Insight
At IKEA, the annual catalogue has been the cornerstone of the brand’s business as it inspires people with their well-designed products. Every year, IKEA distributes millions of these catalogues to homes for free. Whilst distribution has stayed the same, less people remember receiving it.
The paper-based Catalogue was becoming irrelevant in this digital world. However, when people picked up and read their printed Catalogue, they found themselves falling in love again with the book and its contents.
Strategy
BBH Asia Pacific needed to disrupt a digitally obsessed society with a reminder of the wonders of analogue. It felt natural for the campaign to do this in the digital space.
The agency created an online campaign that contrasted the print catalogue against technology – creating a nostalgic love for the book that was relevant for their digitally obsessed audience. They then set out to hijack one of the biggest tech events of the year – the launch of the iPhone 6.
Execution
BBH APAC kicked off the campaign on social media with a video product demo of the 2015 IKEA Catalogue. They drew close inspiration from Apple’s product launches. The demo video featured their own Swedish IKEA design guru, walking the viewer through features of the catalogue in tech speak – such as eternal battery life, no lag. The video eventually called for viewers to experience the power of the IKEA Catalogue (Bookbook) by looking out for it in their mailbox or uploading themselves to the store.
When the agency found out the iPhone launch date, they pulled their campaign forward by a week, before Apple’s own launch, to ride on their media hype. BBH APAC leveraged online influencers by presenting them with their very own Bookbook prior to the launch. The video was also seeded to blogs and top websites like TIME and Mashable where it was quickly picked up and reported on.
The video immediately resonated with their tech crazed audience. Within days, the video was watched by millions and gained global attention. The agency's terminology, the Bookbook, started becoming synonymous with the 2015 IKEA Catalogue, creating a new surge of interest in the physical copies.
Further amplifying the impact of the video within Singapore & Malaysia:
• Digital banners driving to the IKEA website where BBH APAC housed the video
• Social Media: Youtube pre-rolls. Facebook advertising and contests
The campaign garnered so much love that BBH APAC were given free media space at Suntec City’s Jumbo Screen in Singapore to air their video.
Results
Awareness of the catalogue re-launch
o 12.7 million aggregated views from their Youtube video: over 433k views from Singapore, 440k views from Malaysia.
o Top brand video globally: The video outranked both Apple’s and Samsung’s new product videos on Mashable’s list in September. #1 most watched Youtube video in Singapore & #3 in Malaysia.
o Over 330 articles and features including: TIME, WSJ, Buzzfeed, Channel News Asia, The Daily Mail, Front page write up on The Straits Times, Channel News Asia and Singapore radio.
Getting people engaged with the copy of the physical catalogue
o Over 1 million social media interactions across Youtube, Facebook, Twitter etc. - 480k shares on Facebook, 37k tweets
o Highly engaged viewers: The agency retained 70% of their Singapore & Malaysian viewers until the very end of their video, compared to an industry average of 40%.
o Over 6,000 people organically uploaded photos of themselves on Instagram, interacting with their own ‘bookbook’.
Store Sales (1st – 30th September, this is the same period as last year’s Catalogue Launch)
o 8% increase in total sales across stores in Singapore, 13% increase in total sales in Malaysia, compared to same store sales, Year on Year.