How do you create excitement and drive visitation for a new IKEA store opening in a city undergoing a retail expansion boom – not to mention for a brand that's already been there for 34 years?
A New Store – even for a brand as loved as IKEA – now equaled Old News for the people of Richmond, BC. Leo Burnett had to find a way to make a new, bigger and better IKEA store opening an event that couldn't be ignored.
The objectives were a 35% increase in sales and 50% increase in visitors versus the most recent store opening of similar size and market.
In a city doubling in population and adding new retail brands by the month, the prevalent behaviour had become to hang back a week or two until the crowds died down. Furthermore, Richmond's unique cultural and social surroundings had created a unique retail duality. Even though crazy, busy and frenetic could repel, the right mix of it was also part of the allure.
To convince people that opening day was a must-attend event, the agency fundamentally reinvented the last bastion of shopping motivation – discounts (a.k.a. coupons).
They created the very first 'Human Coupon,' turning regular people into living, breathing coupons; only being redeemable on opening day.
In OOH, the first living, breathing human billboards were created that involved 20 Human Coupons (all dynamic local actors), which were "posted" daily (Mon-Wed) for two weeks on customized billboards throughout the city.
In newspaper, the "Birth Announcement" page was turned into an ad congratulating people on the birth of their "Coupons."
Groups of travelling Human Coupons were turned into ambient street-level executions. They could walk the streets of Greater Vancouver and speak directly with curious onlookers. Human Coupons were also hid around the city for people to find via clues released on Twitter. Five times a day for one week, hidden Human Coupons would tweet a clue to their location near an iconic landmark (statue, hotel, famous food cart, etc.) and wait for the city to come running. It helped that the top local radio station would also broadcast their location.
On top of mass media impressions of 30MM+ (98% reach, 42 frequency), the campaign saw 50,000+ interactions with our live Human Coupons alone and the detailed education paid off.
Visitors opening day exceeded the goal by +45% and sales were exceeded by +42%. In week one, sales increased +41% VYA and visitors increased +92% VYA. In week two, sales increased +19% VYA same period and visits increased +49% VYA. When compared to a same store opening sales in a similar market (Ottawa) there was +46% in sales versus Ottawa results and +13% in visitors versus Ottawa.