25m2 of Syria was an unusual apartment at IKEA.

Built as a replica of the real home of Rana and her family of 9 in Damascus, we wanted people to see how it really is to live in a war zone. And why they should donate to the Red Cross. The iconic posters and price tags told the story of how people live -  caught in the crossfire of Syria’s civil war. And most importantly: On every little tag we let you know how you can help!

To get our message out to more than the warehouse visitors, we filmed 25m2 Syria and people’s reactions. News channels and blogs shared it with millions of viewers on every continent. And now, we are creating an IKEA-template, so the home can be rebuilt in other countries too. And help even more people in desperate need of aid.

Being a low-budget campaign the installation was at one location: The IKEA flagship store at Slependen. We had the footage of Rana's home from the Red Cross, so we knew exactly how her apartment looked like. Our goal was to create an exact replica.

Opened by the Norwegian head of the Red Cross on Monday October 17th - the installation was open to the public for two weeks. The IKEA is visited by 40 000 people every week, so approximately 80 000 IKEA customers got to visti 25 m2 Syria live. But millions got to take the tour when we launched our viral video - a few days later. Shared on facebook and spread to advertising blogs - it didn't take long before CNN called. And El Pais. And Stern. And Canandian universities. And IKEA customers all over the world who wanted us to build it in their country too.

25m2 of Syria was one of several initiatives to get people involved in the annual fundraising event “TV-aksjonen”. All together 23 million Euros were donated. Sms-donations were record high at 15 million NOK and over 100 000 people got involved.

25m2 SYRIA was covered by hundreds of international news channels and sites, reaching millions of people all over the world.

Being a low budget charity work, we had no trackers in place for international coverage. But it's safe to say that it's reached a global audience in the hundreds of millions. International news channels, design and architecture magazines, tech-sites, fashion magazines – every news station or magazine found their angle.

Some of the most significant news outlets:

CNN, The Mirror, El Pais, Der Spiegel, Stern, Huffington Post, Fast Company, Mashable, FOX, The Independent, Wired, Die Welt, Bento, AdWeek.

25 m2 would be nothing without consumer interaction: The sole purpose of building a Syrian home between the perfect IKEA homes was to give Norwegians a physical experience: To make them understand how necessary it is to help - and get them to donate.

Each price tag had a story - depending on the object it was attached to: The water tank explained how all water mains are bombed, the rice bag explained how food rations work. And at the bottom they all had the same tagline and call to action: "Together we can get help through. Donate to 2133."

There’s no lack of images and videos from Syria, but it all seems so far away. What if we could give people a first person experience of how it is to live in a war zone? What if we built the replica of a Syrian home? And let people discover and read the stories of the people living there. In the ultimate place where families go to plan their own future: At IKEA.

Being one of the world’s leading humanitarian organizations the Red Cross gets access to people and places that are hard to reach otherwise. During Norway’s annual fundraising event “Tv-aksjonen,” our goal was to raise money for the Red Cross and those who have lost everything in war and conflict.