Ikea challenges Aussie families to ‘Make Time for Living’ in a new brand campaign via The Monkeys

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teddy1.jpgIKEA Australia has today launched a significant new brand campaign calling on Australian families to loosen the collar at home and take a less regimented approach to family life via The Monkeys.

The ‘Make Time for Living’ campaign launches today with an integrated communications strategy and will roll out over the coming weeks with a 2 minute brand film, 30 second and 15 second TV commercials, a new online content hub, out of home and magazine advertising and a Spring/Summer brochure.

Launching today via the IKEA website, YouTube, Facebook and digital seeding, the 2 minute brand film introduces Australia to Teddy, a straight talking nine year old boy whose call to arms asks all Australian families to embrace a more spontaneous and unstructured approach to living: “Mum, Dad, Sis – enough’s enough. I mean, every minute of every day is just getting more and more full. None of us see one another nearly as much as we could do, should do or want to, and the very reason we have a home seems to be less and less what we use it for.”

Says Rebecca Darley, IKEA country marketing manager: “IKEA has identified a big societal problem that is impeding family togetherness in Australia. Despite seeing ourselves as the laid back ‘lucky country’, Australians are treating family life way too seriously. It’s strict, regimented and obsessed with productivity – an overscheduled diary is worn as a badge of pride by parents who run themselves ragged trying to keep up with societal pressures.

“We discovered that a spontaneous and unstructured moment of family togetherness is often considered a waste of time – it’s as if Aussies have forgotten about the importance of just spending time together at home”.

Via the new brand campaign, IKEA is setting out to inspire Australian families and champion a strong point of view on family life at home that makes people sit up and think about the way they live.

Says Darley: “Our goal is to create a stronger emotional connection between Australians and the IKEA brand through market relevance and understanding our customers. We have chosen to tell the story from a child’s point of view because it is so infrequently heard on the topic of home life – yet our decisions in balancing togetherness with productivity directly affect children’s experience of ‘family’.”

30 second and 15 second TV spots of Teddy’s speech will launch across free-to-air and subscription TV channels, and cinema from 22nd September.

Also launching today is IKEA’s ‘Home of Inspiration‘, an online content hub created by Lavender, showcasing editorial style, locally relevant content focused on open plan living, as well as ideas for making time for living at home.

A magazine and outdoor campaign, created by The Monkeys, will launch in early October. This activity will support the overall brand idea of ‘Make Time for Living’ by showcasing the IKEA solutions that can contribute to family life at home and create a space that enables them to spend time together.

The new ‘Make Time for Living’ territory will be the overarching sentiment across all of IKEA’s marketing communications for the next 12 months and will also be integrated throughout all five east coast stores.

IKEA Country Marketing Manager: Rebecca Darley

IKEA Advertising Manager: Rowena Kanna

Creative Agency: The Monkeys

Film Production: Revolver

Director: Matt Devine, The Glue Society

Post: The Editors

Sound: Nylon

Content Production Company: Will O’Rourke

Director: Richard Bullock

Photography: Michael Corridore, Carine Thevenau, Jeremy Shaw

Media Agency: Match Media

Communication Director: Nick Wokes

Communications Manager: Mark Echo

Communications Manager: Russell Dowse

Online Content Hub Agency: Lavender

Client Services Director: Gayle While

PR Agency: Mango

GM: Claire Salvetti

Account Director: Ella Tacchi