Ikea Creates Platform for Customers to Sell Their Second-Hand Furniture

Norwegian Campaign via SMFB, Oslo, Promotes Brand's Sustainability Efforts

Ikea goods aren't exactly the sturdiest known to man, but the retailer recently set up a platform through which its customers could find a new home for the Besta, Hemnes, Malm or other pieces they're ready to part ways with. Working with SMFB, Oslo -- known for its unusual campaigns for the client (like one that engaged customers to help the brand when it was moving a store and another that let shoppers choose the type of ad they wanted to see via a web banner) -- the retailer launched "The Second Hand Campaign," an integrated effort that advertised customers' used Ikea products through outdoor, print, broadcast and web banners.
The agency and Ikea put a call out to its patrons, asking if they needed help selling their used goods. Many people responded and 50 were chosen for the campaign. Ikea gathered their used pieces and produced real ads using those goods. Alongside pictures of the second-hand items were printed the owners' actual phone numbers for potential buyers to call. Outside of the ads, Ikea's Facebook page became a digital flea market where sellers and buyers could do business every Sunday.
The effort ran for eight weeks, resulting in the sale of every used product.