Ikea appoints McCann shop across Europe

by Jennifer Whitehead,, Brand Republic 28-May-02, 15:20

LONDON - Ikea has appointed McCann-Erickson Worldgroup advertising agency Hasan & Partners on a northern European brief, the first time it has used the same agency in more than one market.

Hasan has been the Swedish retailer's Finnish agency since Ikea launched there seven years ago. It will now handle television brand advertising in the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland as well.

Ikea made the decision to have one agency across multiple markets in order to have what it calls a "more harmonised" approach to its advertising and communications.

In the past, it has tended to create ads separately for each market, with a few exceptions where an ad has been shown in another country.

"We not only based our decision on creative but also on the solid strategic thinking that Hasan & Partners presented. They truly understand our business model and worked hard to win our trust and confidence," Ikea Switzerland marketing director Peter Keerberg said. "I believe there are several benefits we can gain from this cooperation and cross-border development."

In the UK, Ikea's UK advertising is handled in-house after it split with its long-term agency St Luke's. The agency had handled the £8m account for six years.

Anders Danielsson, marketing manager of Ikea UK, said of the split: "It was not an easy decision to take, but the time is now right for a change."

One of the agency's last ads for Ikea, featuring a Mafia-style trio appearing to pressure householders into visiting Ikea, received 122 complaints last year. It was not, however, banned from the airwaves.

Hasan's first new campaign for Ikea will launch in autumn 2002.

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