The Uncampaign

Every year, 30 million Italians eagerly awaited the arrival of the latest IKEA catalogue in their mailboxes. In 2020, however, for the first time in its history, the brand decided not to deliver it directly to people’s homes, distributing it exclusively in-store instead.

Admitting the end of such a beloved ritual to Italians was unthinkable. This led to the creation of “The UnCampaign”, the first campaign designed to be ignored. A campaign intentionally unreadable, indecipherable, unreachable and unfindable, built on deliberately counterintuitive touchpoints and media: OOH placed in the least trafficked areas of Italy, incomprehensible print ads, display advertising on the least visited websites, and social channels used in reverse, with complete unknowns as influencers and endless Instagram Stories, all meant to be skipped.

Despite the news, the campaign was revealed through a dedicated video that engaged and entertained the audience. The result: a sharp increase in both in-store and website traffic, along with brand awareness. All achieved with 0 million earned media impressions.