We wanted to give the target group online the same IKEA experience they were used to offline: saving money by assembling things themselves. That’s why we didn’t make banners - we let the visitors make them! We were the first to make it possible to save money in the real world by doing something in the virtual world. And, like every piece of furniture by IKEA, the advertising itself could now be assembled by people themselves for the first time ever. Typical IKEA Flatpacks contained all the banner parts, just like real IKEA furniture, along with assembly instructions for putting it together step by step.

After the visitors did their part, it was IKEA’s turn: The price of the displayed product was lowered and the visitor could then directly go on to visit the IKEA online store.

The self-assembly banners form the direct element of a campaign that was supported by radio and print. In a playful way, it created a successful turnover and communicated the IKEA philosophy all at once. The visitor was allowed to get involved, reminding them of their previous assembly experiences and inspiring them to put something together from IKEA again. During the one-month duration of the campaign, an average of 900 visitors a day assembled a banner. The high degree of involvement also lowered the barrier of making just one more click – to the online store. In numbers: the click-through rate was over 25% and the sales index of the advertised products increased by up to 2.75. That’s almost 300%!