IKEA’s response to the global economic slowdown was to focus their communications on low prices, which eroded their brand health a little. IKEA challenged us to remind Australians of their cheeky, offbeat personality with a memorable April fool’s day prank.Inspired by the high percentage of Australians who treat dogs as a member of the family, our idea was to ‘launch’ the Hundstol, the world’s first highchair designed especially for dogs.First, we built a Hundstol ‘prototype’, complete with ‘paw grips’ and space to accommodate happy, wagging tails. We then produced a short film for YouTube, which we positioned as a ‘behind-the-scenes’ video, featuring the Hundstol designer.

National news desks received a press release under embargo for April 1st along with Hundstol imagery and we even placed a press ad in all the national newspapers. We also used IKEA’s social channels to push out news of the Hundstol launch, whilst a product page went live simultaneously on IKEA’s website.The ‘launch’ took the world by storm, making headlines across Australia. Every major national TV news program plus the 3 highest rating breakfast shows aired branded segments about the Hundstol. Mass radio exposure and close to a thousand articles in print and online delivered over AUS$2million in earned media. The YouTube film, with no paid media support whatsoever, received over 300,000 views in 48 hours.Coverage also appeared in the UK, America, Canada, Sweden and Taiwan, even Perez Hilton’s dog gave it the thumbs up!

Success relied entirely on a campaign roll-out timed with military precision. First, we built a Hundstol ‘prototype’, complete with paw-grip panels and space to accommodate a happy, wagging tail.We then produced a short content piece for YouTube, which we positioned as a ‘behind-the-scenes’ video. This featured the ‘Swedish’ Hundstol designer and 5 dogs to demonstrate the product in action.

National media news desks received a press release under embargo for April 1st, featuring Hundstol imagery and utilising our research insights, to ‘rationalise’ consumer demand for the product.We even placed a press ad in major national newspapers (a first for us as a PR agency) and we used IKEA’s social channels to push out news of the Hundstol launch. A product page went live on IKEA’s website and store staff were briefed to hand out gift vouchers for anyone enquiring to purchase a Hundstol.

The IKEA HUNSTOL ‘launch’ took the world by storm, making headlines across Australia. Every major national TV news program plus the 3 highest rating breakfast shows aired branded segments. Mass radio exposure and nearly a thousand articles in print and online delivered over AUS$2m in earned media in 1 day.The YouTube film, with no paid media support whatsoever, received over 300,000 views in just 48 hours.Jude Leon, PR Manager, IKEA Australia:“Whilst difficult to measure in purely quantitative terms, all our indicators demonstrated that the campaign delivered a significant positive impact on brand health, realigning the brand to our heartland territory of doing the unexpected. In terms of pure exposure, the campaign generated an unprecedented amount of brand coverage, delivering more than 5 times our monthly average. It’s without doubt our most effective campaign to date and people continue to talk about it nearly a year on.”