DEMOCRATIZING HOME-FURNITURE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES WITH 3D PRINTED ADD-ON
Category
D02. Multi Channel Experience
Entrant
McCANN Tel Aviv, ISRAEL
Idea Creation
McCANN Tel Aviv, ISRAEL
Media Placement
McCANN Tel Aviv, ISRAEL
PR
McCANN Tel Aviv, ISRAEL
Production
McCANN Tel Aviv, ISRAEL
Credits
Name
Company
Position
Sigal Abudy
McCann TLV
VP Creative
Eldad Weinberger
McCann TLV
CCO
Nadav Pressman
McCann TLV
CCO
Adrian Botan
McCann Europe
VP Creative
Eldar Yusupov
McCann TLV
Copywriter
Dana Moshkowitz
McCann TLV
Art Director
Kfir Peretz
McCann TLV
Art Director
Eddie Goldenberg
McCann TLV
Creative Technology
Idan Kravitz
McCann TLV
Copywriter
Yiftach Sarig
McCann TLV
Copywriter
Michal Popov
McCann TLV
VP Clients
Bat El Assyag
McCann TLV
Account Supervisor
Sapir Zagury-Geva
McCann TLV
Account Manager
Neva Zerah
McCann TLV
VP Production
Emmanuelle Raz
McCann TLV
Producer
Meital Zeevi
McCann TLV
Digital Producer
Keren Goldenzweig
McCann TLV
Strategic Planner
Catalin Dobre
McCann Bucharest
VP Creative
Carmen Bistrian
McCann Europe
CEM
Sanjiv Mistry
McCann London
ECD
Jamie Mietz
ECD
McCann London
Catalin Paduretu
McCann Bucharest
Art Director
Jeremy Reichman
McCann London
Producer
Corina Nica
McCann Bucharest
Corporate PR Executive
Yuval Wagner
Access Israel
founder
Michal Rimon
Access Israel
CEO
Nachman plotinzky
Milbat NGO
general manger
Yael shaked bregman
Milbat NGO
Deputy general manager
Mariana ben david
Milbat NGO
Industrial designer
Tomer Fadael
Milbat NGO
Industrial designer
Background
IKEA is known for its vast furniture and home appliances - taking pride in “creating a better everyday life for as many people as possible”. But what if we told you that for millions, IKEA was just not an option - until now.
1 in 10 people in the world suffer from serious disabilities - outside and at home. Which means 1 in 10 people have to compromise between functional furniture that screams “crippled” or beautiful but inaccessible ones. For them, IKEA’s designs were just not attainable: pretty but not functional. We wanted to change that.
Our brief was straightforward: bridging the gap between IKEA’s products and the special needs of people with disabilities. Our objectives were clear: Create a significant improvement in the ability of people with disabilities to enjoy IKEA’s products thus allowing them to enjoy great designs in affordable prices that are also specifically accessible to them.
Describe the creative idea (40% of vote)
IKEA is well known for supplying easy to build, affordable furniture that is designed for the modern-day home. So when we discovered that thousands couldn’t access IKEA’s easy and thoroughly designed solutions - we decided to act.
The first thing we did was turn to our target audience who taught us that it’s the small things we as manufacturers tend to miss and it's the small things that can make IKEA’s products more accessible in every home.
We decided to make the smallest change - with a huge impact: becoming the first ever major-retailer to revolutionize the use of its furniture for people with disabilities, for the first time giving them the option of design anywhere in the world. We hacked our own furniture, creating 13 small add-ons that could be simply 3-D printed and applied to our essential items - finally offering accessible furniture that doesn’t set anyone apart.
Describe the execution (40% of vote)
Bringing ThisAbles to life had to start with the design and one question: how can we make our products accessible? The answer: a one-week hackathon, hosted with our target audience turned advisors, consulting with product engineers, accessibility experts, psychologists, and IKEA’S designers. Together we focused on inventing the right add-ons that would truly simplify the use of our products.
Ultimately, we created 13 add-ons, each solving a different accessibility issue: Sofa elevation for easier ascent, super-zipper for our pillows-covers, lamp button-enlargement for easy lighting. We made sure our new products were not only affordable but looked exactly like their smaller existing versions, thus keeping with IKEA’s original clean designs. We wanted to make our designs accessible and consistent even through 3-D printer - so we also designed a manual to recreate them around the world. Basically, We designed a whole new way to use IKEA.
List the results (20% of vote)
ThisAbles drove one of the biggest organic international coverage campaigns in the history of Israeli brands, with PR value of $4M, reach of 489M unique users, and distribution among the biggest markets in the world. For a campaign originating in an 8M people country – that was overwhelming.
The ThisAbles designs proved popular and were featured in the biggest design magazines in the world: Fast Company, The Verge, and The Independent and more, sparking diverse conversations: from positive thinking and social responsibility, to product innovation and digital technology.
All this media made a difference and sent consumers to our website: More than 45,000 people from 127 countries visited ThisAbles.com, thousands of them downloading and 3D printing our add-ons.
The bottom line: We designed a whole new way to allow people to be more able, straight from their own home - and never gave up on making it pretty too.