IKEA: Arabic Reassembled [image]

Credits & Description:

Client: Al Futtaim
Product: Ikea
Agency: Impact Bbdo Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Entrant: Impact Bbdo Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Product/Service: Ikea
Idea Creation: Impact Bbdo Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Pr: Impact Porter Novelli Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Production: Big Kahuna Films Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Additional Company: Roots Advertising Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Chief Creative Officer: Paul Shearer (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Creative Director: Omar Al Jabi (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Business Strategy Director: Ahmed El Goweiny (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Senior Copywriter: Shweta Tariq (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Head Of Arabic Copywriting: Yousef Ashram (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Senior Arabic Copywriter: Celine Barakat (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Senior Art Director: Rasha El Saadi (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Art Director: Madhu Kunhappan (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Art Director: Nicolaas Van Der Merwe (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Visual Graphic Artist: Mohsen Mahbob (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Digital Designer: Mohammed Sarakhosh (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Business Unit Director: Penelope Siebert (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Account Director: Rasha Lambe (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Account Manager: Rama El-Azzouni (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Account Manager: Charlotte Adam (Impact Bbdo Dubai)
Associate Director: Sarah Jackson (Impact Porter Novelli)
Consultant: Kaye Rawlings (Impact Porter Novelli)
Senior Account Executive: Amanj Nouri (Impact Porter Novelli)
Photographer: Suresh Subramanian (Freelance)
Synopsis:
The Campaign:
The answer lay not in what IKEA makes, but how they do it - assembly.
We designed a series of posters that celebrated the beauty of assembly, and showcased powerful statements that came together to promote the cause on Arab Literacy Day, and support an in-store activation that ran simultaneously.
Each poster was crafted to look exactly like the familiar graphics in IKEA's iconic instruction manuals, and used that medium to deliver an unexpectedly strong message about the Arabic language.
Creative Execution:
Placed around IKEA stores, the series of four unique posters were rooted in the IKEA design sensibility. Each one featured a different typeface and statement.
Headlines translation:
1 Express with every letter.
2 Abjad Hawwaz or the Arabic lorem ipsum, a common phrase used to describe the alphabet.
3 Letters become words, words become sentences.
4 Construct and create.
Body copy:
Encourage your children to assemble words by joining letters, and instill the love of our language in their hearts. #ArabicReassembled
Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market:
The posters placed in the IKEA stores helped raise awareness about learning the Arabic language and reconnecting people to it, as well as bringing attention to an in-store activation based on the same topic that ran in stores simultaneously, pulling in over 300 participants.
Our approach was to capitalize on one of IKEA's core equities: Their expertise in assembly, and extend it to an unexpected domain: Language.
IKEA stores enjoy a high footfall of families and kids, so featuring them in store was a natural choice. The posters were strategically placed to be noticed, as this is where customers browse and look around before they shop. The posters communicated the cause as well as supported an in-store activation that promoted Arabic and ran at the same time.