JCPR

Brands are always looking for the next best and brightest way to engage with consumers and bring them closer to their products. We found this story via @blogtillyoudrop a really nice example of a brand doing just that, and in such a clever, compelling way.  It all started with over 100,000 IKEA fans creating and joining a Facebook page called ‘I Wanna Have a Sleepover in IKEA’. IKEA saw this and responded with a competition to win a place at the ‘IKEA Big Sleepover’.  100 winners got to spend the night at the Lakeside store, choosing their own bed linen, finding a bed in the bed department and sleeping over in IKEA for the night. They got a goody bag, cake, hot chocolate, free massages and manicures… and the best bit? Sam Faiers from The Only Way is Essex read everyone a bedtime story (beyond jealous of those competition winners now)!

To add even more value to this experience, they had a sleep expert on hand offering tips and tricks on getting a good night’s sleep, backed up by research that most people spend only 10 minutes making a bed purchase. What’s clever is that the IKEA product was totally at the heart of this event (it doesn’t get much closer than sleeping on it), but the consumer got such a rich experience above and beyond the product that genuinely held their attention and gave something back. The activity surely paid off for IKEA, generating a lot of conversation online from this event and no doubt those 100 people now think of IKEA much more fondly than ever before.

Credits should also go to @mackcollier for penning a great blog post  on this.

P.S We also love another recent campaign from IKEA which is a really clever way to recruit people. Watch the video for more information here.