IKEA is hoping its second go at a design-focused web series will bring more Canadians into its purchase funnel, with more promotion of its the trailer and a focus on visibility with high-impact placements.
The full four-episode series, Swede Space, launches today with all Season 2 episodes available on its IKEA Canada YouTube channel.
This instalment of Swede Space is once again hosted by Kathy Davey, the retailer’s head of design, who offers organizational solutions, such as creating design zones that support the remote workspace and make it more functional.
In the first season, which launched last fall, IKEA showcased affordable ways to give different areas of the home a design refresh, with episodes that included “Easy Entryway Fixes”, “Rental Bathroom Refresh” and “Relaxing Bedroom Oasis.”
Johanna Andren, IKEA Canada’s head of marketing, says the response to the first season resonated in terms of ad tracking and engagement metrics. But beyond the positive lift to brand metrics, IKEA saw “incredible lift to product interest,” making it clear it had an opportunity to use the branded series to extend the consumer journey.
In terms of the content itself, it did that in season two by fundamentally focusing on the importance of life at home and the relationship people have with their spaces.
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But the results from season one also drove some key changes to the media strategy.
“In season one, we focused on episode sequencing, which we found limited our overall reach,” Andren explains. With this season, it’s promoting the trailer more heavily to promote the release of the episodes as a complete season. It’s also using high-impact placements, like YouTube masthead ads, to grab the attention of people already on the platform and where the brand already maintains a relationship with thousands of consumers.
Releasing the “short and snackable” episodes all at once, Andren says, also allows viewers go directly to episodes relevant to their individual needs, whether it’s designing a room, to making space to exercise or learning more on how to incorporate aspects of sustainable living through IKEA’s circular product journey. That keeps viewers engaged with the series at the moment they find out about it, instead of hoping they return when the episode they are looking for is finally released.
Profiling the brand’s head of design was also important to leverage its democratic design philosophy and home design expertise. The media landscape, Andren says, has become increasingly open to third party influencers and creators to showcase messages on behalf of brands.
For Swede Space, IKEA partnered with media AOR Carat on media, creative AOR Rethink on scriptwriting, The Story Lab on content strategy and production.
