Direct mail case study: IKEA's anniversary campaign shows it has 'still got it'

To celebrate its 40th year in Singapore, IKEA ran a fully integrated marketing campaign that went out on print, radio, mailers, digital media, social and in-store promotions and activities. The mailer, which carried the same theme, also highlighted IKEA’s birthday offers, gift-with-purchase promotions and special in-store activities. These were distributed island-wide to all households in Singapore for mass reach.

To commemorate this special moment in time, IKEA also put a spotlight on some classic pieces of furniture that have been household names in Singapore since 1978. Showing IKEA’s “still got it”, the campaign featured the POÄNG armchair and LÖVBACKEN side table, both famous crowd favourites even 40 years on.

Tying in with the campaign theme, IKEA produced 18 limited edition vintage pins that celebrated the timeless nature of IKEA furniture. Some of the iconic furniture featured on the pins included the LACK side table, MAMMUT stool and BILLY bookcase. IKEA fans could take home a set of three pins with a minimum spend of SG$100 in a single receipt in-stores during the four-day birthday bash.

To help spread awareness about the festive THE MAIL occasion and tie-in with the birthday bash event idea, invites in the form of IKEA flat pack boxes were also sent out. The flat pack boxes contained a booklet on IKEA over the years, with stories on iconic products and a “Dala Horse” birthday piñata which held a selection of collectible pins inside.

The Dala Horse is one of Sweden’s most beloved symbols and decorative wooden Dala horses have been sold in IKEA from time to time. The piñata Dala horses were created to drive home the message of an IKEA birthday celebration. As a birthday surprise element, the limited edition pins, some party essentials and confetti were housed in the Dala horse piñata to provide the media with a DIY birthday party pack. To amplify the unpaid media reach of this campaign, the targeted invites were sent to traditional and online media as well as selected influencers and key opinion leaders.

To create more awareness and interest in the event and offers digitally, the gift-with purchase promotion for the limited-edition pins were also promoted via a social media contest on the IKEA Facebook page.

Objective

To celebrate 40 years of IKEA Singapore and its iconic range of furniture.

Target audience

Singaporeans aged 25 to 50 and families with children.

Results

The event saw a successful turnout of more than 110,000 customers to the stores over the four days. It generated a total of 41 combined Facebook and Instagram posts on the SG40 event (using the #IKEAstillgotit hashtag) and a media reach of 59 pieces of coverage across print, online and social platforms, with a total media value of SG$229,230.

The writer is Caroline Ng, country marketing manager, IKEA Singapore.

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