IKEA: Winter Is Coming

Credits & Description:

Client: Ikea Norway
Product (Service): Ikea Brand
Agency: Smfb Oslo, Norway
Entrant: Smfb Oslo, Norway
Idea Creation: Smfb Oslo, Norway
Media Placement: Smfb Oslo, Norway
Pr: Smfb Oslo, Norway
Production: Smfb Oslo, Norway
Copywriter: Hans Magne Ekre (Smfb)
Art Director: Alexander Gjersoe (Smfb)
Art Director: Pia Ølstad (Smfb)
Art Director: Linus Hjellström (Smfb)
Project Manager: Mari Engen (Smfb)
Account Director: Kristian Kristiansen (Smfb)
Graphic Designer: Magnus Snickars (Smfb)
Editor: Sverrir Brynjòlfsson (Smfb)
Content Manager: Hanne Danielsen (Smfb)
Synopsys:
The Campaign
We made an IKEA-style manual, where the well known "assembly man" explains how to make your own version of the Night's Watch costume from the IKEA SKOLD rug. In the end, he even resembles Jon Snow. The three steps are simple and obvious, aiming to charm our way into the the hearts of the devoted Game of Throne's fans.
Campaign Success
We waited till the news had spread to Norwegian newspapers, before we shared the image on IKEA Norway's Facebook and Instagram page. It immediately became clear that we had hit a nerve, and not before long the post had spread way outside the Norwegian border.
Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results
353.000 web pages from 115 countries mention our campaign, among them CNBC, Esquire, Time, Glamour, Mirror UK, Fortune and Vogue. Just these seven websites have over 200 million readers every month (all of these also put the story on their social media sites).
The depth of the story was also immense, with 11.000 articles written about it. It peaked not only for a day or week, but actually had great coverage for over 3 weeks.
Estimated media impressions were 6.45 billion, with an estimated media value at 18 million USD.
Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service
This work is highly relevant for the Promo & Activation category. Partly because it touches at the main core of what IKEA wants people to do with their products: hack them, change them and make them their own. But also because the work itself activated millions of people to share and promote and interact with the IKEA brand, simply because they liked what they saw and could relate to it.
The strategy and planning applied is not one that's about the handling of this post in particular, but rather a choice we made some time ago together with the client. Simply put, it's about choosing the right moments for immediate action. Not to jump on every occasion where we can make a joke, but to always respond quickly when we can be relevant in the discussion and truly benefit from it in a good way.