IKEA’s smart expansion of the target audience

With two creative initiatives, the multinational furniture retailer IKEA is wooing new customer demographics. For its expansion into the United Arab Emirates, the Swedish furniture maker “clones” the furniture of three iconic TV series. Through a partnership with the sportswear manufacturer Adidas, the company aims to expand its female target audience in a sporty manner – naturally, in the comfort of their own home.

Feels like Home(r)

Who wants to live like the Simpsons? According to Ikea market research, apparently families in the United Arab Emirates. Specifically, international business men with families, and probably not the locals. The Springfield dream comes true with the sofa “Knislinge,” the rug “Lattjo,” and the floor lamp “Jansö.” However, the furniture of Homer and Marge was not specially redesigned but selected from the existing range. The idea for this initiative came from the agency Publicis Spain. Its creatives took a whole two months to put together the good old Simpson living room as well as two more living room ensembles.

Serial Living

Now, IKEA customers worldwide can recreate not only the Simpson home but also the inviting living room of “Friends” protagonist Monica Geller and the eerie living space of Joyce Byers, the mother of the missing boy from the Netflix series “Stranger Things.” The collection is aptly named “Real Life Series” and is presented with order links on the corresponding website. The initiative is promoted through print advertisements as well as on IKEA’s social media channels. The images were edited with 3D software to achieve an “ultra-realistic” aesthetic.