What it had to solve
In the interview, IKEA says the brief was open: do something amazing on social, insight-based, on the feeling of returning to work, using existing products.
The idea
Flip 'home office' into 'Office Home': playful vignettes show everyday IKEA products making the traditional office feel like home.
How it works
Dentsu shot short and longer vignettes at its sixth-floor Toronto office with in-house content creator Gurmeet Singh on a tight budget, with minimal shots and acting. IKEA later asked for a hero video on the move from home life to work life. The social-led run was 8 August to 10 September.
What it did
No results are given in the interview. IKEA says it works within 10,000 existing products and the campaign was social-led, with more social-first campaigns planned.
Background
In an LBB interview, Dentsu Canada and IKEA's integrated media leader Ami Warrington describe 'The Office Home Collection', a social-led IKEA Canada campaign that ran 8 August to 10 September 2022 across static images and short and longer videos. It plays on the back-to-office season, reminding reluctant returnees that the feeling of home can come to work.
Warrington says that after two years of home working Canadians had become used to the comfort of their own space, and the team wanted to set it against a traditional office through humorous product placements: 'from home office to Office Home'. Foot traffic in downtown Toronto had hit a pandemic high in June, so IKEA timed the launch for the post-summer back-to-school mindset.
Dentsu says the brief was open, 'do something amazing on social', and each piece had to remind you of the office and show how IKEA products could make it better, with nods to pets, home baking and greenery. Warrington's favourite is the bathroom-stall spot. IKEA says every product was already in its range.
To fit a limited budget, Dentsu used in-house creator Gurmeet Singh and shot at its own Toronto offices, writing simple vignettes with limited shots and little acting. An overcast shoot day threatened the sunlit look, and IKEA later asked for a hero video on the move from home to work to give the series an overarching narrative.
Why it lands
The timing met a real moment, when offices were refilling and many felt reluctant.
'Office Home' flips a familiar phrase, so the idea is understood at a glance.
Using existing products shows IKEA's range doing everyday jobs, not a special launch.
Shooting in Dentsu's own bright office turned a budget limit into a home-like look.
What you can take
A tight brief and a tighter budget push a team toward one clear insight, shot where they already work.
Since then
The campaign ran to 10 September 2022. IKEA's Warrington said the work was meant to be a larger social moment beyond always-on content, and Dentsu said more IKEA social-first campaigns would follow that year.
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