Challenge
IKEA has helped Canadians bring their first spaces to life for decades, so, it was hard to believe the brand hadn’t yet made a mark on where the next generation of renters and home buyers spend way more time than they’d like to admit: TikTok.
TikTok had quickly become the destination for Gen Z and millennials to source inspiration for their spaces. Items from jars to desks were going viral but IKEA wasn’t present in the chat. The brand needed to carve out space on the platform to maintain its leadership and prevent another brand becoming the audience’s go-to.
VERY simply put – IKEA had to launch on TikTok.
Solution
We learned that while IKEA may not have officially joined TikTok, the brand was already a massive topic of conversation. This wasn’t about creating a party on the platform, but joining one that was already in full swing.
We launched our account with a nod to one of the most distinctive commercials in IKEA’s history: Start the car, which aptly became “Start the Phone”. The nod to where we’ve been and where we are now struck a chord, with the video earning 1.5M organic views despite our only 200 followers at the time of posting.
We knew it was important to establish our fresh tone out of the gate and followed with videos that allowed us to show up in trends in ways that was true to IKEA.
We also invited others to create with us identifying Canadian creators to both collaborate and invite new audiences to discover IKEA.
Each post built on the last as we created a channel that wasn’t only true to IKEA but one that truly entertained.
Results
In 2 short months, IKEA’s TikTok trajectory has been astronomical.
Our content is getting the love: Our engagement rate took us to the #1 Canadian furniture retailer in Canada on TikTok and was 4X greater than loved Canadian brands like Tim Hortons.
We're keeping our audience hooked: Our average watch time exceeds TikTok norms by 200%
So, despite being late to the party, it’s safe to say IKEA Canada’s TikTok entrance was anything but unnoticed.
