Its competitors might be happy owning a room, but Ikea Canada is taking ownership of the whole house in its latest campaign, the first effort by newly minted AOR Leo Burnett. Leo won the business back in April following an agency pitch process that kicked off last November.
The result of the fledgling partnership is a new brand manifesto, “Long Live the Home.” The Swedish DIY furniture retailer is shifting focus from touting its offerings in core areas of the home under its previous “Any Space Can Be Beautiful” platform to what the brand wants to stand for – improving home life.
“We’ve been communicating a lot about [the bathroom, kitchen and living room] and I think what we forgot to do was talk to people about the home proper, and why it’s meaningful to have a really great everyday life at home,” says Hilary Lloyd, deputy marketing manager, Ikea Canada. “‘Long Live the Home’ takes us back to that, closer to Ikea’s mission, which is to create a better everyday life at home.”
The new platform will be expressed through 60- and 30-second anthem-style TV spots celebrating the sometimes emotional moments that make home the most important place in people’s lives (say, bringing home a new baby) and Ikea’s role in all of that. Lloyd says it’s a departure from the kind of TV ads the brand’s put out in the recent past in that the humour has been toned down and the ads reflect people’s real lives.
Magazine ads will also be part of the mix and though they will still focus on areas of the business Ikea’s prioritized, Lloyd says they will have “a new face and a new feeling” in line with the “Long Live the Home” positioning.
Ikea’s media spend will remain roughly the same, but Lloyd says Canadians will see a bit of a different mix, with a stronger TV presence, more ambient OOH work and a bigger digital push than in years prior.

Credits

advertiser: Ikea Canada
agency: Leo Burnett
CEO/CCO:  Judy John
VP/CD, head of art: Lisa Greenberg
GCD/AD: David Federico
GCD/writer: Morgan Kurchak
VP, group account director: David Kennedy
account director: Jennifer Kelly
account supervisor: Danielle Iozzo
SVP planning: Brent Nelson
integrated planner: Dustin Rideout
VP, head of broadcast/ exec. producer:
Franca Piacente
senior producer: Melanie Palmer
senior production supervisor: Anne Peck
print producer:  Carly Price
prodco : Soft Citizen
director: Arni Thor Jonsson
connection planning director, Jungle Media:
Brooke Leland