HARD TO SAY

TitleHARD TO SAY
BrandIKEA AUSTRIA GMBH
Product/ServiceIKEA PRODUCTS
Category A01. Cinema & Theatrical: Fiction & Non-Fiction
Entrant DDB BERLIN, GERMANY
Idea Creation DDB BERLIN, GERMANY
Production E+P FILMS Munich, GERMANY
Production 2 KAEPTN POSTPRODUKTION Hamburg, GERMANY
Production 3 GERMAN WAHNSINN Hamburg, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Dennis May DDB Group Germany Chief Creative Officer
Gabriel Mattar DDB Group Germany Executive Creative Director
Fabian Roser DDB Group Germany Creative Managing Director
Ricardo Wolff DDB Group Germany Creative Director
Jack Christensen DDB Group Germany Senior Copywriter
Pina Pech DDB Group Germany Senior Project Manager
Felipe Cury DDB Group Germany Senior Art Director
Meike van Meegen DDB Group Germany Head of TV
Rebecca Holz DDB Group Germany Senior Account Manager
Sibel Topal DDB Group Germany Junior Account Manager
David Helmut e+p films GmbH Director
Anke Olesch e+p films GmbH Executive Producer
Markus Hölting e+p films GmbH Producer
Billy Gropper e+p films GmbH Camera Operator
Luisa Klein KAEPTN Postproduktion GmbH Editor

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

Let’s face it, nobody goes to the cinema to watch the commercials. To catch people’s attention, we had to be just as entertaining as the film they were about to see. When the ‘Hard to say’ spots were created the length of the films was intentionally left open to avoid the restrictions of working in a fixed timeframe, prioritizing entertainment above format. As well as this, the scripts were also left very open to allow for experimentation and improvisation. This allowed us to get the most humour possible out of each film.

Background

IKEA furniture has become part of popular culture. It’s famous for its simple, classic Swedish design and quirky product names. IKEA wanted to tap into the already strong awareness of the brand to remind people why they love IKEA so much. So, that next time they think about buying some furniture they think of IKEA.

Describe the creative idea

IKEA is world famous for its simple, easy to put together products. Pronouncing their names, however, can be a losing battle. That is the premise of these two cinema spots from IKEA. In each film, an IKEA customer builds some IKEA furniture while attempting to pronounce its name correctly. Despite the best efforts of a native Swede to assist, we soon discover that building an item such as a Förhöja, is far easier than saying Förhöja…or is that Fardenfar?

Describe the strategy

The strategy was simple. To create entertaining and engaging films that would appeal to people across the spectrum and remind them why IKEA is still the best place to go when you need simple to build, stylish furniture. And since nobody goes to the cinema to watch the commercials we aimed to catch people’s attention by being just as entertaining and engaging as the film they were about to see.

Describe the execution

The spots ran in the cinema in the first half of 2018.

Describe the outcome

In the end not only was everyone entertained but they also got a free Swedish lesson as well.