IKEA rocks the branded entertainment world with season II of Easy To Assemble

Yes, I'm biased. Fabric Interactive's team did the design work for IKEA's Easy To Assemble Season II: Co-Worker of the Year. But the truth is that I think that this is one of the best examples of how to do premium branded entertainment that's actually cool!

I think Illeana Douglas has done something pretty unique with this show. I've seen season II and it's comedy. If you like "The Office" you'll like Easy To Assemble. In fact, I think this show has broad appeal and it can work well world-wide.

From a long-term branding standpoint, IKEA stores everywhere should benefit from this. This show was shot at the IKEA Burbank location, which seems to be celebrity central. If you're a tourist visiting Los Angeles, maybe IKEA Burbank should be on your map?

So what's the impact on IKEA furniture sales? Will this help IKEA sell more tables and chairs? It's a bit early to tell. However, Easy To Assemble is not about selling another chair tomorrow. This is smart long-term branding. It's about positioning: IKEA is cool. IKEA pokes fun at itself.

If you manage this brand, you want to keep IKEA relevant and anchored in current pop-culture. You know that advertising - in the traditional sense - don't play well in the social media stream, so trying new concepts that has the potential to break barriers is important. IKEA must be seen as a smart and innovative brand that dares to do things differently. That's how you get the attention of the 18-24 crowd and they are the next customers for IKEA.

I believe IKEA is smart to do this. Today, you have to try new marketing approaches to keep your brand and product relevant and interesting. Hey Target: You got something cooking?

Comments

[Furniture Stores]

Agree... IKEA TOTALLY ROCKS!!!

[jordan retro 5]

I totally agree. These big companies used to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes millions, for a tv commercial. Bloggers are their new commercial, yet for some reason they think that we should do this for free. They think we have nothing better to do than to sit around blogging about their products while receiving no compensation. Who do they think is going to pay the rent and electric? I can assure you they are not working for free, so why should they expect us to?