Smooth cats, funny cats, strayed cats… any youtube cat video becomes a meme with hundred thousands of hits … and the guys from the London ad agency Mother know it well, that’s why they’ve used not one or two… but 100 cats for Ikea’s latest ad…
Mother released those hundred cats in IKEA’s Wembley store and filmed the results for a new campaign introducing the Swedish retailer’s new ‘Happy Inside’ brand positioning and announcing the 2011 catalogue launch. The film shows the cats exploring the store and furniture, playing with price tags and settling down in comfortable spots, making themselves at home. The ad uses no CGI, all the action in the ad is real footage of the cats.
Easy, easy, “let’s do it for real”, come on! Using those kind of cute white felines is probably the least original (but most effectively viral let’s admit it… 1.3million views in 3 days…) ways of promoting a new Catalogue and brand positioning. Us personally, we prefer Ikea’s “Independent Republic” 2007 campaign in Spain.
The video is part of an integrated campaign with elements that launch later this month including a competition, where users have to guess which pieces of furniture the cats in the ad settled themselves down on to win the furniture in question. Also the following short documentary about the owners of the cats and a “making of” film.
(The music is Pianni by Mara Carlyle )
