IKEA mega brand campaign.

What makes a house…a home? IKEA, the world’s largest home furnishings retailer often asks this question. They go into homes across the globe and study how people live their daily lives. More than tables and chairs, they look at how people spend time in their living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms. They probe: Does the family eat together often? Do the pets sleep in the beds? Are children safe and comfortable to play anywhere and everywhere?

Now IKEA has taken this one step further. They have gone into American homes and asked many questions. What they learned is that 94% of polled Americans say that Home is the Most Important Place in the World. This finding is at the heart of the IKEA mega brand campaign that includes a compelling short documentary film, a landmark study, an inspiring TV commercial, and the opportunity for Americans to appear in a digital America at Home photo-journalist book that includes photos by some of the world’s top photographers.

IKEA asked questions, took pictures, rolled cameras and documented the results. A bit overwhelming, but filled with truth. Joy. Sorrow. Laughter. Tears. It’s all in there!

“IKEA believes that home is an emotion, a feeling of security, comfort, and peace,” said Pernille Lopez, president, IKEA North America. “We intend to bring to life the understanding that home is more than an address; it’s a secure place where we can celebrate our lives and embrace family and friends.”

“The Home is the Most Important Place in the World campaign isn’t about bricks and mortar, or real estate value. In today’s home market whirlwind, IKEA is focusing on the fact that no matter where you live or its dollar value, HOME is about the emotional connections of family, friends and just daily living ,” said Bill Agee, marketing manager, IKEA US.
On September 20, in New York City, author, actress and comedian Amy Sedaris will kick-off the IKEA Home is the Most Important Place in the World brand campaign press event. At Cedar Lakes Studio and Theatre, Ms. Sedaris will humor the audience with her ‘home’ observations. The new TV commercial will be showcased, the documentary movie will be shown for the first time, survey results disclosed, and the first public photos for inclusion in the America at Home book will be revealed. Additionally, IKEA leaders will present information on how IKEA studies life at home.

Key campaign components include:

A GLIMPSE THROUGH THE KEYHOLE. The IKEA America at Home short documentary film peeks into the lives of seven American families. It will have viewers howling with delight, nodding in agreement, and tearing at times. While each home is unique, each family clearly values their home as undeniably the most important place in the world. Segments touch on celebrating traditions, working from home, and living single (but not alone). Starting on September 20, it will appear in videocasts at www.ikea.com. Visitors to the site will also be invited to write about what makes their home the most important place in the world.

SMILE, YOU’RE HOME! IKEA, in partnership with Against All Odds, is encouraging every digital photographer in the nation, amateur or pro, to submit their own vision of what home means to them through the Web site www.myamericaathome.com. During the week, September 17-23, there will be a theme each day to guide the content of the photographs taken. Selected photographs will appear in an impressive coffee table book to be published in 2008 by Against All Odds, the successful creators of America 24/7 photographic essays. There is even the capability to create a personalized America at Home book cover by uploading a photograph.

HOME IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PLACE IN THE WORLD ADVERTISING. A 30 second and 60 second TV commercial that graphically illustrates the multitude of lifestyle home options across the globe will air throughout September in both English and Spanish. And how, no matter where, no matter how much it costs, Home is the Most Important Place in the World. This campaign is also supported by television, outdoor, online and cinema advertising. Outdoor advertising in the form of wrapped trains and buses plus transit shelters, bulletins, wallscapes, glass trucks and wall projects will run in September 2007 and March 2008 in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Baltimore.

AMERICA AT HOME SURVEY. A recent IKEA/Market Tools survey of 1,000 Americans representative of the general population was conducted on numerous subjects, all about life at HOME. These findings will be used in the book and movie America at Home, as well as released to the media.