IKEA Halifax
Launch
In 2017, IKEA announced that it was arriving to the East Coast and opening its doors in Halifax. When IKEA opens a store in a new city they really take the time to get to know their neighbours. Our goal was to educate people on the 10,000+ products that can be found in store. We created contextual messaging for the OOH campaign to reinforce its fit with East Coast culture.
The East Coast is about to get Swede-er. We launched an integrated radio, TV, print, digital and social campaign that built a deeper connection with the community. Building all that hype worked, with over 4,000 people lining up at the store on opening day
Client: IKEA
Copywriter: Chad Lesch
Creative Director: Sean Davison
Awards → Grand IRIS for OOH
Direct mailer to be sent to local influencers.
Stunt with
Theodore
To make an even bigger splash, we also made Theodore Tugboat (the official “welcome ambassador” of Halifax Harbour) “disappear.” There was a hotline set up for tips that was manned by Jonas (the iconic voice of IKEA). Haligonians got to witness Theodore chugging back into the harbour, his deck laden with IKEA flat packs, gifts and prizes, as if returning from a cross-Atlantic trip from Sweden.
Partnership: Theodore Tugboat
Post-Launch
OOH/Digital
After the store opening, we replaced all lead-up creative with new OOH creative to sustain interest in the new IKEA location, and to continue reminding locals of what IKEA has to offer. We developed an enormous amount of assets and used them to create localized and lifestyle-targeted ads across multiple media.
Examples:
OOH (Billboards, TSAs, Ferry Terminal).
Instagram + Facebook ads.
