Tag: SMFB

Ikea Social Catalogue

IKEA has been innovating every year with their classic paper catalog. In Norway they decide to take this classic paper catalog and make a social media version of it. With zero budget, they ask their 130,000 Facebook and Instagram fans to post the page of their favourite product on Instagram and add the hashtag #ikeakatalogen, for the chance of winning that product.

How the Social Catalogue works

The mechanic is intentionally lightweight. IKEA asks fans to pick their favourite item from the catalogue, photograph the page, and post it publicly so the product becomes discoverable through personal networks. Over time, more and more items get documented and shared by real people, effectively recreating the catalogue as a social feed.

Why print is the trigger, not the limitation

Most brands treat print as a one-way broadcast. Here, print is the starting gun. The physical catalogue becomes the prompt that drives people online, and the content that fuels sharing is already in consumers’ hands.

The growth loop is built into social behaviour

The “social” part is not a slogan. It is distribution mechanics. When someone posts their chosen page, their network sees it. That drives curiosity, repeats the behaviour, and compounds reach without buying equivalent media.

What to steal

  • Use an owned asset as the trigger. The catalogue is already shipped. The campaign rides that distribution.
  • Make participation effortless. One photo and one hashtag, then you are in.
  • Let the audience do the indexing. Fans effectively organise and surface products through what they choose to share.
  • Reward desire, not trivia. The prize is the exact thing the person already wants.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the IKEA Social Catalogue?

A campaign that turns the printed IKEA catalogue into a social feed by asking people to photograph and share their favourite pages with #ikeakatalogen for a chance to win the featured product.

What is the core behaviour it uses?

People naturally share things they want. The campaign turns that impulse into distribution and product discovery.

Why is this effective for retail?

Because it turns product browsing into social proof, and social proof into incremental reach, without asking people to learn a new behaviour.

What is the simplest version to replicate?

Pick one existing owned channel, define one shareable action, and reward the exact item the person publicly chooses.

IKEA Beröra

To launch the iPad version of the IKEA catalogue in Norway, ad agency SMFB created a brand new IKEA product called “Beröra”.

“Beröra” is a sewing kit with a special conductive thread that you sew into the index finger of your favourite gloves. Once the operation is done, the gloves work on a touch screen.

The idea in one clean sentence: Beröra turns any winter glove into a touchscreen glove, so the IKEA catalogue app fits the reality of how people live and move.

A launch mechanic that feels like a product, not a campaign

The smart move is that the “ad” looks and behaves like an IKEA item. A needle, instructions, and conductive thread. Simple enough to DIY, tangible enough to talk about, and useful enough to keep around after the novelty fades.

Conductive thread matters because most touch screens register conductive contact. So the kit essentially makes a glove fingertip “readable” to the device without forcing people to buy specialised tech gloves.

In cold-climate retail markets, the fastest way to accelerate digital adoption is to remove the tiny physical frictions that stop people trying it in the moment.

Results and recognition

The promotion generated a lot of interest. As reported at the time, 12,000 kits went in roughly two weeks, and the IKEA Norway iPad catalogue app broke download records.

The work later picked up awards-circuit recognition, including a One Show merit award, and gold at the Festival of Media in Montreux in the Best Launch Campaign category.

What to steal for your next app launch

  • Turn the barrier into the giveaway. Do not “explain” the friction. Remove it with something people can hold.
  • Make the object shareable offline. A physical product travels through homes, offices, and friend groups faster than a banner ever will.
  • Keep the installation simple. If the user needs a tutorial longer than a minute, the drop-off kills word of mouth.
  • Let the product demonstrate the promise. When the benefit is self-evident, belief comes for free.

A few fast answers before you act

What is Beröra, in plain terms?

Beröra is a DIY conductive-thread sewing kit created for IKEA Norway. You sew the thread into a glove fingertip so it works on touchscreen devices, supporting the launch of IKEA’s iPad catalogue.

Why does a physical kit help launch a digital catalogue?

Because it removes a real-world usage barrier. If people cannot comfortably use a phone or tablet in winter conditions, they will not build the habit. The kit makes the app feel practical, not theoretical.

What makes this a strong “earned media” idea?

It creates a story that is easy to repeat. IKEA made a product that solves a modern annoyance, and it is tied directly to the app being promoted. That combination tends to travel well.

What is the key mechanism that drives engagement here?

Utility creates trial. Trial creates talk. Talk creates downloads. The kit is the trigger that makes the catalogue experience easier, then social sharing does the distribution work.

What should you measure if you do something similar?

Track speed of redemption, install lift during the distribution window, and repeat usage of the app. If you have it, add branded search lift and share-of-voice during the launch period.