How Inflation Made Al-Futtaim IKEA More Affordable
Across the globe, many have been affected by rising inflation, increasingly expensive goods and a general cost of living crisis. But it’s not all doom and gloom, especially when looking at Swedish homeware brand IKEA and its latest campaign.
The new spot, created with agency INGO, shares the ethos of the retailer which has always been embedded in affordable prices and a DIY attitude. A relatively straightforward concept, IKEA set out to explain how its prices haven’t changed and so, with inflation, the brand has actually become more cost-effective over time. With the list of prices from 2020 to 2023 staying the same, as the years roll by, the brand is proving to me more and more reasonable with its homeware offerings.
The Al-Futtaim IKEA – Egypt, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates franchise of IKEA - general manager of marketing and communications Carla Klumpenaar and INGO’s senior copywriter and senior art director, Fernando Montero and Nicolas López Bravo tell LBB’s Nisna Mahtani about how they created the spot.
LBB> Can you tell us about Al-Futtaim IKEA’s commitment to keeping products affordable?
Carla> Al-Futtaim IKEA provides its customers with a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at low prices. We are committed to producing affordable, accessible and sustainable home furnishing solutions in order to inspire and enable people to live more sustainable lives within the limits of the planet. All our products have to meet the discipline behind the Democratic Design Principles. The principles help us to develop only products that have a beautiful design and good function, are sustainable, of good quality and are available at a low price. This allows us to give our customers the best possible offering.
LBB> How have the company’s values impacted the business as well as how they wanted to create this latest campaign?
Carla> To meet our business objective, keeping prices affordable is key. Our IKEA vision, business idea and culture guide us in everything we do and are more relevant today than ever before. Our values are the compass that guides us in our everyday ways of being and doing things. Our culture is formed when we put these values into action and it makes our business stronger.
LBB> Why is it so important to show the brand’s value within the current economic environment?
Carla> Given the soaring inflation rates, we wanted to continue to support the many people and create a better everyday life for them by keeping our prices affordable. This is in line with our values of working together, finding better ways of getting things done and leading by example.
LBB> How did you decide on the stylisation of the images? Why was it important to use a signature IKEA look but incorporate the different prices over the years?
Nicolas> IKEA's communication has always been characterised by simplicity, both in the idea and craft. We wanted to use as few elements as possible to communicate our message. Since the very beginning, we were looking for a campaign that you could easily relate to the Swedish brand. We also added small human references or details to every piece of furniture to make it more emotional.
LBB> Why did you select these specific products to feature in this campaign?
Carla> The campaign was launched with the SUNDVIK, STRANDMON, GULLIVER and LACK range, however, it is not limited to these items. Our objective is to show Al-Futtaim IKEA's vision of keeping prices as low as possible across all the products in the home furnishing range.
LBB> Talk to us about the colour scheme and visuals. What was the strategy behind the muted colours compared to the bold numbers and products being showcased?
Fernando> As Nico said before, our intention has always been to make the communication as clear as possible so that everyone can understand it. That's why we wanted to keep the campaign as simple as possible, with the minimum elements that you need to understand: furniture, prices, timeline and closing line.
LBB> What was the timescale and turnaround for this project?
Carla> We were able to turn around this project in a span of 60 days.
LBB> How has the brand managed to stay competitive in the current market?
Carla> Al-Futtaim IKEA prioritises the value it provides to its customers to create their dream homes. Providing affordable products that are multifunctional and of great quality along with being sustainable is key to reaching our vision of creating a better everyday life for many people.
We are able to stay competitive as we invest in innovative design and engineering, prioritising sustainable materials, and manufacturing processes, and operating on a low-margin, high-volume business model to make our products affordable.
LBB> Can you tell us about some of the locations where the campaign was displayed and why they were the ideal places to display the campaign?
Carla> Of course. This campaign has been launched in both the UAE and Qatar. The campaign consists of many social assets (static posts, carousels, animated posts and stories), YouTube pre-rolls, OOH and press ads in the most relevant media for the markets.
LBB> What’s next? Is there anything else to come?
Carla> Our focus is to highlight the most iconic home furnishing products the brand owns. I invite you to follow our social media channels to be updated and also to have a look at all the work that we have been doing in the past for Al-Futtaim IKEA, like ‘Buy With Your Time’ or ‘Kings & Queens’.
