IKEA SHOWS THE MESSY REALITY OF LIFE WITH KIDS IN MIDDLE EAST WORK BY THIS IS LIBRE

A new campaign from This is Libre aims to establish IKEA’s reputation as a beloved brand for families with kids in the Middle East, facilitating children’s creativity and play at home.

The campaign, centred around the creative concept “Your Home Will Never Be the Same”, is a provocative invitation to children to disrupt their homes. It includes a TV spot that shows a series of small children disrupting their homes; drawing on walls, leaving toys on the floor, entering rooms they’re not supposed to go into, messing up their parents’ clothes and soft furnishings, making noise and generally creating havoc.

Gabriela Diaz-Guardamino, CMO for IKEA in Kuwait, Morocco and Jordan, appointed the Madrid, London and Stockholm-based creative agency This is Libre to create the campaign in November 2024. In one of her previous roles as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at IKEA Spain, Diaz-Guardamino worked with the founders at This is Libre on several campaigns over seven years, winning awards including a Grand Prize for Effectiveness. Diaz-Guardamino worked as Commercial Director at IKEA Japan and as Head of Global Service Offering in Sweden before moving to the Middle East four months ago.

One of its main challenges was to connect emotionally with consumers who are culturally very different from those in Europe, said This is Libre Founder and CEO Félix Vicente. For example, traditionally there are certain rooms that are out of bounds to children in the Middle Eastern home, and the ad daringly shows kids playing into places that they are “forbidden to enter.” 

To understand this and ensure the work was relevant, the agency employed a Cultural Strategist based in Dubai with longstanding experience in the whole region.

“The social reality of life with children at home in the Middle East is very different from what we know in Europe, and even very different in each of the three countries where the campaign will be launched,” explained Félix Vicente. “That is why the main challenge for us was, in addition to appealing to universal insights in terms of upbringing, play and enjoyment at home, to try to understand how parenthood is lived in the region and how children change the home.”

“Our creative idea is a provocative invitation to children to challenge their homes and their own parents, with the aim of explaining to them their mission in their little world, their own home,” added Mónica Moro, CCO of This is Libre. “They come to change everything, our economy, our time, our enjoyment, and in these countries specifically, we also invite them to invade spaces that are forbidden to them. IKEA is the expert brand that can accompany them to develop imagination, creativity and free and safe play in their homes.”

The campaign initially launched this week in Morocco and will roll out in further markets across the Middle East later this year. It includes a film running on TV, social media and cinemas, together with a graphic campaign in digital and outdoor, spotlighting IKEA products that show children making a mess, but contrast their behaviour with the joy that they bring to their parents’ lives. There will also be an OOH activation that welcomes real newborns, appealing again to the fact that their home, with them, will never be the same.

Gabriela Diaz-Guardamino, CMO for IKEA Middle East in Kuwait, Morocco and Jordan, commented: “IKEA has a very clear vision: to create a better everyday life for the majority of people. My big challenge in my current role as CMO in Kuwait, Morocco and Jordan is to make IKEA a leading brand in these culturally diverse markets, positioning the brand in a strong and attractive way for all audiences and in all areas of the home. Working with This is Libre means working again with a fantastic team of professionals who share our passion and know the brand well.”

Source: This is Libre

  Advertising, Campaign, Ikea, Marketing, This is Libre