Campaign Trail: Ikea's buff teddy bears safeguard holiday celebrations
A new article on Marketing Dive reports that extending the retailer's message around home as a sanctuary, a new ad shows a set of colorful bears helping a family bond without outside stressors.
Teddy bears are a universal symbol for comfort and security, with the cuddly toys often evoking memories of emotional soothing as a child. Ikea kicks that to another level in its latest ad campaign, depicting a set of adorably buff bears providing companionship and literal security as they guard a home's front door. "Every Home Should Be a Haven" shows the colorful, muscular bears helping a family bond in a living room fort, even crushing someone's work phone so they can enjoy a fun night at home without life's outside stressors. The new brand-building campaign premieres ahead of a more product-focused effort around the holidays and comes after Ikea created a new chief creative officer role earlier this year.
Christine Whitehawk is marketing communications manager at Ikea US:
The spot fulfills a brand-building role around home as a place of sanctuary and how Ikea can support that, while a separate product-level marketing push simultaneously focuses on bottom funnel activity to drive sales. Gift ideas and communications around preparing the home for the holidays will slowly roll out as the holiday season ramps up.
Ikea's latest effort arrives amid global supply chain disruptions that span industries. Mother and Whitehawk's team constantly "wash" products to ensure they're promoting only the items that are in stock and have ample distribution. Dishes, sofas or other goods in the background of Ikea's marketing creative might occasionally be out of stock or on backorder, but the team works to ensure the items heavily promoted in ads are available on store shelves for shoppers.
Ikea will extend this sanctuary message again in spring 2022 with a fresh angle, per Whitehawk, though she declined to share further details on the campaign. Home has taken on a new meaning during the pandemic. More people were working and learning from home last year as lockdowns closed offices and schools, pushing consumers to retool their personal space to make fresh realities more comfortable -- and driving demand for home retailers like Ikea.
Teddy bears are a universal symbol for comfort and security, with the cuddly toys often evoking memories of emotional soothing as a child. Ikea kicks that to another level in its latest ad campaign, depicting a set of adorably buff bears providing companionship and literal security as they guard a home's front door. "Every Home Should Be a Haven" shows the colorful, muscular bears helping a family bond in a living room fort, even crushing someone's work phone so they can enjoy a fun night at home without life's outside stressors. The new brand-building campaign premieres ahead of a more product-focused effort around the holidays and comes after Ikea created a new chief creative officer role earlier this year.
Christine Whitehawk is marketing communications manager at Ikea US:
| "The ultimate idea surrounds how folks are looking at their home right now as a place of safety, security and sanctuary. Sometimes it's a place of play and respite from things that are happening in the outside world. This is the cornerstone of what we're doing in TV and digital video for the next few months." |
Ikea's latest effort arrives amid global supply chain disruptions that span industries. Mother and Whitehawk's team constantly "wash" products to ensure they're promoting only the items that are in stock and have ample distribution. Dishes, sofas or other goods in the background of Ikea's marketing creative might occasionally be out of stock or on backorder, but the team works to ensure the items heavily promoted in ads are available on store shelves for shoppers.
Ikea will extend this sanctuary message again in spring 2022 with a fresh angle, per Whitehawk, though she declined to share further details on the campaign. Home has taken on a new meaning during the pandemic. More people were working and learning from home last year as lockdowns closed offices and schools, pushing consumers to retool their personal space to make fresh realities more comfortable -- and driving demand for home retailers like Ikea.
