Despite IKEA’s prominence on the global scale, IKEA Japan operates as a challenger brand, particularly in urban environments like Tokyo, one of the world’s most populous and expensive cities. The recent advent of IKEA Japan’s three Tokyo city shops provided a way to connect with a growing, younger target demographic, however, our latest research uncovered a perception that this younger target did not believe IKEA home solutions were compatible with the small spaces they live in.

We set out to dispel this myth among Japan’s youth by taking an action which would bring new 25-34 year olds into the brand, and equally challenge their perceptions of IKEA along the way.

We enlisted IKEA’s iconic soft toy shark turned real-estate agent, BLÅHAJ, to prove to the many people of Japan that his love of small spaces, coupled with IKEA’s Interior Design Team and home furnishing solutions could turn any space into a happy home.

Documented through an original mini-series, IKEA allowed the personality of BLÅHAJ to shine as he worked to find, furnish and rent a real tiny apartment in Tokyo’s city center, for the insanely low price of 99 yen (< $1) per month.

Following a concerted effort to promote the IKEA Tiny Home through social channels, and in-person at each of IKEA Japan’s three city shops, prospective tenants could find the IKEA Tiny Home on IKEA-owned channels, or listed directly on Suumo.jp, the home for real estate rentals in Tokyo. To apply, each applicant was simply required to register as an IKEA Family Member—IKEA’s ongoing customer loyalty program.

The Tiny Homes campaign was developed for our growing, urban-dwelling 25-34 year old audience who, after years of continuous reframing of ‘home’, had been yearning to make the most of their small spaces. However, for a global brand who is continuously outspent by rivals, we needed to punch above our weight in the reliance on a go-to-market approach which was driven by earned-media at its core. The action we took therefore had to galvanize our core audience, while being relevant to the many people of Japan. The answer; tell a story with many entry points for many audiences—from the insanely low price of 99 yen, to the design of one of the world’s smallest living spaces, to the existing community and loyal fan-base behind a brand-owned soft-toy shark character.

To tell a story proving that IKEA home furnishing can solve any space, we found one of the smallest apartments in Tokyo, and fully solved the space with IKEA items. With this we could show - not just tell - IKEA’s small space expertise. The apartment listing went out on Japan’s biggest real estate website - not just legitimizing the offer, but subverting real estate as a whole, as IKEA advertised their Home Furnishing Solutions in the process. By showing up in a space native to apartment search, Agent BLÅHAJ proved that IKEA is the go-to destination when it comes to small space living. After documenting the process through a content series, we went on to find one lucky tenant amongst 43Kapplicants across Japan.

Campaign was activated through:

- Owned&Paid social (TW, IG, AR)

- Real estate-Suumo.jp

- Collateral-facemasks

- OLV

- Store installation&live event

- Family Membership

- PR

With IKEA solutions, a ¥99 price point, and with the help of IKEA’s very own real estate agent, we rented out the very first fully furnished IKEA apartment, debunking the myth that IKEA isn't made for Japan's small spaces in the process. In the end, our ability to reach and resonate with our younger, urban-dwelling audience was best proven through the following results:

+43K IKEA Family Membership sign-ups / apartment applications

1.8x weekly avg. sign-ups and ~+¥479M ($3.8M) in expected annual member spend

An audience 26% more likely to be frequent visitors

> 50% representing our target

¥290M ($2.5M) in advertising value equivalency (Japan alone)

>294 global media placements, driven by the likes of CNN, The Independent, and Hypebeast

+2pt in TOMA, Brand Inspiration, and Brand Trust

+62M social impressions, 69K online mentions

+12k Twitter followers, +10k Instagram followers

BLÅHAJ, the product, became a top 3 selling item