2021 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Objective & Challenge

This year, the IKEA holiday campaign focused on one thing people did a lot of this year: staying home. IKEA wanted to communicate the magic we can create at home through all the activities we enjoy together - everything from decorating the tree to gift-giving to cooking festive meals together.
But another thing people did a lot this year was reevaluate their home furnishings as each room turned into a multi-use space - our living rooms became gyms, our kitchens became schools, our backyards became barber shops. Many spent the year ordering a ton of new IKEA furniture to accommodate, and as a result they spent many, many evenings assembling it all.
Of course IKEA is widely known for making beautiful affordable furniture that turns a house into a home, but assembling that furniture can be, let’s say, a little frustrating. We’re all too familiar with the process - try, get hungry, take a break, give up, and try again.

Insights & Strategy

So this year, a year where Canadians were staying home for the holidays trying to plan activities to do together, what if IKEA could turn an activity that is famously frustrating into one that actually creates the little bit of holiday magic we all need? That’s why the brand created the IKEA Gingerbread Höme: itty bitty replicas of IKEA’s best selling pieces of furniture to furnish the gingerbread houses that remain empty every year.

Execution

The Gingerbread Höme kits include cookie cutters and classic IKEA instructions to turn your gingerbread into a STRANDMON armchair, a BILLY bookcase, or a LACK side table. You can then use the items to decorate your own gingerbread house. IKEA Gingerbread kits were available to a lucky few members of the IKEA Family loyalty program who participated in a contest. The cutter designs were free and available for anyone in the world to download and print their own (paper or 3D printer model versions) via the IKEA website.

Results

The campaign launched on social media and immediately generated consumer buzz. Within a few days, the Gingerbread Home was picked up by news stations all over the world, including notable outlets such as Ad Age, the Food Network, Huffington Post, People and Fast Company, and garnered 51 million Twitter impressions globally. But best of all, with all the enthusiastic tweets and comments on social media, the brand’s Brandwatch Emotion Analysis picked up that ‘Joy’ increased by 500% vs the previous period - the IKEA Gingerbread Home LITERALLY spread joy in the world at a time people really needed it.

Credits

CCO: Aaron Starkman
ECD: Mike Dubrick
Head of Art: Joel Holtby
CSO: Sean McDonald
Associate Creative Director: Zachary Bautista, Geoff Baille
Writer: Rahman Sobrie, Geoff Baille
Art Director: Kevin Valladares, Zachary Bautista
Designer: Brie Lim
Strategy Director: Shereen Ladha
Print Producer: Narine Artinian
Retouching: Brad Kumar
Photographer: Justin Poulsen
Food/Prop Stylist: Caitlin Doherty
Group Account Director: Sarah Riedlinger
Account Manager: Megan Christopher
Media Agency: Carat