PR > Best Campaign
FASHION AWARD
FORSMAN & BODENFORS, Gothenburg / IKEA / 2011
Overview
Credits
OVERVIEW
BriefExplanation
We set out to find the most exciting young fashion designers in Sweden and offer them a unique opportunity to open a very small, but functional shop - in an IKEA wardrobe.We rented an empty store at the snobby Biblioteksgatan, recruited a famous jury and created an event website before we, finally, released IKEA´s Fashion Award in media.
Response was overwhelming. Media all over Sweden and abroad covered the event.
369 young, promising Swedish designers sent in their collections and they were all published on the website. From that moment the campaign was driven through social media and PR. It was supported by advertising in daily press and communication in the stores.We bet on the marketing skills of 369 young ambitious designers and they sure proved us right. The website was designed as a "media marketplace". The designer’s currency was ‘Likes’ and ours was space. The more ‘Likes’ they got on Facebook, the more space we offered for their collection. A win win solution.Finally the jury choose 25 finalists who built their own wardrobe shops. For four days, it was the world's smallest and most frequented fashion arcade.
ClientBriefOrObjective
As usual IKEA had an aggressive and secret sales goal. But this time they also had a very clear communication objective. They wanted to vitalize a whole category. They wanted attention in media. They wanted engagement from consumers. And they wanted to be active in social media.
Execution
We had a tight schedule and needed the recruitment of the designers to take-off fast. Immediate break-through in media was crucial. The emotional conflict between IKEA and the glamorous world of fashion offered the trampoline we needed. Interest was huge from the beginning. It was helped by the famous jury including Margareta van den Bosch, the excutive design director of H&M. A lot of attention was put on tonality. Fashion credibility in every step was necessary to really attract the sharpest young fashion brains in Sweden. We created a serious award. Not just a publicity stunt.
Outcome
Huge media attention in Sweden and abroad. 62 journalists attended the press conference at the opening. 10,500 people visited the event in four days, and 140,000 people visited the award website ikeagarderob.se (still counting). Not to mention the fact that a handful of young designers got their professional breakthrough.
Strategy
Storage is something very rational. Wardrobes, shelves and wire baskets live in a remote corner in people's hearts. But the stuff we put inside wardrobes, clothes, shoes, hats, jewellery... all that is highly emotional.We decided to exploit that contradiction and establish the unlikely link between the glamorous world of fashion and IKEA. The solution became a nationwide event that also became the hub for communication in all media.
TheSituation
Storage is a big and important category for IKEA but one that is extremely difficult to activate. Wardrobes are all rational. We want them to be there, but we don´t want to see them and we definitely don´t want to talk about them.This year the challenge from IKEA was: Change that! We need to vitalize the category. We want people to see the endless possibilities to customize your own wardrobe with the PAX system.
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