Trapped in the 90’s
IKEA
Issue 61 | January 2022
Agency
McCann Madrid
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Emiliano Gonzalez De Pietri Creative Directors Álvaro López, Martín Subercaseaux Copywriter Agustina Lavignasse Art Director Lorena Álvarez
Production Team
Production Team Paloma Adrién, Juan Torres, Martín Beilin, Nieves Antuña, Vanessa Pizarro, Sara Del Tío Production Company Landia
Other Credits
Account Team Javier Pascual, Elena Rodríguez, Andrea Cabezudo, Claudia Solano Strategic Planning Juan Manuel Ramirez, María Goñi Collaborating Agencies Media and Social Media Agency Ymedia PR Tinkle Internal Communication Agency Llyc Relationship Marketing MRM Client Client Team Laura Durán, Rafael Jiménez, Ana Ordóñez
Date
September 2021
Background
IKEA wanted to celebrate their 25th anniversary in Spain.
Idea
A reality TV show reality was created to show in a humorous way how IKEA has democratised design and made a difference to Spanish homes since its arrival in 1996.
Six IKEA natives, all born after 1996 were made to live a 90s lifestyle. Blurring the line between reality, fiction, and advertising, the contestants aged 25 and younger lived together 24/7 in a set that was a perfect replica of a house from the Spanish 90’s.
During their stay, they had to learn to use an old dial-up telephone, sleep under heavy and itchy blankets instead of IKEA’s airy duvets and do their skin care routines in a tiny bathroom with none of the brand’s storage solutions.
Every now and then IKEA gave the contestants “care packages” of recent products to help the young people survive.
The intention was not to make an ad that looked like a reality show but to make a reality show. 20 cameras recorded 100 hours of content which was posted on YouTube and IKEA’s own website as well as in social media.
Results
The series of eight webisodes was IKEA’s most successful branded content campaign ever in Spain. Viewing time per episode was 3.25 minutes, 59% higher than benchmark.
Viewers from the 18-24 segment were six points higher than average. The IKEA Family action has achieved more than +99,000 active participations and more than 477,000 visits to the Landing. In addition, the CTOR has been +5 points above the average of other communications.
Our Thoughts
The late, lamented Paul Silburn was behind ‘Brawny Academy” about ten years ago, a brilliant show built around a kitchen towel brand. I’m not sure it was very successful, perhaps because the episodes were too long. Each webisode here is a more digestible four to six minutes or so. Even though I don’t speak Spanish, there’s some good comedy to be had watching Gen Z struggle with the push and turn controls of an old gas cooker or wondering what that weird plastic thing with a dial on the front could be. (A telephone.)