Blog 2 – What Is DIY & Where Did It Come From?

DIY is not a recent phenomenon, the concept of do-it-yourself has been around for centuries, in fact Joseph Moxon’s book Mechanick Exercises is the grandfather of all modern DIY manuals. Published in 1683–5, it described how to be a blacksmith, cast metal, draw, do joinery with wood, engrave, print books, make maps and mathematical instruments. He is known for this famous quote:

…many Gentlemen in this Nation of good Rank and high Quality are conversant in Handy-Works… How pleasant and healthy this their Diversion is, their Minds and Bodyes find.

Fast forward to the 20th century DIY movement, considered to be the period of time that has carried DIY to where it is today. DIY really took off In the 50s and 60s with the idea that practical work can be done in the home. DIY was known as ‘help yourself’ and there was a strong moral incentive to educate yourself in conjunction with education provided by others.

Before the invention of cars, anyone who wanted to play with a machine bought a lathe. These machines were used to build various objects and showcase skills. These machines were expensive however, so these machines were typically bought by people with money. That said, a lot of people with or without money built things in the home and it was often seen in homes with less money as making things was typically cheaper.

In the 20th century, hardships such as the war made DIY more pronounced as incomes dwindled and people had to keep up. Towards the 50s and 60s people had more time as a result of shorter work weeks so a lot of time was spent with families and on home projects. In 1969, Black and Decker was founded and this began the era of DIY shops where people could purchase tools/items that allowed for people to do things on their own.

DIY brings people together – originally the overall effect of DIY was to bring husbands back to the home and encourage them to be with their families. Today DIY is very much the same in that it allows people to collaborate and work together to finish projects and share knowledge and skills.

DIY stands for do-it-yourself and it is just that. This means that instead of hiring someone else to do a particular task or purchasing products from a store, you are choosing to do the task or create the product yourself. DIY can be anything and can be as simple as cutting your own hair to more complex like managing your own investments.

DIY is all about seeking out the knowledge and developing the skills you need in order to do that project or task. DIY is not as much a practical skill as it is a state of mind – anyone can do it. It is the willingness of someone wanting to perform a task or project on their own.

Today, with technology and the way businesses are run, DIY is a whole lot easier and more accessible for people. Many business models today are run on the idea of DIY. Furniture stores like Ikea or graphic design tools like Canva are great examples of do-it-yourself business models.

Here at Adacado our DIY advertising software gives you the complete control and autonomy to advertise your business without the help of a marketing professional (or if you are a marketing professional, be more engaged and help many more brands by being DIY). Our software is built so that anyone from anywhere can advertise, and with the help of support documentation and video tutorials making it easier and faster.

The team at Adacado have been pioneering Dynamic Creative and programmatic advertising since late 2009. It all started as a platform with full service, where creative costs scaled into crazy 6 figure numbers. From the get go this made no sense at all, however big brands and agencies were satisfied, at least at the moment in time. Adacado knew this was not sustainable and began almost immediately shifting to self-serve and now to a fully DIY advertising platform that allows an agency or brand to create and launch a campaign in minutes.

Sounds like an instant success. No, we are not quite there yet! In fact we are a frustrated group of people as we watch in amazement, while prospective customers glow about its capabilities and ease of use…. But when it comes to rolling up their sleeves and doing the job (becoming DIY) they procrastinate, stall, ask for help, almost everything imaginable, except getting the job done themselves.

Thank goodness for our customers who recognized the proverbial opportunity of DIY, have figured out how and why to use Adacado, and have quickly become perennial customers with ever increasing usage. They keep our hopes alive.

So why not everyone? Not sure, so the journey goes on… Adacado continues to improve and educate, and has decided that perhaps the basics of DIY are not that obvious, so we have set out on a venture to learn more and more about DIY, and pass on our learnings, with the hope that it will encourage more people to become DIY with more things, including advertising.

We hope you enjoy the series!

The Adacado Team