Ikea hypes Oxford Street store with social storytelling
A social campaign featuring a black cab loaded with Ikea furniture touring the capital successfully built hype around the Oxford Street store launch.
Nicola Kemp
Editorial Director CreativebriefIkea is leaning into meme culture with a stunt to support the launch of its Oxford Street store.
An iconic black cab has been fitted out with a range of Ikea products including a lamp, sofa and armchair strapped to the roof.
The cab, which toured iconic London landmarks including Trafalgar Square, Westminster Bridge and Buckingham Palace, generated earned media through social and influencer buzz. While a dedicated social film captured the bemusement of passers-by.
The activation was created and executed by Ikea UK and Mother London. It was designed to help reassure Londoners that home delivery is available on larger Ikea products from Ikea Oxford Street.
We’ve all seen the memes on social media of people concerned about getting some of our larger furniture items onto the tube home.
Kemi Anthony, Marketing Communications Manager at Ikea
All 3,500 items available to purchase and take away in store can fit into Ikea’s iconic blue bag, including smaller furniture items such as a coffee table.
Kemi Anthony, Marketing Communications Manager at Ikea, explained: “We’ve all seen the memes on social media of people concerned about getting some of our larger furniture items onto the tube home. So, on opening Ikea Oxford Street – which is of course in such a central and bustling location – we knew we wanted to poke fun at these and also reassure Londoners that they don’t need to struggle!
Ikea opened the doors of its iconic Oxford Street store this month with a ribbon cutting ceremony and the unzipping of a giant blue Ikea bag, with Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London and Ambassador of Sweden to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Stefan Gullgren, in attendance.
