IKEA Bergen in Norway was about to move into a brand new store, 300 meters from the old one. The move had been thoroughly covered by the local press during the building process, and we had to find new reasons for media to cover the event, which could also engage the population of Bergen. We Thought, what is more important than a strong back when you're moving? Helpful friends, of course! So, could we get the people of Bergen to actually help us moving, and conduct the whole opening?

Being on a way lower budget than what is normal for an IKEA-opening, forced us to think different.

We therefore made a campaign in different media channels, asking people to help us move. Could someone store all the balls from the playroom? Does anyone have a shovel for planting a tree? Can you take 10 minutes and help us write a speech? Etc etc. We made a fun and inviting visual universe, and instead of communicating when and where the opening would take place, we just asked for help, doing different tasks. Not only got this unusual approach a lot of attention, but it actually resulted in the whole opening event being conducted by the target group itself - making them a whole new media.

Bergen is Norways second biggest city, still 20% of its population visited the new IKEA store during the opening weekend. Breaking all previous records. Actually 1 in 8 of all people living in the whole region payed a visit, and all sales records from earlier years were demolished. And the best part: the opening campaign was done on a lower budget than previous openings in Norway, thanks to the help from Bergens population and the media coverage generated from the campaign.

Considering Bergen have already had an IKEA for 30 yrs, this makes it the most successful opening ever.