In what Val Buckley, digital director for Mindshare Interaction – the direct response division of Toronto HQ’d Mindshare Canada – calls a first-of-its-kind initiative, Ikea Canada ended up with a novel way to alert potential shoppers to its 30th anniversary sale this month, and provide them with a map to the nearest location for snapping up the bargains.

Buckley and her team asked the powers that be at the Weather Network if the driving maps portion of its website could be programmed to direct consumers to nearby Ikea stores whenever they clicked on a destination. Receiving an affirmative answer, Mindshare added a pop-up campaign featuring both messages about the special sale and cycling depictions of sale items.

‘It’s the first time Ikea and the Weather Network have ever done anything like this,’ Buckley tells MiC, ‘and everyone was thrilled with the outcome. It’s not a big thing, but it’s a great little strategic tactic that we used to reach people just before they venture onto the highway.’