2023 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Every year during the holidays, people spend time, money and energy getting their homes perfect for the celebrations they plan on hosting. But during this key time, IKEA is often overlooked as a place of inspiration for holiday decor and furnishings. In 2021, it had an opportunity to change this. The 2021 holiday season was the first time in over a year where families were starting to gather once again to celebrate together. IKEA needed to make sure those returning to holiday hosting knew they could get inspired for the holiday season with IKEA’s vast holiday offering,
and drive them to its online shopping experience.

It had been a long time since Canadians were able to properly celebrate the holidays or even just gather together for dinner. So long, in fact, that IKEA realized entertaining skills might have gotten a little rusty. Under normal circumstances, the holidays bring stress into the home with shopping lists, dinners, decorations, and family and friends visiting. But as experts in organizing life at home, IKEA knew they could help Canadians during the holidays too.

The dinner table is such an important and universal part of the way we celebrate the holidays together. It’s the gathering point and the heart of a home. So, Rethink designed IKEA Set-the-Tablecloths - real, beautiful holiday tablecloths with guides for setting the table hidden in the design - to take the stress out of hosting and help people to set the table for their holiday dinners.

At first glance the tablecloths appear to be simply beautiful, holiday-themed tablecloths, but a closer inspection reveals a strategically designed pattern to achieve the perfect table setting, with room for your own creative flair or cultural dishes, of course. The IKEA Set-the-Tablecloths were available in two universal designs: Modern, which seats eight and has room for a potluck collection of dishes, and Traditional, a formal seating for four with guides for everything down to the salad fork.

The tablecloths were both a functional tool to guide people to setting a
perfect table and a beautiful piece that elevated the experience and
look of the whole room in a truly IKEA fashion.

Online visitation was the driving metric of success for the campaign, where IKEA needed to get consumers to see the brand as a destination for their holiday home shopping and decor. The campaign had the highest loyalty program contest participation in IKEA Canada's history with a 6x the benchmark click-through rate. Sixty four percent of site visits were new, showcasing IKEA’s holiday products to a whole new audience. With an audience of 1.1 million in just three weeks, the campaign drove over 123 000 site visits, 64% of which were new visitors, getting more Canadians interacting with IKEA’s holiday offering.

Credits

Chief Creative Officer: Aaron Starkman
Executive Creative Director: Mike Dubrick
Creative Directors: Joel Holtby, Natasha Michalowska, Zachary Bautista
Associate Creative Directors: Skye Deluz, Jacquelyn Parent, Brie Lim
Art Directors: Skye Deluz, Zachary Bautista
Writer: Jacquelyn Parent
Designer: Brie Lim
Strategy Director: Shereen Ladha
Senior Integrated Producer: Kate A. Spencer
Studio Manager, Designer: ??Brad Kumar
Group Account Director: Kiara Wilson
Account Manager: Melissa Luk
Production Company: Fuze Reps, Jim Norton Photography
Photographer: Jim Norton
Producer: Tonya Norton
Executive Producer: Nicole Gomez
Prop Stylist: Catherine Doherty
Food Stylist: Claudia Bianchi
Retoucher: Evonne bellefleur
Post Production Company: R+D Productions
Editor: Stephen Parker
Audio House: Grayson Music
Producer: Tyler Estwick
Director: Tyson Kuteyi
Engineer: ??Chris Cobain
Tablecloths/Packaging: ProPrint, Stephen De Leon
Flash Reproductions: Steve Frattaroli
Media: Carat
CRM: Wunderman Thompson

Client:
Johanna Andren, Chief Marketing Officer
Claudia Mayne, Director of Brand Marketing
Noah Keefe, Marketing Communications Specialist
Jennifer Bauer, Integrated Media Leader
Lisa Huie, Public Relations Leader