When faced with the task of raising awareness of IKEA bedroom solutions, research showed that people couldn’t see beyond IKEA as a storage brand, no matter how many bedroom campaigns they saw. The challenge was clear. If we were going to raise awareness of IKEA bedroom solutions, we couldn’t rely on a traditional campaign; we were going to have to get people to see the brand differently.

So we partnered with Airbnb and transformed an IKEA store into a fully functioning bed & breakfast, inviting people to trial the new IKEA bedroom range. Airbnb’s popular platform became our campaign destination, and with the help of experienced local Airbnb hosts, three unique bedroom listings showcased the new IKEA range.

Collaborating with Airbnb gave us instant standout and reach, and the partnership elevated the campaign from being a retail stunt to the store becoming a genuine accommodation destination. A sleepover in an IKEA store wasn’t a new idea. The world’s first IKEA B&B in collaboration with Airbnb was, and it was an idea tailor-made for global headlines.

With a total media spend of AU$0, the campaign reached nearly 800 million consumers worldwide, was featured on over 250 global news outlets and achieved a cost per touch ROI of just AU$0.00004. It wasn’t just an awareness driver. Store visits increased 22.75% during the campaign period, including the highest number of visits on a single day for the year, and sales across bedroom ranges increased 17.75%.

We created three authentic Airbnb listings that had the look, feel and functionality of a regular Airbnb listing. By creating three very differently living solutions, rustic, modern elegance and inner-city living, we ensured coverage would show the depth of the IKEA bedroom range.

The listings went live on 21st August for 6 days and Aussie families interested in staying were invited to tell IKEA why they should be chosen to spend a night in the big blue box, with three lucky families picked to stay over at Sydney’s most unique accommodation on 31st August.

We used research to find the three dream ways that Australians would like to be woken up if alarm clocks didn’t exist. On the day itself, a string quartet, three adorable puppies and a gourmet breakfast greeted our families as they woke up, creating more fantastic media moments, which were turned into a video news release.

- The campaign reached nearly 800 million consumers worldwide and was featured on over 250 global news outlets

- Coverage ranged from TV, radio, print and online across Fairfax and News Corp Networks, News.com, Time Magazine, Courier Mail, The Daily Mail Online and Mashable, Gizmodo, USA Today and The Huffington Post

- Within the first 24 hours alone the campaign had received 16,000 individual tweets and 73 pieces of individual coverage, like @mashable: One Ikea store is letting you sleep there for the night -- by listing itself on Airbnb. On.mash.to/1vod9kl

- Store visits increased 22.75% during the campaign period, including the highest number of visits on a single day for the year

- Sales across bedroom ranges increased 17.75%.

- With a total media spend of AU$0 and a production spend of AU$30,000, all this was achieved for a cost per touch ROI of just AU$0.00004