IKEA’s proprietary Life at Home report uncovered a deep connection between our homes and our overall well-being. In short, the way that we feel is directly impacted by our homes. So with anxiety around personal wellbeing at all-time highs, our relationship with our home is more important than ever.

This was an opportunity and a unique challenge for IKEA: to reframe the role of the home and showcase its powerful ability to uplift our collective well-being, but do it in a way that would resonate with people from all walks of life, around the world. We needed to land a universal human truth while simultaneously breaking through the clutter and connecting with our audience on a deeper level. Our key measurements for the campaign were “Emotional Meaning” and Brand Recall.

As the director read on a cushion the last time he went to IKEA to buy some Daim bars, ‘Home is where the heart is’. It’s a plush, cosy truth, but it does genuinely affect how we feel about everything. In a way, it’s like feng shui, or how your husband never uses the laundry basket, or your wife insists on having motivational cushions that read ‘Home is where the heart is’ on every seat – it has the power to dominate how you feel. I wanted to bring the scope of that emotional impact and distill it into ‘Terry the Troll’s’ tale to create a universally appealing story - something that dressed up a deeply human truth in a sweaty and stinky 8-foot troll costume. For me, it was all about that, and the subtle, magical opportunity for a beautifully designed narrative and accessible approach to storytelling.