Dive Brief:

• Ikea today kicks off its "Four Weeks of Wonder" holiday campaign built around themes of decorating, cooking, gift-giving and celebrating, according to details emailed to Marketing Dive. A hub on the retailer's website connects consumers to gift card giveaways and Ikea's content partners, including a DIY decorator, chef, family of creators and Netflix's "Love is Blind" stars Lauren and Cam Hamilton, who will share themed Instagram and YouTube content.
• A video ad depicts a family's moments from this year that acknowledge it's been an exhausting time.The "Not Just Another Holiday Commercial" spot, created by agency Ogilvy, will air on TV, connected TV (CTV), paid social and online video including on Hulu and YouTube.
• Ikea's holiday campaign attempts to be relatable with a frank acknowledgement of a difficult year while promising to help take some of the pressure off an unusual holiday season. It highlights the joys of scaled-back celebrations and shares tips for how consumers can adjust their expectations around cooking, decorating and gift-giving. The campaign was developed with Wavemaker, Fullscreen and Fooji.

Dive Insight:

Ikea's holiday marketing recognizes that this year's festivities will likely look different due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the brand honoring traditions old and new. With the core anthem spot, "Not Just Another Holiday Commercial," the retailer spotlights relatable human moments through a single family, aiming to remind consumers that it's here to help for whatever is needed this unique season.

The broader campaign looks to take some pressure off consumers and their wallets with free content to inspire new ways of celebrating. Ikea-themed digital backgrounds will be available for families using video conferencing platforms to stay connected.

Last year, Ikea took a humorous approach to its holiday campaign with an ad that showed household décor rapping jabs about people's lackluster homes. Since then, it's rebooted efforts around sleep to show the lengths people go to for a restful night. Partnerships with Ogilvy, Fullscreen, Wavemaker and Fooji in February extended the retailer's "Save Our Sleep" campaign into March with ads on CTV and social media, as well as influencer tips, product giveaways and Giphy content.

Now, Ikea's holiday campaign continues those agency partnerships and similarly teams up with influencers to share social media content, inspirational tips and product recommendations.

While changes in consumer habits this year helped some categories, retailers at large experienced negative effects from the pandemic. Ikea kept its place as the top retail brand of Interbrand's annual ranking of the best global brands, with a 3% gain in brand value to $18.9 billion (No. 25), while Zara fell 13% to $14.9 billion (No. 35) and H&M dropped 14% to $14 billion (No. 37).