Title	THE LAGOM COLLECTION
Brand	IKEA UK
Product/Service	FURNITURE (VARIOUS)
Category	G04. Social Behaviour & Cultural Insight
Entrant	PROXIMITY LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation	PROXIMITY LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Media Placement	VIZEUM London, UNITED KINGDOM
PR	HOPE & GLORY London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production	PROXIMITY LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

Name	Company	Position
John Treacy	Proximity London	Executive Creative Director
Jay Packham	Proximity London	Senior Art Director
Ian Cochran	Proximity London	Senior Copywriter
James Bartram	Proximity London	Strategy Director
Chloe McMahon	Proximity London	Associate Planning Director
Zoe Jones	Proximity London	Business Director
Francesca Kendle	Proximity London	Account Director
Alice Kenyon	Proximity London	Account Manager
Sam Lewis	Proximity London	Data Planner
Kirsty Ireton	Proximity London	Designer
Tom Hughes	Proximity London	Copywriter
Fleur Hollett	Proximity London	Senior Project Manager
Iain Neal	IKEA UK	Country Loyalty Leader
Clare Ryan	IKEA UK	Country Integrated Media Leader
Mike Creevy	IKEA UK	Social Media Specialist
Natalie Cook	IKEA UK	Digital Content Specialist
Aileen McCreadie	IKEA UK	Live Lagom Programme Manager
Sharon McCracken	IKEA UK	Sustainable Life at Home Leader

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

Tasked with expressing the IKEA approach to sustainability to consumers in an authentic, and action-oriented way, we launched the £0 Lagom Collection. A set of ideas for turning existing items into something new, which were shared across social media, CRM, web and in-store workshops (later developed into IGTV content). To ensure the ideas held maximum relevance, we identified audiences based on levels of engagement with previous sustainability initiatives or communications, purchase of products with sustainability elements and adjusted the journey and messages they received accordingly to optimise their next best action.

Background

Sustainability is the topic of the moment, and as a brand that delivers ‘the wonderful everyday’ for millions, doing so sustainably was becoming increasingly important to IKEA customers too. Globally, IKEA have a huge ambition to inspire and enable 1bn people to live more sustainably by 2030, and a strategy in place guiding the entire business from product development, to food range, services offering and beyond. But, the cost of articulating this in the wrong way is significant, with consumers being hyper-aware of ‘greenwashing’ and any negative response amplified rapidly through social media. Additionally, it’s no longer enough to behave in a way that’s not bad. Consumers want brands to do and won’t act themselves until they see businesses, authorities and peers acting. We needed to articulate our green credentials, authentically, giving customers a way to engage (ideally still with a commercial payoff).

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

We launched IKEA’s first ever £0 range – the Lagom Collection. Instead of asking people to buy new items, we encouraged them first to turn an existing item into something new. We kicked off by giving ideas of our own like turning old tea towels into curtains, plastic bottles into planters and the iconic blue bag into a picnic blanket. The creative stood out by challenging people to think about small and easy things they can do with items around the home. It also allowed for an evolution into a co-creation phase, inviting people to share their own £0 Lagom creations. We published the best of these ideas in the £0 Lagom Catalogue. Launched on Pinterest (rather than printed) and at the IKEA’s most sustainable store in the world in Greenwich, London. Here consumers could see these ‘new’ £0 Lagom products and be inspired by the stories behind their creation.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

A key barrier to living more sustainably is often the lack of visibility of what others - including businesses - are doing. Additionally, it often feels like a huge, intangible issue - too hard for any individual to tackle by themselves. Our approach used the philosophy of ‘Lagom’, fom the Swedish ‘Lagom ar bast’ meaning ‘the right amount is best’, it encapsulates the IKEA attitude to sustainability. Small changes undertaken by lots of people, accumulating to make a real difference. But, we also recognised that motivation, knowledge and behaviour in this area can vary significantly. So we identified three core audiences based on indicators we could see in the database, as well as across paid channels, of how engaged they were in the topic of sustainability. The messaging, sequence of comms and onward journeys were then tailored accordingly to ensure optimum response.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

Each of the £0 Lagom ideas were carefully considered to re-use and upcycle existing IKEA products or items people would traditionally have thrown away, like tin cans. Shot to match existing product ranges they were launched to Instagram stories, on Facebook and Pinterest. Momentum was driven with PR and influencer activity. We created and filmed In-store workshops for consumers to learn how to create £0 Lagom products. These were shared on IGTV to make them accessible to the wider community. All the work carried the hashtag #livelagom and encouraged consumers to share their own ideas. Two months after launch we published the best of these ideas in the ‘Live Lagom’ Catalogue. Launched on Pinterest (rather than printed) and at IKEA’s most sustainable store in the world in Greenwich, London, where consumers could see these new £0 Lagom products and be inspired by the stories behind their creation.

List the results (30% of vote)

We’ve established an awareness and understanding of the IKEA sustainability ethos, with a 21% increase in recognition of IKEA as a brand which ‘makes a positive impact on society and the environment’. And despite being a campaign to sell a lifestyle NOT product, it drove spend uplift across all audiences, with the average increase per visit at £20, rising to over £40 increase among those least engaged with sustainability, proving the impact of the segmentation. Overall, the campaign drove an ROI of 41:1 with 34% of transactions containing a ‘sustainable’ item (something which has been made sustainably, using sustainable materials or helps people live a more sustainable life). Finally, at a time when our audience are more critical than ever, the campaign saw outstanding results from social media activity. Impressions totalled 6.4m, engagement rate reached 38%, and there was a 73% increase in followers of the existing Facebook Lagom group.

Please tell us about the social behaviour and / or cultural insights that inspired your campaign

We had three key insights driving our campaign: 1. Increasingly people recognise that change is required from humans to help prevent climate change. However, our potential individual impact isn’t easily understood, as it often feels like too big, serious, complex and distant an issue for us to engage with. 2. We tend to see worst case scenario, especially when we can’t see tangible change – meaning we get demotivated quickly and think there is nothing meaningful we can do. This is reinforced by the focus of the media on bad news which gives us a ‘systemically too negative impression of the world around us.’ (Hans Rosling, 2018) 3. There are strong perceptions that governments, businesses, and other people are not doing enough – and the perceived personal cost of living sustainably is high, so we are not inclined to do so when corporate organisations with ‘greater means’ are not either.