Ikea isn’t a brand usually synonymous with luxury, so creative agency Mother aimed to show off the design and quality of its kitchen furnishings by inventing a fictional premium brand with its own commercial and influencer event.
The 30-second “Eureka Spiritis” spot is dripping with absurdity and pretension, with a woman playing a cello under the light of a full moon as a spokesman gives a tour of a kitchen, pointing out that the mix-and-match doors and drawers are guaranteed for 25 years.
And then, the letters of the brand’s name rearrange themselves to, “Surprise, it’s Ikea,” as the man swaps his blazer for an Ikea yellow shirt.
Ikea tricked media and influencers into attending a Eureka Spiritis brand launch in London Jan. 10, where they got a look at the actual kitchen from the TV ad. The campaign formally kicked off across the U.K. Jan. 11, running across video-on-demand, Pinterest and Meta, as well as in stores and on ikea.co.uk.
The brand also enlisted etiquette expert William Hanson to develop a 30-second TikTok hero film explaining how to use an Ikea kitchen. A set of three 10-second edits focus on Ikea’s quality, design and service.
Ikea hopes that improving perceptions of those three pillars will increase kitchen sales. Beyond measuring key business metrics, the brand will also monitor the cultural and social impact of the campaign.
“Kitchens are at the heart of every home and, through this campaign, we want to show that Ikea kitchens are stylish, practical and built to last by debunking some common misconceptions,” Ikea UK & Ireland marketing communication manager Kemi Anthony said in a statement. “With our playful ‘Eureka Spiritis’ misdirect, we want to give consumers a pleasant surprise and put Ikea kitchen’s design, quality and expertise front and center of the conversation.”
CREDITS
Brand: Ikea UK & Ireland
Agency: Mother
Creative: Mother
Strategy: Mother
Media buying: iProspect
Consumer PR: Hope&Glory
Ikea Kitchens – Main AV
Production company: MindsEye
Director: Gustav Sundström
Director of photography: Lionel Turner
Executive producer: Debbie Ninnis
Producer: Craig Dixon
Production manager: Laura Thomas- Smith
Offline edit: Shift Post
Editor: Saam Hodivala
Offline producer: Kirsty Oldfield
Post production: 1920vfx
VFX 2D supervisor/lead artist: Chrys Aldred
VFX 2D artists: Loredana Gangemi, Matilda Craig, Taylor Webber
DMP artist: Jordan Haynes
VFX 3D supervisor/lead artist: Ben Revens
VFX 3D artists: Elena Schurkus, Oscar Hill
VFX producer: David Keegan
VFX production coordinator: Molly Russell
Color: 1920vfx
Colorist: Kai Van Beers
Sound design: Factory
Sound engineer: Jon Clarke
Sound producer: Ciara Wakley
Music supervision: Mr Pape
Track title: Eureka It’s Me
Composer: Josh Plotner
Publisher: Mr Pape LTD
Master Rights: Mr Pape LTD
Ikea Kitchens – TikTok
Production company: Explore Impossible
Director: Adam De Silva
Director of photography: Josh Monie
Production manager: Amy Warren
Post production: Explore Impossible
Sound design: Soundnode
Ikea Kitchens – CGI Images
Production company: Ride Shotgun
