Likeable Big Brother
To mark the opening of the IKEA in Rothenburg, four apartments were redecorated in front of a live webcam. The campaign was launched by Wirz.
On November 9, Ikea opened a new furniture store in Rothenburg near Lucerne. On 18,000 square meters and in over 50 showrooms, there are living ideas to see and buy. And the campaign for the opening started two months earlier: at the beginning of September, Ikea placed small advertisements in central Switzerland looking for space for the many new ideas. Within just under two weeks, over 300 people applied with their homes: they were all prepared to leave their own homes for up to six weeks so that Ikea could completely refurnish them. The reward: they were allowed to keep the furnishings. A jury selected four apartments and the redesign began. The changes could be followed live via webcams. The finished showrooms were digitized so that they could be viewed online at www.IKEA.ch/Rothenburg, similar to Google Street View. In addition, the opening and the private showrooms were advertised with posters, advertisements and on the radio. All of these measures were implemented together with the residents. Targeted PR measures also bore fruit: Central Switzerland's private television station Tele1 broadcast two special programs entitled "homeview". These featured exclusive reports on IKEA's "Space for new ideas" campaign. Blick am Abend, 20 Minuten, the Luzerner Zeitung and other media also reported on the campaign. pan
