How One IKEA Ad Circled the Planet
...One exceptional ad, dozens of markets, very different endlines. It shouldn't work, but it did.
Let’s kick off this week with a little game of spot-the-difference — no prizes, it’s just for fun.
Here’s a Canadian IKEA ad from 2004:
And here’s a German IKEA ad from 2008…
And here’s a French IKEA ad from the same year…
Whatever your language, a nice ad, right?
Plus, though the ads are pretty much identical in terms of script and shot selection, the all-important tagline differs for each country.
The Canadians? Love your home.
The Germans? Are you just living or really alive?
The French? More than just a furniture seller.
The fact that they could sign off each ad very differently shows how adaptable it is — no bad thing when you’re the world’s largest furniture retailer.
A lot has been written about the original Canadian ad — indeed Campaign magazine, the biggest advertising magazine in the UK, named it the greatest Canadian ad of the 21st Century1.
But I thought it would be interesting to find out more about the German version, and why it was reworked for a different market. Sue Imgrund is British but worked as a strategist with IKEA Germany when the ad was created; she kindly took the time out to speak to me.
What was it like working on the ad?
Rather chaotic, truth be told. IKEA’s communications in the early 2000s were decentralised, with each market doing its own thing. But, in the spirit of IKEA, we did talk to each other without the need for official processes - and happily begged, stole and borrowed. In this case, it was IKEA Canada and their agency who had the original idea.
What was the strategy behind it?
This ad came at just the right time in Germany. People were feeling the pinch from the [global] financial crisis [of 2007-8], and the other furniture stores were having a full-on shouting match about prices. So, the strategy was to lead on price and to be “Proud of our Prices.”
IKEA is known for humour in its ads (above: IKEA Turkey, 2020). Did you ever imagine this TV ad would become one of IKEA’s best known pieces of work?
Not really. It was a quirky little ad that was borrowed and adapted, and fitted nicely into our strategy. It’s simple, universal, timeless humour that’s bang on brand — all credit to the guys who created the original!
What are your thoughts on working on a funny campaign for the German market?
Most of the funny ads you see in Germany are international adaptations. But I think that’s missing a trick. There’s some cracking stuff coming out of independent and regional agencies here — just look at the Astra beer campaign, which is 100% Hamburg.
Meanwhile, when I was at Saatchi, we produced this ad for Audi…
No dialogue, universal humour — and it ran internationally. Who says Germans can’t have fun?
What other funny IKEA ads do you admire?
In Germany, the post-Christmas sale at IKEA is called KNUT. This is loosely based on St Knut’s Day which marks the end of the Christmas period. This ad (below) is from 1996, the year I moved over here, and it’s a classic. It’s one of those ads that, despite knowing the twist, you can watch year after year.
A big thanks to Sue for talking talk to me — to find out more about her agency, the wonderfully-named Secret Agency, pop here, while her LinkedIn is here.
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Next week B&H is on autumn break, but will return — pockets full of conkers, leaves neatly swept up — on Monday 28th October.
Many thanks for reading,
Paddy