IKEA
Assembling a Social Media Personality
TYPE
Social Media
CLIENT
BCIT, Graphic Design Course
TIMELINE
April–August 2025
IKEA
Assembling a Social Media Personality
TYPE
Social Media
CLIENT
BCIT, Graphic Design Course
TIMELINE
April–June 2025
TYPE
Social Media
CLIENT
BCIT, Graphic Design Course
TIMELINE
April–June 2025
Challenge:
To create digital advertising materials to promote IKEA's handmade collections and increase brand awareness of its social initiatives.
While many know IKEA for its affordable and functional home furnishings, not many know of IKEA's handmade collections and their partnerships with suppliers that help improve communities' living and working conditions in developing countries.
BRAND AUDIT
#IKEA @ikeacanada
IKEA's Social Media Strategy
Lifestyle Storytelling
Posts show how products fit into real-life living spaces rather than just displaying furniture alone—with styled rooms, small-space solutions, and DIY tips to inspire audiences. This storytelling approach helps audiences imagine how products could improve their own homes.
Humour & Personification
IKEA often uses playful, humourous campaigns that feature stories around their stuffed animals. The brand is also always up to date with viral content, adapting them in a way that feels fresh and relevant. This unique approach helps IKEA stand out in crowded social feeds.
Influencer Collaborations
IKEA partners with influencers and creators who showcase IKEA products in their own homes. This type of content feels more like real-life recommendations than traditional advertising, which helps build trust with audiences.
Upon understanding IKEA's strategy and current social media landscape... I got to work.
01
Spot the similarities
A fun and interactive way of highlighting IKEA’s wide offering of handmade rugs while also promoting individual products.
Caption for IG post:
Can you spot the similarities between all four rugs? Explore IKEA’s handmade rug collection and the impact they have on communities all over the world.
Pouvez-vous repérer les similitudes entre ces quatre tapis ? Découvrez la collection de tapis faits main d’IKEA et son impact sur les communautés du monde entier.
#IKEACanada
#IKEAsocialentrepeneurship
Caption for IG post:
Can you spot the similarities between all four rugs? Explore IKEA’s handmade rug collection and the impact they have on communities all over the world.
Pouvez-vous repérer les similitudes entre ces quatre tapis ? Découvrez la collection de tapis faits main d’IKEA et son impact sur les communautés du monde entier.
#IKEACanada
#IKEAsocialentrepeneurship
02
Pillow talk
A quirky way of advertising IKEA’s hand embroidered cushion covers. This was inspired by the personification of their products in @ikeacanada’s existing posts.
Caption for IG post:
Discover ÅKERNEJLIKA, a floral cushion cover with hand-embroidered details. It adds a fresh look to your sofa while creating a steady income for the artisans at the social business Jordan River Foundation.
​
Découvrez ÅKERNEJLIKA, une housse de coussin florale aux détails brodés à la main. Elle apportera une touche de fraîcheur à votre canapé tout en assurant un revenu stable aux artisans de la Jordan River Foundation, une entreprise sociale.
#IKEACanada #JordanRiverFoundation
Caption for IG post:
Discover ÅKERNEJLIKA, a floral cushion cover with hand-embroidered details. It adds a fresh look to your sofa while creating a steady income for the artisans at the social business Jordan River Foundation.
​
Découvrez ÅKERNEJLIKA, une housse de coussin florale aux détails brodés à la main. Elle apportera une touche de fraîcheur à votre canapé tout en assurant un revenu stable aux artisans de la Jordan River Foundation, une entreprise sociale.
#IKEACanada #JordanRiverFoundation
03
New handmade product promotion
A more conventional way of advertising IKEA
products using lifestyle storytelling.
Caption for IG post:
Bring warmth and texture to your sofa with HERVOR and HALLVI handmade cushion covers. Created in collaboration with social entrepreneur Rangsutra, each piece showcases traditional techniques while provide long-term livelihood to female artisans in India.
​
Apportez chaleur et texture à votre canapé avec les housses de coussin artisanales HERVOR et HALLVI. Créées en collaboration avec l'entrepreneure sociale Rangsutra, chaque pièce met en valeur des techniques traditionnelles tout en assurant un revenu durable aux artisanes indiennes.
#IKEACanada #Rangsutra
Caption for IG post:
Bring warmth and texture to your sofa with HERVOR and HALLVI handmade cushion covers. Created in collaboration with social entrepreneur Rangsutra, each piece showcases traditional techniques while provide long-term livelihood to female artisans in India.
​
Apportez chaleur et texture à votre canapé avec les housses de coussin artisanales HERVOR et HALLVI. Créées en collaboration avec l'entrepreneure sociale Rangsutra, chaque pièce met en valeur des techniques traditionnelles tout en assurant un revenu durable aux artisanes indiennes.
#IKEACanada #Rangsutra
Key Takeaways
Think outside the box
IKEA's social media posts stray away from using conventional polished aesthetics. Its approach shows that successful social media content often goes beyond product shots. Their strategy focuses on storytelling, relatability, and showing how products fit into everyday life which ultimately ties back to their vision statement.
Lifestyle, not products
Audiences connect more deeply with products that are presented within a lifestyle context rather than as isolated objects. Personalizing products by showing the people, communities, and stories behind them helps create a stronger emotional connection with the audience. This encourages me to focus on storytelling and using human-centered visuals as part of the design process. Not only does this pertain to social media posts, but also photography choices as assets or part of campaigns.
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
01
Ensuring the content captures attention
.The question is always how to attract attention in crowded social feeds. High quality photos and strong visuals are not enough. I realized that copywriting is a powerful tool to build narratives, capture attention, and make messenging clear but concise.
02
Think outside the box
IKEA's tone of voice is playful, friendly, and conversational voice and social media posts stray away from a conventional polished aesthetics. IKEA’s approach showed that successful social media content often goes beyond aesthetic photos. Their strategy focuses on storytelling, relatability, and showing how products fit into everyday life which ultimately ties back to their vision statement.
03
Lifestyle, not products
I realized that audiences connect more deeply with products that are presented within a lifestyle context rather than as isolated objects. Personalizing products by showing the people, communities, and stories behind them helps create a stronger emotional connection with the audience. This encourages me to focus on storytelling and using human-centered visuals as part of the design process. Not only does this pertain to social media posts, but also photography choices as assets or part of campaigns.
Acknowledgement: The photos used in these social media posts are the property of IKEA and are used for personal purposes only.