They make some great furniture and have come up with some creative ads over the years, Swedish furniture retailer IKEA launched their latest advertising campaign week with the tag line “An Space Can Be Beautiful.” The campaign helps celebrate their 2010 catalogue and the first time that a tagline has been used to directly connect catalogue which will be used on all future marketing materials throughout the year and will include television and online executions as well as an online contest all created by their agency of record zig.
“IKEA believes that every space has potential. Sometimes you just need an idea,” said Hilary Lloyd, Advertising Manager, IKEA Canada. “The new tagline is at the heart of IKEA’s mission to help Canadians have a better everyday life at home. No matter the size, shape, location or budget, IKEA’s products and inspiration can help.”
A teaser teaser campaign was launched on July 27th that included online banners and 15-second national television spots began appearing to introduce the notion that any space can be beautiful. The unbranded teaser creative depicts a nondescript cardboard box that explodes to release bright yellow dotted lines. The lines flutter into place, forming an outline around a space that could use a facelift. The teasers drive to the IKEA-branded microsite AnySpaceCanBeBeautiful.ca, where visitors can upload photos of a space in need of beautification. Users are also encouraged to vote on their favorites spaces and the nomination with the most votes wins a $15,000 makeover by a CityLine design expert that will be featured on the show.
On August 10, the second part of the campaign was launched to coincide with the distribution of the 2010 IKEA catalogue with expanded versions of both the television (shown above) and online work that incorporate the outlines from the teasers and demonstrate how spaces can be transformed with the IKEA catalogue. Television ads will be appearing on national conventional and specialty stations and online banners appear on Sympatico/MSN, HGTV.com, HouseandHome.com, Decormag.com and StyleatHome.com.
Great campaign and great products, but IKEA has simply the worst post-sale service in the category.