Time Freezes in Heartwarming IKEA Spot That Brings Home to Life

IKEA Canada's latest spot launches its new brand platform, 'Bring Home to Life' ('La Maison, c'est la vie' in French).

Dialing into the furniture supplier's mission to "create a better everyday life for more of the many people", the new brand platform, which was created by Rethink, aims to tell compelling stories of how IKEA products and services help people bring the spaces that matter most to them, to life.

“With so many people seeing home in a new way, we felt it was important for our brand communications to reflect this change and speak to the role that IKEA plays beyond our thoughtfully-designed products,” says Johanna Andrén, head of marketing, IKEA Canada. “Through emotional, authentic storytelling, IKEA can inspire Canadians to reconnect with their homes and help them see the potential for the life they live there.”

The centrepiece of the national, integrated campaign to launch Bring Home to Life is a heartwarming film directed by OPC Production's Gary Freedman that follows a newcomer family as they put together their new apartment and the life that will make that space a home. The creative speaks to the idea that customers use IKEA to piece together the times of their lives. The launch film debuted as a 60-second spot during the 2022 Emmy Awards and is set to a cover of Elton John's Your Song by AHI, the Juno-nominated singer-songwriter.

"With storytelling at the heart of this new brand platform, we embraced the opportunity to build connections with our co-workers and showcase the individual and collective contribution that they all have in transforming our products into the memories and moments of connection in our customers' homes," says Tanya Bevington, head of communications, IKEA Canada.

“What we love about this film is that a relatable human story comes first,” adds Michelle Spivak, creative director at Rethink. “We’ve built this completely surreal environment for a simple purpose - to visualize that moment when you step into a new home for the first time and imagine what it will look like filled with the ones you love.

Bring Home to Life reaches beyond functional attributes to serve as a platform for how IKEA brings more than rational solutions to spaces; Bring Home to Life demonstrates that IKEA can facilitate lively debates amongst family, support cup-filling moments of self-care, inspire acts of sustainability, and be a catalyst for the joyful chaos of the everyday.