execution to digital rollout, every element of the launch was carefully designed to balance commercial ambition with brand integrity.
The result was a nationally scaled, tightly controlled launch that strengthened Farrow & Ball’s market presence without diluting what makes them distinctive.
The Brand
Farrow & Ball is a globally respected premium paint and wallpaper brand with over 74 years of heritage. Known for its rich pigmentation and unique response to light, the brand is favoured by homeowners and interior designers alike for its depth of colour and exceptional finish.
The Challenge
Launching Farrow & Ball into B&Q meant introducing a premium, design-led brand into the UK’s largest DIY retailer at national scale — without diluting its heritage, positioning, or long-term value.
The launch needed to significantly expand reach across 250 stores and diy.com, while protecting brand equity, avoiding channel conflict with existing trade partners, and maintaining control within a highly competitive, self-serve retail environment where executional detail is often lost.
The Impact
While at Farrow & Ball, Sarah led the end-to-end execution strategy for the B&Q launch, aligning in-store, online, operational, and stakeholder activity into a single, cohesive programme.
Delivered over ten months, the launch introduced Farrow & Ball into 250 B&Q stores and diy.com, driving sales growth in a highly competitive retail environment while protecting existing trade channels and the brand’s premium positioning. The launch became a recognised benchmark for balancing scale with brand integrity.
“This wasn’t about launching into more stores. It was about absolute precision and alignment, so the brand showed up exactly as it should.”
From strategy to execution, aligned at every level
- Senior stakeholder management across Farrow & Ball and B&Q
- In-store merchandising, fixtures, and point-of-sale development
- Integrated in-store and online launch campaign
- Store colleague training and enablement
- Head office alignment across commercial, marketing, and operational teams
- National rollout planning and delivery