OAK BROOK, IL--(Marketwire - Mar 18, 2013) -  Today, Ace Hardware, the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the industry, is proud to unveil its latest marketing campaign, "Meet The Aces." This campaign positions Ace as the place for a "more personal kind of helpful," highlighting the kind of service consumers have come to expect when shopping at their local Ace Hardware store. The new campaign also reintroduces, for the first time in more than 15 years, the words of Ace's iconic jingle that customers continue to associate with the brand today.

Through extensive consumer research*, Ace discovered that in today's world truly personalized service and advice is a need many consumers find unmet. It's this personal kind of helpful that customers have come to expect when shopping at their neighborhood Ace Hardware store. In 2012 Ace ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Home Improvement Retail Stores" by J.D. Power and Associates** for six years in a row, which further demonstrates its commitment to being the helpful place.

The "Meet The Aces" campaign brings to life the personal, knowledgeable and helpful service every customer receives at Ace Hardware, highlighting Ace as the neighborhood helpful place where customers are treated like a neighbor, not a number. Demonstrating that getting help at an Ace Hardware store is like going to your neighbors for help, the campaign comes to life through a variety of strategic, integrated marketing initiatives, including national television and print advertising, targeted online and radio spots, rich media, social media, in-store signage, emails to members of the Ace Rewards customer loyalty program, and public relations initiatives.

Additionally, "Meet The Aces" will bring back Ace's jingle through all aspects of the new campaign. Originally made famous by former Ace spokespeople Connie Stevens and Suzanne Somers in 1970s and 80s era advertising campaigns, in 1989 the jingle evolved from "Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man" to "Ace is the place with the helpful hardware folks" to be more representative of all Ace associates. Although the jingle has appeared in Ace's advertising for decades, for the past 16 years only the melody of the jingle has been featured. The "Meet the Aces" campaign marks the return of the jingle with words, a strong brand cue that still resonates with consumers and reinforces Ace's position as the place for neighborly, helpful advice.

"Through the 'Meet The Aces' campaign, we've literally brought to life the neighborly advice and undivided attention that customers receive when they walk into an Ace Hardware store," said John Surane, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Merchandising and Sales for Ace Hardware Corporation. "Ace has always delivered on providing a more personal kind of helpful to its customers and with the introduction of the new campaign and relaunch of our jingle, we're able to raise awareness of the personal attention, expertise and knowledge that can only be found at Ace Hardware."

In a series of three national television spots, viewers are introduced to a neighborhood home that's outfitted as an Ace store, playfully demonstrating that getting help at Ace is just like going to your neighbor. As neighbors stop by the home seeking help for a variety of home maintenance projects, the friendly and knowledgeable "Aces" provide helpful and personalized advice. In addition to the spots featuring the iconic Ace house, the campaign also features a spot that tells the story of how Ace has been "helping neighbors since there's been a neighborhood." The epic commercial weaves together Ace's more personal kind of helpful through the decades as the jingle is heard in grand, cinematic scale. To see the debut campaign commercials, please visit www.youtube.com/acehardware.

*Source: Combination of Ace-led qualitative and quantitative research including exploratory focus groups and online bulletin boards, message testing groups, storyboard testing and follow up attitudinal and behavior research via online surveys with consumers who shop for home maintenance & repair products. 

**Disclaimer: Ace Hardware received the highest numerical score among retail stores in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2007-2012 Home Improvement Retail Store Studies(SM). 2012 study based on responses from 6,115 consumers measuring six stores and opinions of consumers who purchased a home improvement product or service within the previous 12 months. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed January-February 2012. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com

About Ace Hardware
For nearly 90 years, Ace Hardware has been known as the helpful hardware store in thousands of neighborhoods across America, providing customers with a more personal kind of helpful. In 2012, Ace ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Home Improvement Stores for the Sixth Consecutive Year," according to J.D. Power and Associates. With over 4,600 hardware stores locally owned and operated across the globe, Ace is the largest hardware cooperative in the industry. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., Ace and its subsidiaries currently operate 14 distribution centers in the U.S and also have distribution capabilities in Shanghai, China; Panama City, Panama; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Its retailers' stores are located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and approximately 60 countries. For more information on Ace, visit www.acehardware.com.