A demonstration of

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Creating a spectacle

A simple visual idea ensured wide coverage of a low-budget campaign.

The challenge

IKEA's products are popular in the Netherlands, but they're not always seen as being fashionable. IKEA asked us to create a campaign that would challenge the supremacy of the ‘trendy designer', and assert the rights of ordinary people to take charge of their own interior design

Our insight

We developed the idea that ‘everyone is a designer' and found a simple inexpensive way of expressing it: just by wearing a pair of trendy glasses, everyone can look like a fashionable designer

Our solution

The campaign started with the distribution of millions of ‘designer glasses' by direct mail. We asked people to take a photo of themselves wearing the glasses in their home. By submitting their photo online, they were automatically entered into a prize draw for a €1,000 IKEA card.

Next, we staged a demonstration in Amsterdam at which people wore their designer glasses and proclaimed their right to ‘design their own life'. Along the route, a guerilla marketing team decorated statues and other objects with pairs of glasses. The event was widely reported in the press, and video clips appeared on key Dutch news websites.

With demonstrations taking place in other Dutch cities, we used outdoor to generate further buzz. A popular TV weather report broadcast from outside an IKEA store was ‘hijacked' by ‘demonstrators'. Adding to the impact, our team placed designer glasses stickers on mirrors in washrooms so that ordinary people could see themselves reflected as ‘designers'

The results

• Spontaneous brand awareness up from 71% to 79%
• Design Your Own Life campaign awareness up from 56% to 62%
• Massive PR generated