Europe has lived through years of crises. The Corona pandemic, inflation and rising energy bills weighed on minds. The outlook for many is still grim. People are craving for a glimmer of light.

Swedes have mastered the art of bringing light into darkness. So the briefing was simple: Make the world a little brighter with IKEA lams. Give people a smile. By doing something fun.

Our main challenges were to promote IKEA's smart LED lamps and increase traffic to the ikea.at/beleuchtung website. It was important to show that IKEA lamps are not just sources of light, but design tools that can transform homes. The campaign was intended to paint a positive image of IKEA and set a counterpoint to the negative headlines of the current times.

Because IKEA's target group generally spans many age and income groups - even in lamps - the interactive motifs were shown all over Vienna, Austria. We took advantage of the Viennese’s love for the old masters with the positioning of the screens: especially in places of culture, like in the museum’s district, and at theatres and cafes.

The Campaign was part of the overarching lighting communication over the winter, leading people to the website.

We increased relevance through contextualized display: we showed them when the sky was overcast and during darker hours, the digital billboards lit up the minds of passers-by. Besides places like museum districts and other cultural places, we also displayed them at darker places, like subway-stations.

We reached millions of passers-by who saw the billboards and engaged with them. Many visited the URL still standing in front of the screens and enjoyed the fun moments.

he screens were equipped with motion sensors. As soon as passers-by approached them, the previously black background was brightly illuminated by IKEA lamps. The individually furnished rooms of the portrayed persons came to light.

Besides 3D-models of the IKEA lamps, the detailed CGI background was supplemented by other IKEA furniture, bringing the room to life. Details like the paintbrushes drying next to the mirror, e.g. in the motif “Man in a Red Towel”, enrichen the visual experience and invited to discover.

All motifs of the campaign made it impressively clear how easy it is to change the home with IKEA lamps.

We brightened gray days with people’s smiles. And doing something fun was effective:

During the campaign period, we generated around 5.5 million contacts across all touchpoints. Website traffic increased by 356%. The interactivity of the motifs and their richness of detail invited people to stay engaged for 18 times as long as the usual average. People percepted the brand IKEA as joyful, smart, friendly, and understood the power lamps can have in designing and transforming homes.