IKEA exists to create a better life at home.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that women do three times more housework than men. Time spent on housework is time that can’t be spent on other things, so addressing this is super important for the progress of gender equality.

The work-from-home culture that came with Covid made the problem even worse.

BRIEF

For International Women’s Day, IKEA wanted a campaign that would help shift inequalities in the home and demonstrate its belief that an equal home is a better home.

OBJECTIVES

• Create multi-market presence around International Women’s Day activation.

• Build equity around IKEAs equality commitments and belief that all homes should be created equally because a better home creates a better life.

IKEA exists to create a better life at home.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that women do three times more housework than men. Time spent on housework is time that can’t be spent on other things, so addressing this is super important for the progress of gender equality.

The work-from-home culture that came with Covid made the problem even worse.

BRIEF

For International Women’s Day, IKEA wanted a campaign that would help shift inequalities in the home and demonstrate its belief that an equal home is a better home.

OBJECTIVES

• Create multi-market presence around International Women’s Day activation.

• Build equity around IKEAs equality commitments and belief that all homes should be created equally because a better home creates a better life.

Insight: Covid has impacted roles and responsibilities in the home (women have done disproportionately more, and for some men more time at home has been a moment of awakening to the imbalance).

Tension: The gender debate is often divisive. Yet to change things men and women need to be able to come together openly around the issue.

Approach: Use 2021 as a reset opportunity - start a conversation within households about how individuals approach life at home and the roles they take on – fostering curiosity, openness and understanding.

Audience: designed for millennials re-evaluating how they live together; usable by any household. Using Instagram as primary channel allowed IKEA to create a visual, playful, sharable experience.

Research: Strategy informed by Globescan report on gender equality (17 markets, landscape, expert interviews, consumer opinion), IKEA primary research, psychologist interviews.

Together with a relationship expert Jennie Miller, we turned psychoanalytical questions into playful conversation starters, inspired by games like Cards Against Humanity and School of Life.

Players answered questions like, “What’s your worst home habit” and “Do you do any housework that goes unnoticed?”, from their own perspectives, sparking fun and useful discussions.

We used the Instagram Stories interface to feel like a physical card game for a real-life experience.

The games was adapted for 25 markets.

Now a permanent feature on IKEA’s Instagram Highlights, available globally at any time.

To gain earn attention and relevance, FiftyFifty was launched on International Women’s Day together with Swedish pop star and passionate feminist Zara Larsson.

Content films of Zara Larsson playing the game with her boyfriend demonstrated the game and attracted attention.

Campaign polls and quizzes highlighted the problem and drove Instagram engagement.

Reach & Engagement

• 916M+ Earned reach

• 522,000+ players worldwide

• 541K+ video views on social, across global and country retail channels

• 11.9M impressions on owned social channels

Sentiment

• 96% Positive to neutral sentiment

Scale

• IKEA’s most activated social impact campaign of all time

• Activated in 25 countries (out of a possible 31)