The campaign with a double meaning: Ikea celebrates 50 years in Australia
Ikea is celebrating 50 years since it opened its first store in Australia, with a new campaign ‘Just The Start’. Kirsten Hasler, head of marketing and insights, told Mumbrella the campaign goes beyond the milestone.
‘Just The Start’ takes a journey through Aussie homes, recognising the impact Ikea has had in people’s lives, whether its moving out, moving in, upsizing, downsizing, or setting up the nursery.
The brand recently commissioned some research about how people feel about Ikea, and according to Hasler, the positioning she and the team have pushed over the years was repeated back by consumers.
“It was so powerful because it really showed me the strength of marketing and what we can actually do to change consumer perceptions,” she told Mumbrella. “The brand is so strong in people’s minds. And we see it as our competitive advantage, that we’ve got that history, that credibility, the brand recognition.”
Hasler has been with Ikea for nearly 13 years, across the Australian and global markets: “Personally, it has been such a fun project to work on.”
She said Ikea didn’t want to be a brand that only talked about history. ‘Just The Start’ acknowledges there is still a way to go for the company founded in Sweden in 1943.
Ikea’s first Australian store in Sydney’s St Leonards, 1975
“We have such ambitious growth plans and we know we need to increase our penetration and market share,” she said. “So it was both about this being ‘just the start’ of Ikea’s journey, but it also has a double meaning in that Ikea often plays a role in people’s lives when they have those moments of new starts.
“I think that’s such a privilege as a brand.”
The campaign leans heavily into Aussie tropes like swatting away flies on a hot day, the purchase of a person’s first Billy bookcase, a broken thong, and calling on your mates to help — especially the one with a ute.
Ikea capitalised on these tropes and leaned into the Aussie self-deprecating sense of humour. It doesn’t often get the chance to produce marketing campaigns locally.
“So much of our brand is global content, and this was a very rare opportunity to invest in local production, so we needed it to feel like an Australian ad. I really wanted to lean into those Australian things without stereotyping,” Hasler said.
The campaign uses the 1978 song ‘Thank You For Being a Friend’ by US musician Andrew Gold.
“We wanted an Australian artist to re-record a well-known song so that people still knew it was that consistent Ikea brand they know and love, but they knew it was Australian. The ‘mate’ at the end, we love that touch.”
A Swedish Ikea catalogue from 1984
Hasler threw a shout out to Ikea’s agency partners, Havas Host, Mindshare, Rabbit, and Mango Comms, adding that the success of the campaign was due to the tight partnerships.
“We’ve integrated them so openly into our business,” she said. “That investment, both on their part and on our part, meant that this brief was actually quite an easy one for them [Havas Host] to respond to, and they nailed it.”
In a media release, Havas Host’s chief strategist, Olly Taylor, added that ‘Just The Start’ is an ode to “those who show up, pitch in, and carry the heavy end of the load”.
Mindshare’s client partner, Kirsty Hunter, described Ikea’s milestone as an “amazing achievement”, saying the media agency is proud to play a part in the brand’s history.
Credits:
Agency: Havas Host
Media agency: Mindshare Australia
TVC Production company: Rabbit
Director: Dylan River
Executive Producer: Marcus Butler
Sound design and music: Massive Music / Big Sync
Audio Branding: Resonance
Editor: Adam Wills
Online & Colour: Matt Fezz
Photographer: Alexander Parker / Photoplay
PR agency: Mango Communications and DDB Sydney
Tabitha Fairbairn, Managing Director, Mango
Renay Hung, Account Manager, Mango
Gunjan Kaur, Account Manager, Mango
Eliza Staples, Account Executive, Mango
Matt Chandler, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Sydney
Jenny Mak, Creative Partner, DDB Sydney
David Jackson, Creative Partner, DDB Sydney
AB Maclean, Strategy Director, DDB Sydney
Paul Jansen, Senior Designer, DDB Sydney
Andy Flemming, Senior Copywriter, DDB Sydney
Cushla Morton, Senior Producer, DDB Sydney
PR photography: Kim de Leon, Sunday Collective
IKEA:
Kirsten Hasler, Head of Marketing and Insights
Erin Falconer, Head of Marketing Communications
Peter Moore, Head of Integrated Media
Patricia Routledge, Head of Communications
Natalie Turner, Communications Manager
Emma Losco, PR Leader
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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topics
50 years
Australia
Havas Host
Ikea
IKEA Australia
Kirsten Hasler
Kirsty Hunter
Mindshare
Olly Taylor
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