Ikea reminds shoppers that ‘It won't feel like home, 'til it feels like you'

Integrated campaign from Mother focuses on helping homemakers set up with affordable personal touches

By Creative Salon

05 October 2022

IKEA launches a new campaign conceived by Mother to highlight the importance for everyone to have a home where they feel like they belong.

In this new campaign, IKEA shows that home can feel strange and unwelcoming, until it is somewhere that reflects who you are. Whether that be shelving to show off passions proudly, creating kitchen storage to equip the resident foodie, or carving out the perfect area for crafts; IKEA’s mission is to help create a home that is unmistakably you, with options that are designed to be affordable for all.

IKEA’s product range is at the heart of the campaign, with everything designed to create a space that can fit all types of personalities. From affordable storage to house a growing collection of vinyls, to a pegboard for proudly display winning trophies.

Launching across the UK and Ireland from early October, the campaign will feature a range of edits, including hero 20” and 30” on broadcast TV, plus VOD, and digital media, and a 60” for cinema and in-store.

The TVC opens on a family as they move into their new apartment, boxes in hand. As they disperse into their home to unpack, the apartment shows that it is unimpressed with the new family, initially rejecting them and making them feel unwelcome. A doormat changes from saying ‘Welcome’ to ‘Who’s this?’ and a painting in the hallway rolls its eyes.

Despite this the family continues to unpack, placing pieces that represent themselves around the home. Mum unpacks her vinyls, Dad his cooking utensils, whilst their daughter tries against the odds to enter her new bedroom.

As the family stamps more of their personality on the space, the home’s mood changes. What felt like a strange place begins to feel welcoming. The previously unwelcoming home starts to help them to make it their own. Mum finishes-off organising her collection of rare vinyls in IKEA shelves, whilst a plug socket shimmies into reach for the decks. Looking for the ideal place to display her trophies, the karate-loving daughter is assisted by an IKEA light that illuminates the perfect space on an IKEA pegboard. The once hostile gremlins become helpers to Dad, who is preparing a delicious meal for the family to enjoy using IKEA cookware.

They end their long day of unpacking on the sofa. The house feels a lot warmer now. It’s theirs. The voiceover proclaims:

It won’t feel like home, ‘til it feels like you.

IKEA. The Wonderful Everyday.

Across social media, a three-episode docuseries will be launched. Co-fronted by a psychologist and an IKEA expert, each episode will feature different stories of people looking to make their homes feel more like them. Working together, our psychologist and IKEA expert will identify the challenge faced by each individual - then how home furnishings can solve it to make it a space they truly belong in. The episodes will be hosted on IKEA.com, with inspiration and ideas from the episodes released as content on social media.

Kemi Anthony, Cluster Marketing Communications Manager at IKEA, said: "Where we live is part of who we are, so having a home that reflects our identity really matters. We want to showcase the different ways IKEA can help make home your own, from small touches to bigger re-vamps, there are products that cater to all personalities and styles. Our range is at the heart of this campaign and demonstrates that we design with the needs of real people in mind, no matter what their budget.”

Creative credits:

Client: IKEA UK and Ireland

Campaign: Hostile Home

Agency: Mother

Creative: Mother

Strategy: Mother

Production Company: Somesuch

Director: Nick Gordon

Executive Producer: Scott O’Donnell

Producer: Maddy Perkins

Production Manager: Marketa H

Production Designer: Cat Meredydd