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IKEA has launched a teaser campaign in support of its 2010 collection and catalogue, out next month.
Earlier this week, the home furnishings retailer launched online banner ads and 15-second unbranded national TV spots that directed consumers to AnySpaceCanBeBeautiful.ca, a branded microsite that introduces consumers to an online contest.
“We wanted to create intrigue and curiosity about what might that be, just to heighten everybody’s interest before we actually reveal what the campaign is all about,” said Shelley Brown, partner and director of strategic planning at Zig, IKEA’s Toronto-based creative agency.
The teasers feature a nondescript cardboard box that explodes to release bright yellow confetti-like squares that flutter about and finally land to form an outline around a space that needs a facelift.
“We wanted to give it a celebratory feel,” said Brown.
In “Sidewalk,” the cardboard box opens and the squares form an outline around newspaper boxes on a city street as onlookers watch in wonderment. The spot ends with the super, “On August 10 AnySpaceCanBeBeautiful.ca.”
The online banners, running on Sympatico/MSN and sites such as HGTV.com and HouseAndHome.com, also use a bursting box and yellow squares.
Additional branded TV ads, set to launch Aug. 10, will incorporate the yellow outlines and demonstrate how spaces can be transformed with the IKEA catalogue.
“Any space can be beautiful” will be used as the new tag line for IKEA, replacing the long-time line “Love Your Home.”
The new line communicates IKEA’s mission, said Brown.
“No matter who you are, no matter your design taste… there’s something that IKEA can bring that can really help you create a place that is truly beautiful,” she said.
The online contests allows visitors to upload photos of a space in need of a makeover.
While online, users are encouraged to vote on their favorites spaces. The entrant with the most votes wins a $15,000 makeover by a CityLine design expert, and will be featured on the show.
As part of a guerrilla effort, IKEA spray-painted yellow box outlines on sidewalks and building across the country, though that part of the campaign upset one Vancouver businessman, according to a story on CBC.ca.
Kevin Kelly painted an outside wall of his new skateboard shop last Friday, only to return Monday to find “a giant, bright yellow advertisement spray-painted on the front of my building,” he told CBC.
Kelly said IKEA apologized for the damages and tried to remove the paint with a power washer, but according to Kelly not all of the yellow came off, and some of the paint stripped off as well.
“[IKEA] can afford billboards or television commercials. They are a major corporation, so to be putting their corporate logo on the front of my small business is absolutely ridiculous,” he said.
Brown said the agency plans to continue the effort.
“If he wants something repainted of course that will happen, of course IKEA will make sure everyone is perfectly happy,” she said.
The campaign will run through August, with Mindshare handling the buy.
