2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Media & Communications in Saudi Arabia are governed by strict regulations. Freedom of speech is still a long way in the future for the Kingdom, with many restrictions and harsh repercussions for those who do not comply. As a result, the popularity of social media has sky rocketed as the younger generations seek a creative outlet to express themselves. The consumption of social media (in particular Twitter, Facebook and Youtube) in KSA ranks among the highest in the world as people take to the world wide web to voice opinions, discuss politics freely and engage with like minded individuals. As such, many brands are realizing the potential of integrating more branded entertainment (especially in the digital space) into their marketing strategies in the country.

Results

IKEA specializes in providing total solutions for a complete home or a specific area within a house (living room, dining room etc). This concept is not very well established in the minds of the consumers. We had to communicate ‘IKEA solutions’ to consumers. Another trend is that consumers wait for the weekend to go furniture shopping, even though all stores are crowded and busy on weekends. IKEA wanted to create a different shopping behaviour and promote ‘week day’ shopping. Our holistic solution consisted of a heavy OOH, print and radio campaign as well as the in store promotion. A renowned local comedian Ibrahim Saleh was enlisted to create a promotional video to be posted on Sa7i YouTube channel to elaborate on IKEA 30th anniversary. The promo was also posted on IKEA KSA Facebook page to a following of over a quarter of a million people. IKEA then took part in a famous local YouTube series “Khambalah” and mentioned the 30th anniversary within the show, reaching over 4MN views. All the 30 makeovers were recorded with the winners’ stories and posted on YouTube and IKEA Facebook pages making the winners mini-celebrities. A 15sec TVC was created based on these 30 makeovers inviting viewers to visit IKEA Facebook page or YouTube channel to watch the makeovers. The TVC ran on MBC1 - the highest viewed channel in KSA and on Rotana Khaleejiah’s leading female show with a LIVE interview from IKEA Head of Marketing. Taking into account second screen viewership in Saudi Arabia, we used YouTube pre rolls and a sponsorship on Rotana Khallejiah – making sure our message was visible across all platforms. The user generated content created invested the competition entrants into the campaign as they voted for their favourite videos to win and then got to see the results.

For their 30th anniversary campaign, IKEA launched a room make over competition that would see 30 individuals rewarded a full room makeover. To apply, users had to record a short video on why they loved IKEA either at home or in specially created video booths in store. All of this user generated content was uploaded to IKEAs Facebook page and the videos with the most likes won. The competition was promoted across OOH, TV and Radio – drawing even more entries.

This campaign transformed the brand image of IKEA – altering perceptions and behavior towards furniture shopping and ultimately creating a massive return on investment for the client. • In store footfall: Target – increase visitation from 1.2MM to 1.4MM per month Achieved: 1.7MM (40% increase and doubled the target figure) • Sales increased overall by 22% • Website visits: Target - 225,000 to 325,000 per month Achieved: 446,000 (27% increase) • Social: Facebook ‘likes’ grew by 20% reaching 265K fans (highest growth by any retailer/competitor during this period)