Make More Of Your Garden
IKEA
Issue 28 | September 2013
Agency
LIDA
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director: Nicky Bullard Copywriter: Andy O Carroll Art Director: Spencer White
Production Team
Digital Project Manager: Althea James Offline Project Manager: Laura Burgess Creative Services: Vicky Ray Account Director: Alon Stock Account Manager: Josephine Ross Planner: Rory Smith Technical Director: Jon Chandler and Tony Dong Senior Flash Developer: Trevor Aukim-Hastie Senior Designer: Alice Chan-Gibbins
Date
May 2013
Background
A garden can be the perfect summer hideaway. But sadly, many are jungle-like spaces used to store the lawnmower, dry clothes and hide old junk. According to recent research, 1 in 5 Brits never set foot in their garden. So IKEA wanted to inspire IKEA FAMILY members (loyalty card holders), to turn their gardens into a space in which to dine, wine, or unwind with the help of their great range of outdoor furnishings. But that’s where they hit a dark cloud. How do you encourage people to use their gardens when the British weather is so unpredictable?
Idea
In the UK, the truth is that when the sun comes out people come out. So Mother Nature was enlisted to help tempt IKEA FAMILY members to step outside, with a weatherproof idea. When IKEA knew a sunny weekend was coming, weather- responsive Direct Mail was sent out featuring the actual forecast for their garden. And to get IKEA FAMILY members thinking about turning their garden into the perfect spot for an al fresco get- together, a bespoke invitation was created for recipients to send to their friends and family. Utilising Facebook, a live weather feed, Google Maps and their own weath- erman, Harry Caine, friends received an invite featuring a short video and a weather report for the garden. This helped build excitement around an outdoor event.
If the weather was typically British and wet, Harry suggested what you should wear and what IKEA products you could use. So rain or shine, IKEA FAMILY members’ gardens were the best place to be.
Results
A blazing 34% increase in sales of outdoor products to IKEA FAMILY members. And 7.5% uplift in visits to IKEA.
Our Thoughts
For me, this is an example of direct marketing skills at their best. It may look like a humble piece of mail but in every postcard is a concatenation of data, relevance and topicality. It’s the right message to the right people at exactly the right time. And, believe me, doing that properly is not easy. It takes planning, creative and account management skills in equal measure.
In a country where the weather is so unpredictable, getting personalised forecasts like this which were accurate would have seemed like magic to many recipients.
I’d love to know what a 34% uplift in sales of garden products looks like in both sales and profit but my bet is this agency earned one brand manager a very tidy bonus.
He or she may even have said thank you. Possibly.