IKEA

Fewer Canadians were reading the Ikea catalogue, and sales in 2009 were well below the previous year – spending on homes was not a priority, the mood was compromise. But the genius of Ikea is that it offers great design suited to virtually any budget, style and space. So the new tagline became: “Any space can be beautiful.”

The initial creative teased the catalogue by literally outlining real-world spaces yearning to be made beautiful. It drove to a contest microsite, Anyspacecanbebeautiful.ca where people could submit a photo or video of a space they needed help to beautify. Each submission had a chance to win a $15,000 Ikea makeover or secondary prizes. The spaces submitted were categorized into catalogue sections, directing people to room ideas. The microsite also allowed people to connect their entry to their Facebook profile, so they could spread the word about products.

Each week, three entrants were given design advice and a $500 Ikea gift card, and each winner was featured in a “tips” section as well as emailed out to all other entrants.

The microsite garnered 465,000 visits during the campaign and over 5,500 entries. Spontaneous recall of advertising also rose to the highest point to date. The campaign bolstered the impact of the catalogue and drove visits to Ikea.ca. Ikea’s market share increased by 3.3%, and during the campaign, Ikea.ca’s total traffic climbed by 25% compared to the same period the previous year. Daily website traffic hit a new record.