2018 Winners & Shortlists

ARABIC REASSEMBLED

BrandAL FUTTAIM
Product/ServiceIKEA
EntrantIMPACT BBDO Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryWell-being, Environmental Impact & Solution
Idea Creation IMPACT BBDO Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
PR IMPACT PORTER NOVELLI Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production BIG KAHUNA FILMS Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Additional Company ROOTS ADVERTISING Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Campaign

Arabic Reassembled was an in-store activation inspired by IKEA's iconic style of assembling furniture from parts, encouraging kids to assemble words from letters. Targeted to an audience of young families, it kicked off with the creation of limited edition wooden letters packaged in IKEA boxes, complete with assembly instruction manuals. Hundreds of children interacted with the products, and experienced the joy of reconnecting with Arabic in a fun environment. The event reflected IKEA's brand spirit while educating kids through play.

Creative Execution

Inspired by IKEA's culture of user-friendly design and simplicity of assembly, we custom made different sets of Arabic letters that formed words from daily vocabulary - such as - Mummy, Sky, Happiness, Balloon and so on. These letters were put into boxes designed to exactly resemble an IKEA flat-pack, with an instruction manual enclosed. Using just wood, cardboard and paper, each item was made on a budget, in keeping with IKEA's emphasis on value. The boxes were placed on small tables in the kids' section of the store.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

With over 300 participants in IKEA stores, Arabic Reassembled is a small-scale initiative with a budget of <USD 15,000 and a successful part of the brand's Corporate Social Responsibility efforts, helping raise awareness about the Arabic language and reconnecting people to it. In addition to the in-store participation, the activation had 86,540 social impressions, 2,005,760 PR impressions and a PR value of $147,000. After seeing the success the activation has achieved thus far, another social media rollout is planned in the coming weeks.

Our approach was to capitalize on one of IKEA's core equities: Their expertise in assembly, and extend it to an unexpected domain: Language. This allowed us to directly engage our young audience visiting the IKEA store with their parents in a fun learning activity, the IKEA way. It also allowed us to tap into children's love for assembly, which starts from a very young age. Even as toddlers, they love toys such as building blocks and puzzles, and copying what their parents do - just like parents assemble furniture, children got to assemble Arabic letters into words.

Credits

Name Company Role
Paul Shearer Impact BBDO Dubai Chief Creative Officer
Omar Al Jabi Impact BBDO Dubai Creative Director
Ahmed El Goweiny Impact BBDO Dubai Business Strategy Director
Shweta Tariq Impact BBDO Dubai Senior Copywriter
Yousef Ashram Impact BBDO Dubai Head of Arabic Copywriting
Celine Barakat Impact BBDO Dubai Senior Arabic Copywriter
Rasha El Saadi Impact BBDO Dubai Senior Art Director
Madhu Kunhappan Impact BBDO Dubai Art Director
Nicolaas Van Der Merwe Impact BBDO Dubai Art Director
Mohsen Mahbob Impact BBDO Dubai Visual Graphic Artist
Mohammed Sarakhosh Impact BBDO Dubai Digital Designer
Penelope Siebert Impact BBDO Dubai Business Unit Director
Rasha Lambe Impact BBDO Dubai Account Director
Rama El-Azzouni Impact BBDO Dubai Account Manager
Charlotte Adam Impact BBDO Dubai Account Manager
Sarah Jackson Impact Porter Novelli Associate Director
Kaye Rawlings Impact Porter Novelli Consultant
Amanj Nouri Impact Porter Novelli Senior Account Executive
Suresh Subramanian Freelance Photographer