Ikea has been in the Middle East market (UAE, Oman, Qatar) for about 30 years, and it is mostly known for its adult home furniture and decoration, which represent 58% of its business. The kids category (despite being a category that is growing 4.13% annually) was not as representative as the other ones (less than 5%), so the company decided to boost its consideration and conversion. (Data: Second Best EOC Report).

Objectives:

1) Increase traffic on children’s collections in the top Middle East markets.

2) Increase in-store and online sales for the children’s portfolio in the top UAE markets.

3) Generate conversation for Ikea Masterbrand and its kids' portfolio.

Be proudly the second choice.

By being humble and embracing its non-relevance, Ikea gave space and protagonism to something bigger and much more meaningful than the portfolio they sell: the essential bond between parents and their children.

Breaking through the category logic, the creative idea showed toddlers engaging in daily activities on their parental character rather than on the products designed for those purposes. It playfully conveyed that the physical presence of a parent figure will always win.

The beauty of this campaign lies in the softness and subtleness of the relationships that happen every day and that we usually take for granted. The authenticity and simplicity of these parent-and-child relationships, translated into the execution—the smoothness of the audio and the shots—bring a smile to the faces of all parents (and non-parents) out there.

Ikea observed how obsessed families can become with buying various gadgets to care for their children. For each phase, there are a huge number of must-haves. There is always that one product, for that specific use, with that specific design, from that brand, that will make you a better parent. Blogs, TikToks, grandma, your best friend who has twins, and even Amazon all have something to recommend.

Ikea knows that people will spare no effort to offer the best for their kids. But to be honest, no matter how proud they are of their products, for kids, there will always be one better option to comfortably lie on their parents. After all, cribs, stools and highchairs are great, but they don’t compare to figures like Mom and Dad.

Insight:

For kids, their caretakers will always be the first option.

Who would have guessed that losing to parents was the best way to win them over.

1) Increased traffic on children’s collections.

- Web traffic in Children’s Collection increased by 37% compared to the same period in 2022.

2) Increase in-store and online sales for the category.

- In-store, there is a 6,3% increase in children’s collections compared to 2022.

- Online revenue 7,4% in Children’s Collection compared to 2022.

3) Generate conversation for Ikea Masterbrand and its kids' portfolio.

- Brand positive sentiment: 93%

- Earned media: $827M (from 10th to 17th of May 2023; however, the campaign keeps being showcased in online and offline publishers afterwards).

- Social Media Mentions related to the campaign: 933K (from 10 to 17th of May 2023).

- Proudly Second Best had more than 72M results in Google.