IKEA Kicks Off Tweet Campaign In Canada & An Influential German Book Critic Reviews Its New Catalog

The Swedish furniture maker is continuing its lighthearted approach to marketing as it kicks off efforts to raise awareness of its 2016 catalog, which is being mailed out to customers this month and is mirrored online.

In 2014, we saw IKEA promote its 2015 catalog as an ingenious new device, a “book book” — playing off the hype surrounding the release of the new iPhone around the same time. This year, it’s combining humor, social media and a techie gimmick to introduce the new catalog in Canada and in German-speaking countries.

The German language effort, which comes with English subtitles, features an influential book critic — Hellmuth Karasek — who the audience likely knows as the long-time culture editor of Der Spiegel and as a TV personality on Das Literarische Quartett (which translates as The Literary Quartet).

Among his observations (made against the background of sophisticated classical music):

• “The book by IKEA could be criticized for featuring more pictures than characters.“
• “The people have to squeeze in between the furniture, they have very little to say and what they do say is hardly coherent — and yet the book is such a huge success.“

The video, posted on both YouTube and Facebook, has been promoted via IKEA’s social media accounts and has gotten mostly positive comments. In its press release, Ikea notes that Kasarek had complete editorial freedom and wasn’t instructed what to say about the catalog.

In Canada, IKEA has taken a more aggressive approach, essentially rewarding people for tweeting with the hashtag #GrabLifeByTheCatalogue. The company is taking a special Twitter-enabled vending machine to its stores around the country over the next two weekends. When people push a button on the machine, they receive a unique number that they can then tweet to @IkeaCanada accompanied by the hashtag. Doing so will reward the store visitor with a prize and a chance to win a bigger reward.

“We know that Canadians like to engage and connect through social media,” Stefan Sjostrand, the president of IKEA Canada, said in a statement.

IKEA promoted the campaign through its social media points of presence and has succeeded in spurring tweets by customers collecting rewards.

The IKEA vending machine is coming to your IKEA store: http://t.co/csoTJxBPQn #GrabLifeByTheCatalogue pic.twitter.com/Wn1owD5kGE

— IKEA Canada (@IKEACanada) August 20, 2015

Such a crowd with us at the eaton centre today! #GrabLifeByTheCatalogue @IKEACanada pic.twitter.com/72m7eiaZFi

— Janet Xi (@janeteleven) August 20, 2015

#GrabLifeByTheCatalogue My prize at the IKEA vending machine at the Eaton Centre Toronto. pic.twitter.com/5XoValHUFC

— Julie S (@Mama_Bear66) August 20, 2015

Its like Christmas morning when I get the new Ikea Catalogue! The boundless possibilities!!! ?????????? @IKEACanada #GrabLifeByTheCatalogue

— starbranded (@starbranded) August 20, 2015