GOLD

Ikea, "Magic Mittens," MediaCom,SMFB (Local)

The IKEA catalogue is world famous and in Norway it was about to go digital for the first time. The launch of the new iPad version was good news for the brand as many of IKEA’s key customers were becoming less and less responsive to direct mail, the standard distribution method for the catalogue. But IKEA’S first iPad catalogue was no different from the paper version, and they needed a USP. Tablet penetration was growing massively fast in Norway with some 600,000 iPads in circulation, or 12% of Norway’s total 5M population. iPads were especially popular among the brand’s key audience of urban females aged 25-45. Among this group 32% had a tablet. The problem was that the iPad version would only be ready in the New Year, when most consumers had already had a paper version the previous August. The content would be exactly the same and the tablet version wasn’t interactive. IKEA realized they could face a backlash from consumers if it tried to pretend that the iPad version was something new or innovative. The solution would have to reflect IKEA’S reputation for smart simple design, while at the same time, resonate strongly with our digitally-savvy target audience of urban females. In Norway it gets cold in the winter, very cold. So IKEA gave consumers a solution they could warm up to: touch screen mittens. While tablet users would often use their device at home, they were also highly portable and few among our target group would leave the house without their iPad or iPhone. In February, when the iPad catalogue was due to go live, temperatures can fall as low as -20°C. This presented IKEA with a unique opportunity to create something simple, functional and effective, while being totally in line with IKEA’s design values. A brand new IKEA product was created: BERÖRA, literally meaning ‘to touch’. It consisted of conductive thread and came complete with IKEA packaging and the familiar cartoon instruction leaflet. By simply sewing the conductive thread through a pair of gloves or mittens, it would allow our customers to use them with touchscreens. This would not only solve Norway’s winter touchscreen problem but also enable our target of tablet users to sample the new iPad catalogue on the go. IKEA created 12,000 mitten kits and distributed them at six stores across the country. Then they began promoting their unique offer to our target audience. Our message? ‘IKEA – katalogenerklar for iPad’ – ‘the IKEA catalogue is ready for the iPad! Are your mittens?’ IKEA also worked with Norway’s two largest national newspapers to promote the new IKEA product via their tablet editions. This was reinforced with web-TV advertising through the targeting only the readers of tablet editions once again. IKEA also created substantial buzz by sending the kit to selected relevant journalists and bloggers in advance of the product launch. The mitten kit didn’t just get attention in Norway. The campaign – which won Best Launch Campaign at the global Festival of Media Awards – was the subject of interest around the world. Business Insider raved: “Touchscreen-capable gloves can get expensive, so it’s awesome that you can easily add this function on to a pair of gloves you already own.” Gizmodo echoed the sentiment with the popular gadget guide remarking, “We’ve seen touchscreen gloves before, but the idea that any glove could be a touchscreen glove is the kind of bigger hammer thinking we’ve come to expect from IKEA. Well done”. In fact all 12,000 BERÖRA units were snapped up in just 2 weeks. IKEA experienced click thru rates of 8.95% compared to an industry norm of 0.09% and the main objectives were met, IKEA reached 22% of our target audience of women aged 25-45 and Norway’s iPad catalogue is the most downloaded per capita on the planet.