About a year ago, Ikea broke the rule book with an ad campaign that showed its products being ignored by kids. This time it's going further. Not only is it giving its products second-billing to a cast of mischievous pets, it's throwing them on the floor and smashing them to smithereens.
The campaign suggests that, while not exactly pet-proof, Ikea's products are at least so affordable that we can happily laugh at the kind of destructive animal antics that a lot of people with pets will be able to relate too.
Following on from the "proudly second best" campaign, this time around IKEA Al-Futtaim and creative boutique INGO Hamburg realised that many homes contain additional members: pets. And the pet market is booming, with approximately 1.5 million pet "parents" in the United Arab Emirates alone.
The campaign, covering out-of-home, print and social, depicts pet-related home mishaps with guilty-looking dogs and cats beside broken items that pets might easily knock over or otherwise destroy: a CHIAFRÖN plant pot, a FÄRGRIK mug, a KÄRLEKSGRÄS cushion and a STILREN vase. "Don’t worry, you can afford it," the tagline says, as Coco and Simba look at us with big innocent eyes.
We continue to admire Ikea's courage in its ad campaigns. There aren't many brand that would promote a product by showing it broken, but the attention-grabbing campaign highlights one of Ikea's big strengths: its affordability in situations that customers will be able to relate to.
INGO’s Global CCO Tobias Ahrens said: "We are excited about this campaign, which, on one hand, brings the unskippable cuteness of pets, and on the other hand, challenges marketing conventions by showing the products damaged. An honest story that refreshes the usual IKEA price communication style.”
Carla Klumpenaar, GM Marketing, Communication & Interior Design, highlights: "For the past few years we have noticed a growth of pets in households in the region and we wanted to introduce this topic through this campaign for the first time. Over the next few days, we will also launch a collection of household products for pets."
For more ad inspiration, see our pick of the best print ads. And for more branding news, check out the controversy around the new Massimo Dutti logo.
